Last Sunday, while enjoying the Africa Utopia festival on the South Bank, my friend and I had gazed across the water and wondered what this brightly coloured boat was all about. So I took the opportunity yesterday to investigate further.
It’s moored half way between Blackfriars and Waterloo bridges, just along from Blackfriars station, although we took the opportunity to walk from Chancery Lane tube station through the office areas along Fleet Street and across the Inns of Court.
Reaching the ship, we were mightily pleased that we weren’t wearing heeled shoes as it was tricky walking across the steps (there is ramp also) to the pontoon and then tackling the gently swaying stairs to get onto the boat. Not advised for land lubbers.
Up close, the graffiti-like artwork is astonishing. We followed directions to the River Bar and entered an intimate area offering a number of wooden tables in case of inclement weather. We bought some drinks and wandered out onto a narrow terrace at the rear of the boat to find a number of vacant places. We were sitting so near to the water that if we were any closer we would have been wet. Others had climbed further stairs to reach the open deck on top.
The view is spectacular – the South Bank and Oxo Tower were directly opposite and in one direction we could see The Shard and in the other the recently-renamed Millennium Wheel. And right in front of us was a constant procession of boats – RNLI, river buses, cruisers and the Thames RIB.
And in the background there was some chill out jazz playing which just about made our snatched moments of relaxation and contemplation complete. It’s a lovely place – and not overly crowded in the early evening – to sit and watch the world go by and admire the last of the summer sunshine.
Why is it called “Dazzle Ship”?
I was intrigued to know about the name. It seems that a leading German artist, Tobias Rehberger, transformed the ship by covering it entirely in ‘dazzle camouflage’ designs as part of 14-18 NOW, the official cultural programme to commemorate the centenary of the First World War.
Dazzle camouflage was used extensively during the First World War as a means of camouflaging a ship, making it difficult for the enemy to target it accurately. As one of the last three surviving warships of the Royal Navy built during the First World War, the HMS President (1918), the first type of warship built specifically for anti-submarine warfare, was originally ‘dazzled’ in this way.
http://www.hmspresident.com/ Twitter @HMSPresident
