Dazzle camouflage of warships was adopted by the U.S. Navy during World War II, following research at the Naval Research Laboratory. Dazzle consists in painting obtrusive patterns on vertical surfaces. Unlike some other forms of camouflage, dazzle works not by offering concealment but by making it difficult to estimate a target's identity, range, speed and heading. Each ship's dazzle pattern was unique to make it more difficult for the enemy to recognize different classes of ships. The result was that a profusion of dazzle schemes were tried, and the evidence for their success was at best mixed.
Dazzle camouflage patterns used on battleships are presented here.
| MS-31 | MS-31a | MS-32 | MS-33 | MS-33a | Horizontals | |||||||||
| Haze Gray 5-H | Haze Gray 5-H | Light Gray 5-L | Light Gray 5-L | Pale Gray 5-P | Pale Gray 5-P | Light Gray 5-L | Ocean Gray 5-O | |||||||
| Ocean Gray 5-O | Ocean Gray 5-O | Dull Black 82 | Ocean Gray 5-O | Haze Gray 5-H | Haze Gray 5-H | Ocean Gray 5-O | Deck Blue 20-B | |||||||
| Dull Black 82 | Navy Blue 5-N | Dull Black 82 | Navy Blue 5-N | Ocean Gray 5-O | ||||||||||
| MS-31 | For s | Maryland | ||
| MS-32/1B | For s | Iowa | ||
| MS-31a/6B | For | Nevada | ||
| MS-31a/7B | For | Arkansas | ||
| MS-31a/8B | For s | New York, Texas | ||
| Adapted designs | ||||
| Adapted to s | Not used | |||
| MS-32/1D (destroyer) | Adapted to s | Tennessee | ||
| Adapted to | Not used | |||
| MS-32/3D (destroyer) | Adapted to | Not used | ||
| Adapted to s | Not used | |||
| Adapted to s | Colorado | |||
| MS-32/6D (destroyer) | Adapted to s | New Mexico, Mississippi | ||
| MS-32/7D (destroyer) | Adapted to | West Virginia | ||
| MS-32v6/10D (destroyer) | Adapted to s | Not used | ||
| MS-32/11D (destroyer) | Adapted to battleships | Indiana | ||
| MS-32/16D (destroyer) | Adapted to s | California | ||
| MS-32v11/18D (destroyer) | Adapted to s | North Carolina | ||
| MS-32/22D (destroyer) | Adapted to s | Missouri | ||