Sorry to be a bit late with Flashback Friday - at this time of year things get pretty hectic. Looking through my images of Ojibwa things I came across this old favourite which has so much 'what are they thinking' potential. It was taken in March 2013, during the very early days of getting on Ojibwa to make her presentable and functional for opening day. Temperatures were frigid because the heating/cooling system was yet to come. Trevor (left) and Murray (right) are contemplating how to run the wires for the radio room. Neither are submariners, so you can imagine how daunting it would be to find space for something new amid the five and a half million parts on Ojibwa! You have to get creative!

(for more about 'potatoes')

Wiring can look like this! Can you imagine trying to follow one of those wires?

Despite the first major snowfall of the season, the Christmas Open House at the Elgin Military Museum was a very pleasant gathering with stalwarts braving the storm to come even from London and Port Burwell. If you stayed to the end, you will understand the Tuckered Tommy! who found his way from the 1942 Room to this spot under the Christmas Tree. It was great to catch up with everyone and see what they are up to. Kudos to HMCS Ojibwa volunteer Carl Bagshaw who is one of the coordinators of Christmas Care in St. Thomas this year.

We are sorry that the image isn't clear enough to read the names but perhaps some of you can help out. I cropped to be as large as possible.

Active and passive sonar was already on my radar so to speak; but, active and passive camouflage must have slipped through the cracks in my brain. The concept of diffused lighting camouflage, pioneered by the Royal Canadian Navy during WW II, only came to my attention while looking through my files for an image for Facebook. Seen above, the collage is intended to illustrate that a submarine has its own way of dealing with deception - it quite literally disappears.

Under the Cs the camouflage folder caught my eye and in particular an image of K124-HMCS Cobalt dressed in dazzle. Looking into her background, I discovered that she had been part of the early secret trials of an initiative using lighting to help disguise ships. The idea was to help vessel match the colour of the surroundings to blend invisibly into the scene instead of painting a ship in various colours and patterns to distort the appearance of the shape of a vessel.

While the navy found the technology (projectors mounted on points of the ship) too cumbersome, in 1943, the American air force picked up the ball and developed the Yehudi System which used strategically placed coloured lights to help aircraft be less visible. The diffusive light concept went out of favour for a while; however, the system which began as a Canadian initiative, is once again under consideration.

Canadians have a Flare for Camouflage

The Canadian Armed Forces are also pioneers in the development of CADPAT (Canadian Disruptive Pattern) a digital-base camouflage for uniforms and the CUEPAT (Canadian Urban Environment Pattern) which can be adapted to woodland or desert wear.

As an aside, it is interesting to note that it was a Canadian, Reginald Fessenden, who pioneered the early ASDIC or sonar systems - one of the main tools used to avoid detection or suss out subs and surface vessels.