Dazzle camouflage[0] was used extensively in WWI to make it difficult to see ships because they were so brightly coloured. It's not quite the same principle, but it comes close.
The ships were easy to see. What was hard is determining what side you were looking at and what direction they were moving. This made it more difficult to engage them.
Sorry, sloppy phrasing about an often confused topic on my part. You're quite right.