Searchlight
A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely
Military use
The first use of searchlights using carbon arc technology occurred during the
By 1907 the value of searchlights had become widely recognized. One recent use was to assist attacks by torpedo boats by dazzling gun crews on the ships being attacked. Other uses included detecting enemy ships at greater distances, as signaling devices, and to assist landing parties. Searchlights were also used by battleships and other capital vessels to locate attacking torpedo boats and were installed on many coastal artillery batteries for aiding night combat. They saw use in the Russo-Japanese War from 1904–05.[3]
Searchlights were installed on most naval capital ships from the late 19th century through WWII, both for tracking small, close-in targets such as torpedo boats, and for engaging enemy units in nighttime gun battles. The Imperial Japanese Navy especially was known for its intensive development of nighttime naval combat tactics and extensive training. The War in the Pacific saw a number of nocturnal engagements fought by searchlight, particularly the Battle of Savo Sound at Guadalcanal. Although searchlights remained in use throughout the war, the newly developed radar proved to be a far more effective locating device, and Japanese radar development lagged far behind that of the US.
First World War
Searchlights were first used in the
Second World War
Searchlights were used extensively in defense against nighttime bomber raids during the Second World War. Controlled by sound locators and radars, searchlights could track bombers, indicating targets to anti-aircraft guns and night fighters and dazzling crews.
Searchlights were occasionally used tactically in ground battles. One notable occasion was the Red Army use of searchlights during the Battle of the Seelow Heights in April 1945. 143 searchlights were directed at the German defence force, with the aim of temporarily blinding them during a Soviet offensive, begun with the largest artillery bombardment the world had ever seen until that point. However, the morning fog diffused the light and silhouetted the attacking Soviet forces, making them clearly visible to the Germans. The Soviets suffered heavy losses as a result and were forced to delay their invasion of the city.[5]
Second World War-era searchlights include models manufactured by General Electric and by the Sperry Company. These were mostly of 60 inch (152.4 cm) diameter with rhodium plated parabolic mirror, reflecting a carbon arc discharge. Peak output was 800,000,000 candela. It was powered by a 15 kW generator and had an effective beam visibility of 28 to 35 miles (45 to 56 km) in clear low humidity.
The searchlight also found a niche for use by night fighters and anti-submarine warfare aircraft. The Turbinlite was a powerful searchlight mounted in the nose of an RAF Douglas Boston light bomber, converted into a night fighter to shoot down Luftwaffe night bombers. The aircraft would be directed in the general direction of the enemy by ground-based or metre-wave airborne radar, and the pilot would then switch on the Turbinlite, illuminating the enemy aircraft, which would then be shot down by accompanying RAF day fighters such as the Hawker Hurricane. This never proved very successful, as the light made the emitting aircraft a very big target for rear gunners, who would simply have to shoot into the light and be guaranteed to hit something eventually.
During the
Ukraine
During the
Non-military use
Today, searchlights are used in
Tribute in Light is an art installation that uses two columns of searchlights to represent the former Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, in remembrance of the September 11 attacks. It is produced annually in Lower Manhattan.
Disney parks uses searchlights in their nighttime fireworks displays. they are installed on top of the rooftops of several attractions in Fantasyland.
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Searchlights at New Year's Eve 2012 in Bonifacio Global City, Philippines
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Use of searchlights at the Luminato arts festival in Toronto
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Searchlights demonstrating the height of Tokyo Skytree before its construction in 2007
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Luxor Sky Beam
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Tribute in Light, representing the World Trade Center twin towers in remembrance of the September 11 attacks
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Animated searchlights are a part of the distinctive20th Century Foxfilms since the 1930s
See also
- Mangin mirror
- Cathedral of light
- Tribute in Light
- Military applications of searchlight
- Canal Defence Light
- Turbinlite
- Leigh light
- G-numbers
- German searchlights of World War II
References
Citations
- ISBN 978-1-85109-732-6.
- ISBN 978-1-85109-732-6.
- ^ Barry, Richard (1905). Port Arthur: A Monster Heroism. Moffat, Yard & Co. pp. 324–325.
- ^ "Artificial Moonlight". Tactical and Technical Trends (57). US Army Military Intelligence Corps. April 1945.
- ^ Welsh, William E. (June 2017). "Masterful Defense at Seelow Heights". Warfare History Network. Archived from the original on 2016-09-16. Retrieved 2018-09-18.
- ^ OSINTtechnical [@Osinttechnical] (1 January 2023). "https://t.co/r4jYvnd3Qf" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023 – via Twitter.
Sources
- FM 4-29 seacoast searchlights
- FM 4-111 Archived 2010-12-27 at the Wayback Machine Coast Artillery Field Manual, Antiaircraft Artillery, Position Finding and Control, Antiaircraft Search-lights (US War Department, 1940)
- FM 4-115
External links
- Sperry searchlight restoration project
- How Were World War II Searchlights Used? Archived 2021-01-25 at the Wayback Machine Information on a website commemorating the US 225th AAA Searchlight Battalion
- "Giant Lights Paint The Sky To Work New Magic" July Popular Mechanics—i.e. early article on one of the first commercial use of searchlights.
- director restored [1]
- German Searchlights, a 1943 article from the U.S. War Dept.