Searchlight

For other uses, seeSearchlight (disambiguation).

ATSofficers-in-training crew a 90 cm searchlight in Western Command, 1944

Asearchlight(orspotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremelybrightsource (traditionally acarbon arc lamp) with a mirroredparabolic reflectorto project a powerful beam oflightof approximately parallel rays in a particular direction. It is usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.

Military use

Russian troops use a searchlight against a Japanese night attack during theRusso-Japanese War,1904

Homeland Security helicopter utilizing its searchlight.

The first use of searchlights using carbon arc technology occurred during theSiege of Parisduring theFranco-Prussian War.TheRoyal Navyused searchlights in 1882 to dazzle and prevent Egyptian forces from manning artillery batteries atAlexandria.Later that same year, the French and British forces landed troops under searchlights.

By 1907 the value of searchlights had become widely recognized. One recent use was to assist attacks bytorpedo boatsby 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 theRusso-Japanese Warfrom 1904–05.

Searchlights were installed on most navalcapital shipsfrom the late 19th century throughWWII,both for tracking small, close-in targets such astorpedo boats,and for engaging enemy units in nighttime gun battles. TheImperial Japanese Navyespecially was known for its intensive development of nighttimenaval combat tacticsand extensive training. TheWar in the Pacificsaw a number of nocturnal engagements fought by searchlight, particularly theBattle of Savo Soundat Guadalcanal. Although searchlights remained in use throughout the war, the newly developedradarproved to be a far more effective locating device, and Japanese radar development lagged far behind that of the US.

First World War

American searchlight crew and equipment in France during WWI

Searchlights were first used in theFirst World Warto create "artificial moonlight" to enhance opportunities for night attacks by reflecting searchlight beams off the bottoms of clouds, a practice which continued in theSecond World War.The term "artificial moonlight" was used to distinguish illumination provided by searchlights from that provided by natural moonlight, which was referred to as "movement light" in night-time manoeuvers.Searchlights were also heavily used in the defense of the UK againstGerman nighttime bombing raidsusingZeppelins.

Second World War

Searchlights were used extensively in defense against nighttimebomberraids during theSecond 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 pierce the night sky during an air-raid practice on Gibraltar, 1942

Searchlights were occasionally used tactically in ground battles. One notable occasion was theRed Armyuse of searchlights during theBattle of the Seelow Heightsin 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.

Members of aRoyal Artillery,anti-aircraft searchlight detachment clean the mirror of their searchlight, Italy, April 1945

Second World War-era searchlights include models manufactured byGeneral Electricand by theSperry Company.These were mostly of 60 inch (152.4 cm) diameter withrhodiumplated parabolic mirror, reflecting acarbon arcdischarge. Peak output was 800,000,000candela.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 bynight fightersandanti-submarine warfareaircraft. TheTurbinlitewas a powerful searchlight mounted in the nose of anRAFDouglas Bostonlight bomber,converted into a night fighter to shoot downLuftwaffenightbombers.The aircraft would be directed in the general direction of the enemy by ground-based ormetre-waveairborne radar, and the pilot would then switch on the Turbinlite, illuminating the enemy aircraft, which would then be shot down by accompanying RAFday fighterssuch as theHawker 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 theBattle of the North Atlantic,RAF aircraft such as theVickers Wellingtonwere assigned to patrol for surfaced GermanU-boatsat night, when they would be on the surface, charging theirbatteries.A large searchlight called aLeigh lightwas suspended from the bottom of thewingorfuselage,and would be used to illuminate the surfaced U-boat while it was being attacked withbombsanddepth charges.The Leigh light was somewhat more successful than the Turbinlite, but in both cases the development of centimeter-wave radar proved to be the far more effective answer.

Ukraine

During the2022 Russian invasion of Ukrainea searchlight has been used foranti-aircraft warfare.

Non-military use

Today, searchlights are used inadvertising,fairs,festivalsand other public events. Their use was once common formoviepremieres;the waving searchlight beams can still be seen as a design element in the logos of20th Century Studiosand theFox television network.The world's most powerful searchlight today beams from the top of the pyramid-shapedLuxor HotelinLas Vegas.It concentrates about 13,650,000lumensfrom 39 7kWxenon lampsinto a beam of about 9,129,000,000candela.

Tribute in Lightis an art installation that uses two columns of searchlights to represent the formerTwin Towers of the World Trade Center,in remembrance of theSeptember 11 attacks.It is produced annually inLower Manhattan.

Disney parks uses searchlights in their nighttime fireworks displays. they are installed on top of the rooftops of several attractions inFantasyland.

• 
  Searchlights atNew Year's Eve2012 in Bonifacio Global City, Philippines
• 
  Use of searchlights at theLuminatoarts festival in Toronto
• 
  Searchlights demonstrating the height ofTokyo Skytreebefore its construction in 2007
• 
  Luxor Sky Beam
• 
  Tribute in Light,representing the World Trade Center twin towers in remembrance of the September 11 attacks
• Animated searchlights are a part of the distinctiveproduction logoused at the start of20th Century Foxfilms since the 1930s
• 
  A logo forFoxaffiliateKLJB,one of many examples of a Fox station still using searchlights in their logo.

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

Sources

• FM 4-29 seacoast searchlights
• FM 4-111Archived2010-12-27 at theWayback MachineCoast 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?Archived2021-01-25 at theWayback MachineInformation on a website commemorating the US 225th AAA Searchlight Battalion
• "Giant Lights Paint The Sky To Work New Magic"JulyPopular 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.