Antiaircraft
SEARCHLIGHT
1500 MM AEG
German searchlights of the Second World War german searchlights were to detect and track enemy aircraft at night.
They were used in three main sizes, 60, 150 and 200 centimetres.
After the end of the First World War, German development of searchlights was effectively stopped by the Treaty of Versailles, it resumed in 1927.
At the outset of the war, searchlights were combined with acoustic direction-finders, with the direction-finders guiding the searchlights to the right part of the sky, where they swept until they found the target.
Later in the war, the searchlights were radar-directed.
The searchlights were based around extremely high-powered Carbon Arc lamps.
Developed in the late 1930s, the Flakscheinwerfer (Flak Searchlight) 34 and 37 used 150-centimetre (59 in) diameter parabolic glass reflectors with an output of 990 million candelas.
The system was powered by a 24-kilowatt generator, based around a 51-horsepower (38 kW) 8-cylinder engine, giving a current of 200 amperes at 110 volts.
The searchlight was attached to the generator by a 200-metre (660 ft) cable.
The system had a detection range of about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) for targets at an altitude of between 4,000 and 5,000 metres (13,000 and 16,000 ft).
The system could be made mobile using two sets of Special Trailer 104 units, one for the searchlight and one for the generator. It required a crew of seven to operate it.
The searchlight could be traversed 360 degrees and elevated from -12 degrees through the vertical to -12 degrees on the other side.
Early war tactics for the searchlight deployment had the searchlights forward of the Flak guns in a "zone of preparation", laid out in a grid with 5 kilometers between each light.
Sound locators deployed with the searchlights helped them find targets, later these were replaced with radar systems.
Sixty-one special fixed quadruple 150-centimetre mounts were produced in an effort to extend the range of the 150 centimetre searchlights, however these proved unsuccessful.
SEARCHLIGHT
1500 MM AEG
German searchlights of the Second World War german searchlights were to detect and track enemy aircraft at night.
They were used in three main sizes, 60, 150 and 200 centimetres.
After the end of the First World War, German development of searchlights was effectively stopped by the Treaty of Versailles, it resumed in 1927.
At the outset of the war, searchlights were combined with acoustic direction-finders, with the direction-finders guiding the searchlights to the right part of the sky, where they swept until they found the target.
Later in the war, the searchlights were radar-directed.
The searchlights were based around extremely high-powered Carbon Arc lamps.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The system was powered by a 24-kilowatt generator, based around a 51-horsepower (38 kW) 8-cylinder engine, giving a current of 200 amperes at 110 volts.
The searchlight was attached to the generator by a 200-metre (660 ft) cable.
The system had a detection range of about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) for targets at an altitude of between 4,000 and 5,000 metres (13,000 and 16,000 ft).
The system could be made mobile using two sets of Special Trailer 104 units, one for the searchlight and one for the generator. It required a crew of seven to operate it.
The searchlight could be traversed 360 degrees and elevated from -12 degrees through the vertical to -12 degrees on the other side.
Early war tactics for the searchlight deployment had the searchlights forward of the Flak guns in a "zone of preparation", laid out in a grid with 5 kilometers between each light.
Sound locators deployed with the searchlights helped them find targets, later these were replaced with radar systems.
Sixty-one special fixed quadruple 150-centimetre mounts were produced in an effort to extend the range of the 150 centimetre searchlights, however these proved unsuccessful.
Paul Bennett..."I've been a little bit in your story. |