Searchlight

Searchlights

German Searchlights

English-German translations for "Searchlight": Scheinwerfer or Suchscheinwerfer

Searchlights lighting up the sky over Tripoli, Libya...1941

German searchlights of the Second World War were used to detect and track enemy aircraft at night. They were used in three main sizes, 60, 150 and 200 centimeters. 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. Dependant on the electrical power requirement for the specific size or type of searchlight, either a generator of sufficient power would accompany the unit or a dedicated power line would necessarily be required to be supplied.

Flakscheinwerfer-Abteilungen link of German Searchlight Units from our friend Michael Holm's website "Luftwaffe 1939-45"

Some Luftwaffe DAK Flakscheinwerfer truppen from our unpublished and copyrighted AANA Photograph collection.

2. Flakscheinwerfer-Division Crest

Technical Report From TM-E 30-451 "Handbook on German Military Forces"

SEARCHLIGHTS. (1) 150-cm (60 inches) Searchlight 34 and 37. (a) The standard antiaircraft searchlight is 150 cm (60 inches) in diameter, and is equipped with azimuth and elevation receiver dials for receiving initial locator data. Normally hand-controlled, later versions of the 150-cm searchlight also are equipped with remote control gear.

(b) The high-current-density arc lamp is self-regulating and is fitted in an inverted position. The light is 990 million candlepower and has a range, in favorable weather, of 8,800 yards at a height of 13,000 to 16,500 feet. The searchlight can be moved in azimuth through 360 degrees and in elevation from -12 degrees through the vertical to -12 degrees on the other side. Current is supplied by a separate 24-kilowatt generator driven by an eight-cylinder internal combustion engine.

(c) For visual searching, a "dark search equipment" (Dunkelsuchgerät 41) is used. This consists of a pair of binoculars (having a few degrees of lateral and vertical movement) mounted on the searchlight. In operation, the searchlight and optical equipment are laid initially by location data furnished from a separate source.

(d) Sound locators are of the ring-trumpet type which work on the binaural principle, with provision for calculation of and correction for "sound lag". They also are equipped with electrical data transmitters for passing azimuth and elevation data to the receivers on the searchlight.

(e) Antiaircraft fire-control radar equipment is also used to furnish data for searchlights. Flak converter equipment known as Flakumwertegerät is used as an aid to the radar equipment and permits three searchlights at a distance from the radar to be supplied simultaneously with corrected azimuth and elevation.

(2) 200-cm (80 inches) Searchlight 40. Many of the searchlight units are equipped at least partially with these larger searchlights. Although methods of location of initial data are similar in principle to those employed for the 150-cm searchlights, these larger 200-cm searchlights usually are equipped with necessary apparatus for remote control. For visual searching, a "Flak laying equipment" (Flakrichtegerät) is used, consisting of a pair of binoculars mounted on a control pillar. This light is reported to be 2,430 million candlepower with a range effectiveness 60 per cent over that of the standard 150-cm searchlight.

(3) 60-cm (24 inches) Searchlight. (a) The equipment consists of a 60-cm searchlight and an 8-kilowatt generator, and was designed for use without a sound locator against low-lying aerial targets. The searchlight is controlled manually in azimuth and elevation by a layer seated on the equipment. No separate location equipment is used. The beam can be exposed and covered by a shutter of venetian-blind type. This searchlight usually will be found in the vicinity of automatic weapons.

(b) The high-current-density arc lamp is self-regulating and is fitted in an inverted position. The light is 135 million candlepower and has a range under favorable weather conditions of 5,700 yards at a height of 5,000 feet. With beam dispersed the range is 3,500 yards.

(4) Miscellaneous. (a) In addition to the above, there are a few 150-cm searchlights employed on a special quadruple mount. These mounts, carrying four searchlights, are equipped with remote control gear.

(b) A few obsolete 110-cm (43 inches) searchlights, and a few French 200-cm and 240-cm (90 inches) searchlights, also may be found still in active use.

German Searchlight Inventory In Service

In September 1940 excluding units emplaced at naval facilities Germany had 2,540 search lights (60 cm and 150 cm). During the war this number grew rapidly — by February 1944 the Quartermaster General of the Luftwaffe General Staff (OKL) reported that stocks of floodlights were:

Type	Mobile	Fixed	Total
60cm FlaKSw 36	5582	794	6376
150cm FlaKSw34/37	5675	1636	7311
150cm Quad FlaKSw	-	61	61
200cm FlaK Sw40/43	-	-	2262
Total	11257	2491	13748

German "Use" Variants

60cm: 60cm Flakscheinwerfer (FlaK-Sw 36) mit Sd.Anh.51

Nomenclature for the type termed 60cm: 60cm Flakscheinwerfer (FlaK-Sw 36) mit Sd.Anh.51

Developed in the late 1930s, with a diameter of 60 centimeter parabolic glass reflector. It was powered by an 8 kilowatt generator. The lamp output was rated at 135 million candelas, and it had a detection range of about 5 kilometers for targets travelling at an altitude of 1500 meters, with the beam dispersed this reduced to about 3.2 kilometers. It required a crew of three and could be transported using a single axle Special trailer 51 (Sonderanenhänger 51 or Sd.Anh.51).
Typical tactics were to sweep the search light in an S-shaped pattern along the targets expected course with the beam dispersed, once the target was detected it was then tracked using the focused beam.
The 60 centimeter searchlights were not powerful enough to reach the allied bomber streams later in the war, so were typically employed organically with 20 mm and 37 mm low-level flak guns.

The specifically employed trailer Sd.Ah.51 (Sd.Anh.51) has the descriptor of: Narrow track trailer (Single Axle) for 20mm FlaK30, 20mm FlaK38, 600mm (60cm) searchlights, accessories and ammunition boxes for 20mm FlaK. The specific differences in the trailer for use in mounting the 60cm Flakscheinwerfer (FlaK-Sw 36) versus a 20mm Flak30/38 are the attachment lug positions and changes in box arrangement with the ammunition box holders being replaced with a storage bin for carbon arc rods and searchlight servicing tools; plus the sometimes seen tarpaulin cover attachment bracket straps and the electrical attachment point connections.

Austrian "Nachtlichter"

From TM-E 30-451 "Handbook on German Military Forces"

60-cm (24 inches) Searchlight. (a) The equipment consists of a 60-cm searchlight and an 8-kilowatt generator, and was designed for use without a sound locator against low-lying aerial targets. The searchlight is controlled manually in azimuth and elevation by a layer seated on the equipment. No separate location equipment is used. The beam can be exposed and covered by a shutter of venetian-blind type. This searchlight usually will be found in the vicinity of automatic weapons.

(b) A few obsolete 110-cm (43 inches) searchlights, and a few French 200-cm and 240-cm (90 inches) searchlights, also may be found still in active use.

150cm Sw.34/37 mit Sd.Anh.104

Developed in the late 1930s the FlaK Searchlight 34 and 37 used 150 centimeter 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 cable 200 meters long. The system had a detection range of about 8 kilometers for targets at an altitude of between 4000 and 5000 meters. The system could be made mobile using two sets of Special Trailer 104 (Sonderanhänger or Sd.Anh.104) units, one for the searchlight and one for the generator. It required a crew of seven people to operate it.
The searchlight could be traversed through 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 centimeter mounts were produced in an effort to extend the range of the 150 centimeter searchlights, however these proved unsuccessful.

See the photo series at: 150cm Sw.34

200cm Sw.40 mit Sd.Anh.104 / 200cm Sw.40 mit Sd.Anh.206

AANA has a series of negatives from a "Private" album of a DAK service Flakscheinwerfer crewman

German Searchlight Company near Tripoli Harbor

Location is currently unidentified but in same negative series as above and shows lens cover on stand to left...

Fezzo added this damaged 200cm Scheinwerfer to the collection... as its reflector mirror has cracked.

In order to reach bombers flying at increasingly higher altitudes, more powerful searchlights were needed. In 1943 the first 200 centimeter Scheinwerfer 43 searchlights with a power of 2.7 billion Hefner candlepower (2.4 gigacandelas) were delivered to troops. Powered by a 120 kilowatt generator, it could detect targets at distances of up to 13 kilometers.
Typically the 200 centimeter searchlights were employed with three 150 cm searchlights. The 200 cm searchlight was deployed at the center of a triangle formed by the 150 cm searchlights. The smaller searchlights deployed at a distance of about 2.5 kilometers from the larger central "master" searchlight. The master searchlight would find the target, and the 150 cm lights would cone the target — providing a solid triangulation.

200-cm (80 inches) Searchlight 40. Many of the searchlight units are equipped at least partially with these larger searchlights. Although methods of location of initial data are similar in principle to those employed for the 150-cm searchlights, these larger 200-cm searchlights usually are equipped with necessary apparatus for remote control. For visual searching, a "Flak laying equipment" (Flakrichtegerät) is used, consisting of a pair of binoculars mounted on a control pillar. This light is reported to be 2,430 million candlepower with a range effectiveness 60 per cent over that of the standard 150-cm searchlight.

Searchlight "Related" Vehicles

Halftracks were also employed to tow the larger 150 and 200cm variant searchlights... photos soon...

Captured and Obsolete Searchlights placed Into Service

Searchlight transport trailer with old-style G 150 searchlight, Naval Artillery

Searchlight transport trailer with G 110 searchlight, Naval Artillery

A few obsolete 110 and 150 centimeter G series searchlights from WWI and captured French 200 cm and 240 cm searchlights were also used. Captured British manufactured searchlight equipment placed into German and Italian service are not noted from North African intelligence reports located to date.

Some Surviving Examples

60cm Flakscheinwerfer (FlaK-Sw 36) mit Sd.Anh.51 at Overloon

There is 60cm Sw.34 that I am noting because I like this museum at Diekirch, Luxembourg...The National Museum of Military History - Diekirch, Luxembourg

There is a beautifully restored 150cm Sw.34 at the Luftwaffe museum at Berlin - Gatow.

Many more... are to be found still laying around or awaiting being restored...

Individually Owned, Captured Equipment or Display Examples

60cm Flakscheinwerfer (FlaK-Sw 36) mit Sd.Anh.51 recently sold from our web friends at...

(Larger photo versions and much more of their offerings!)

Generators

Several forms were placed in service and I am working up photos and the history of service to include here soon...

Generator and Trailer Types or Models Used In Association With "Scheinwerfer"

125 V 60kW Generator

A Type Field Generator

F Type Field Generator

24kW Medium Generator

220/65 Field Generator

B 2 C trailer with 220/380 V rotating current 60 kVA generator

Ah.23/1 Trailer (Single-Axle) for 220/65 Field Generator

Ah.24 Heavy (Single-Axle) Type A Field Generator as Trailer

An.25/1 Trailer (Single Axle) for F Type Field Generator

Sd.Ah.101 (Sd.Anh.101) Trailer for Medium Flak Generator

Sd.Ah.102 (Sd.Anh.102) Trailer for Medium Flak Generator

Sd.Ah.104 (Sd.Anh.104) Trailer (Twin Axle) for G150K Searchlight

Sd.Ah.204 (Sd.Anh.204) Trailer (Twin Axle) for 125 V 60kW Generator, 200cm Anti-Aircraft Searchlight

Sd.An.206 (Sd.Anh.206) Trailer (Twin Axle)

Sd.Ah.472 (Sd.Anh.472) Light Beacon Light Trailer (Twin Axle)

Sd.Ah.473 (Sd.Anh.473) Medium Beacon Light Trailer (Twin Axle)

Searchlight transport trailer with old-style G 150 searchlight, Naval Artillery

Searchlight transport trailer with G 110 searchlight, Naval Artillery

Various types of other generators and power source trailers were employed...

Example

Gl.Erz.400b for a 60cm FlaKSw 36 could possibly be run... by a small "Light Service" Generator...Recently sold on eBay! Similar generator was carried on Workshop / Light Service Vehicles... even sometimes a Kübelwagen! Modeler's need a similar offering... or it could be 'scratch built' from the photos provided here. Thanks to our friend for the photos to share! we have about twenty if anyone is interested... simply eMail us.

Gl.Erz.400b

Hit Counter