This is a little out of my area because I collect only hand-held binoculars, but the answer to your question is yes there were a lot of binoculars which would have been steadied on a central support. There was a class of large and heavy binoculars (10X80's and 12X60's) which were used by anti-aircraft units for aircraft identification and target acquisition the best ones probably being made by Zeiss. They were mounted on tripods and cowlings and enabled observers to ascertain bearing and elevation of targets. There is another class of naval deck mounted binoculars of the same size and I think also larger up to 20X again used for target acquisition and determination of bearing of target. There were other naval binoculars of low power such as 6X with a very wide field of view which were mounted on the conning tower of a submarine and were submersible to great depths. Again, in spite of the low power these were heavy binoculars. I have seen one made by Bausch & Lomb. Also, various holders and brackets were produced which would hold conventional hand-held binoculars, in WWII 6X30 being the standard infantry configuration and 7X50 the standard naval binocular. This is what the bracket you reference was probably meant to hold. In the sinking of the Bismark action, the first sightings of the German warships were made with a Barr & Stroud CF41 7X50, the standard hand-held British naval binocular, which had been mounted on enemy bearing indicators.
I hope this answers your question. Most of what I've described is correct, but I do stand to be corrected on the details by someone out there who is more knowledgeable in the area than I am.
Frank
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