60 " Searchlight Transport

[David Dunlop]

Does anyone know what vehicle was used by the Canadian Army during WWII to transport the 60" Sperry/GE searchlight and it's related generator set? I have never seen a photo of one in Canadian service, but some sources suggest it was a Diamond T with cargo winch and others say it might have been a Studebaker with cargo winch. I know they were not towed anywhere as there was no suspension on either the searchlight or generator units and the searchlight would have been smashed to pieces if towed. The wheels were needed just to load and unload the units and to position the searchlight battery.

David

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Does anyone know what vehicle was used by the Canadian Army during WWII to transport the 60" Sperry/GE searchlight and it's related generator set? I have never seen a photo of one in Canadian service, but some sources suggest it was a Diamond T with cargo winch and others say it might have been a Studebaker with cargo winch. I know they were not towed anywhere as there was no suspension on either the searchlight or generator units and the searchlight would have been smashed to pieces if towed. The wheels were needed just to load and unload the units and to position the searchlight battery.

David

The manual says...2 1/2 ton cargo truck for the light and the same for the generator..Take your pick..

15. TRANSPORTATION. A completely m o b i l e
searchlight unit (AA) is equipped with two 21/2-ton
cargo trucks and a searchlight trailer M1 Headquarters
battery of the 155-mm gun battalion, which
is designated as semimobile, is authorized one 2Yton
truck and one searchlight trailer for each two
searchlights. Each harbor defense is authorized one
searchlight trailer for such movement of searchlights
as may be necessary.
a. The searchlight trailer M1 (figs. 9 and 10) is a
four-wheel, pneumatic-tired tilting trailer with a
load capacity of 4,000 pounds. It is equipped with a
hand-operated winch used for loading the searchlight
and with four turnbuckles which engage hold-down
devices on the searchlight chassis to lock it in place
during transportation. Access doors in the front of
the trailer permit reaching the front turnbuckles.
It has hand brakes, used when the trailer is parked,
and four-wheel electric brakes which can be operated
from the cab of the towing truck. A jumper
cable provides power for the brakes and for tail and
stop lights on the trailer. A breakaway chain sets
the brakes in the event that the trailer breaks loose
from the towing truck.
b. The power plant is transported over smooth
roads by towing behind a 2Y2-ton truck. Over bad
roads, it is advisable to load the power plant in a
17
searchlight trailer or a 21/2-ton truck if it is to be
transported for a long distance. If the power plant
is loaded in a vehicle, it must be securely chocked
and wired in place.


And trucks DO tow the light and the powerplant...


Equipment should be loaded as follows: extended
hand control and spare carbons in the searchlight
trailer; control station (including binocular
mount), telephones, control cable, and power cables
in the truck towing the searchlight; machine gun and
ammunition chests in the truck towing the power
plant. (See FM 44-75.) If strafing or low-level
bombing attack is considered likely en route to the
position, the machine gun should be carried in firing
position, manned and ready, throughout the movement.
If the move is to be a long one over rough
roads, it may be necessary to carry the power plant
in the truck rather than tow it. It will not be possible
to carry the power plant and mount the machine
gun in the same truck.
(2) Personnel should be carried as follows: light
commander, searchlight operator, and control station
operator in the truck towing the searchlight; machine
gunners and the power plant operator in the truck
towing the power plant. The section leader should
ride with the first squad of his section to move into
position. The platoon leader and the platoon sergeant
should have the use of one of the battery
administrative vehicles during movement into position.
51
(3) The truck towing the searchlight proceeds to
the searchlight position (or as near to it as terrain
and camouflage discipline will permit). The trailer
is uncoupled and the searchlight and a telephone
are unloaded and prepared for operation. The searchlight
operator remains with the searchlight. The
truck proceeds to the position selected for the control
station, unreeling the control cable and telephone
wire as it goes. At the selected site, the control
station and the other telephone are unloaded and
set up. The control station operator remains with
the control station. The truck then returns to the
searchlight position and moves from there to the
power plant position, unreeling the power cables.
(4) The power plant truck proceeds to the power
plant position, where the power plant is uncoupled
(or unloaded). The truck then proceeds to the site
selected for the machine gun and the machine gun
is unloaded and set up. The truck then moves to
the searchlight position and picks up the searchlight
trailer.
(5) After completing the movements outlined in
(3) and (4) preceding, the trucks return to the battery
motor pool or some other designated point to pick
up personnel and equipment of another searchlight
squad. If necessary, the searchlight truck may be
used to lay telephone wire from the searchlight position
to the battalion command post. The power
plant truck, towing the searchlight trailer, should
return to the designated point at once to make the
trailer available for loading.
(6) All personnel present assist if heavy work is
required to place the searchlight, control station, or
power plant in position. (If the searchlight, power
plant, or control station must be manhandled for
some distance over difficult terrain, additional personnel
from other searchlight squads should be provided.)
Adjustments (leveling, removing transportation
accessories, etc.) to the searchlight, control
station, or power plant are performed by the appro-
52
priate operator after the truck has moved on. Each
operator checks the operation of his instrument and
connects the cables to the proper receptacles as soon
as the cables are laid. The searchlight operator and
the control station operator connect their telephones
to the wire laid between their respective positions.
The power plant operator starts the power plant and
checks its performance but does not turn on the
main switch until the light commander has checked
to see that the proper connections have been made
at searchlight and control station.



Ref...
http://ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/ref/FM/PDFs/FM4-29.PDF

[cliff]

Alex the AIF used GMC-CCKW 6X6's with the rear canvas tilt heightened to clear. Could the Canadian Army have used the same?

the photo below came from somewhere on the net I think. Sorry cannot remember where

Title - 1942 GMC Searchlight Truck

[David Dunlop]

Thanks for the info, Alex.

Does the manual have a photo of the tiltbed trailer used for towing the searchlight unit? It sounds like that is what they are referring to using when towing the searchlight itself. The axles on the searchlight itself are not suspended at all and it would not take much of a bump on the road to shatter the glass reflector, or badly knock the carbon rod feed rate mechanism out of action.

Regards,

David

[Barry Churcher]

Here is a Dutch combo.

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Thanks for the info, Alex.

Does the manual have a photo of the tiltbed trailer used for towing the searchlight unit? It sounds like that is what they are referring to using when towing the searchlight itself. The axles on the searchlight itself are not suspended at all and it would not take much of a bump on the road to shatter the glass reflector, or badly knock the carbon rod feed rate mechanism out of action.

Regards,

David

David.
Go to the link I provided..It is all there ..figure 9,10...
And they also tell you how the it is all packaged and stored so that it is all protected while being transported..
Read the info on the link provided,then come back and ask me some more questions..



a. The searchlight trailer M1 (figs. 9 and 10) is a
four-wheel, pneumatic-tired tilting trailer with a
load capacity of 4,000 pounds. It is equipped with a
hand-operated winch used for loading the searchlight
and with four turnbuckles which engage hold-down
devices on the searchlight chassis to lock it in place
during transportation. Access doors in the front of
the trailer permit reaching the front turnbuckles.
It has hand brakes, used when the trailer is parked,
and four-wheel electric brakes which can be operated
from the cab of the towing truck. A jumper
cable provides power for the brakes and for tail and
stop lights on the trailer. A breakaway chain sets
the brakes in the event that the trailer breaks loose
from the towing truck.

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by David Dunlop

Thanks for the info, Alex.

The axles on the searchlight itself are not suspended at all and it would not take much of a bump on the road to shatter the glass reflector, or badly knock the carbon rod feed rate mechanism out of action.

Regards,

David

Not at all. I have a GE searchlight (albeit an 18in, but it's the same as a 150cm GE) and it's tough as nails. It's a common misconception that the reflector is a glass mirror - IT'S NOT! Hollywood has a lot to answer for when they suggest that a quick burst from a Machine Gun will shatter a light, BS! It's a cast and machined aluminum disc that's coated with Rhodium. Rhodium is a metal similar to Titanium, with a much higher stability and reflectivity than Chrome. Although my reflector still has a couple of corrosion spots, the reflector will still cause serious burns on a sunny day if you get in it's focal spot, and will actually light a match!! The glass lens is actually small segments that are designed to flex and not shatter, while the carbon rod feed is so overengineered that the odd road bump or two would not knock it out of alignment.

[Phil Waterman]

Here is a link to an operational 1942 60" Anti-aircraft Searchlight which has been at our Rally in New Hampshire a number of years http://cckw.org/weare_2006_084.JPG

Take a look around the rest of http://cckw.org/ and you will find some more photos of the search light - look particularly in the Weare Rally pages.

This thing when it is operating is a great bug attractor.

Cheers Phil

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by cliff

Alex the AIF used GMC-CCKW 6X6's with the rear canvas tilt heightened to clear. Could the Canadian Army have used the same?

From the AWM files:

[cliff]

Originally Posted by Tony Smith

From the AWM files:

Tony those two photos are what I looked for when I first went to post and could not find them in my collection. Thanks for posting them.

[Norm Cromie (RIP)]

Hi chaps. I am trying to accurately record my WW2 history and I need your help
Were the searchlights that were used at our front in 1945 in Italy organized to go on and off on a controlled time table? I vaguely remember being given a time sequence during this action but at the old age of 87 my mind is not what it used to be. Would appreciate any help.

Naviglio Canal

Winter of 1944 was a cold and miserable time to be in Italy. Sometimes things that happen are often humorous as well as sad.
Late in December Captain Mike George of B Coy had his headquarters set up in an old house on a road running parallel to the Naviglio Canal. One of his patrols had encountered a minefield on top of the dyke. So he sent word to H.Q for a section of the pioneers to take a look at the situation. At this time we were without a platoon officer as Lieutenant Ken Hudson a week before had stepped on a shoe mine and sadly had lost his foot. So I took four of my section and a Bren carrier and proceeded up to Mike Georges position. The Germans were firing intermittent fixed line of machine gun fire over the canal and the bullets were bouncing off the Italian houses, and I can tell you this did not sit too well with me. After talking the situation over with Captain George we decided due to the fact that German patrols were active on the canal that I would go myself as there would be less chance of them spotting one person rather than five. He did not want the field lifted he just wanted to know where it was and what it was. There had been light snow falling on and off so we took an Old Italian white sheet, cut a hole in it and draped it over me like a poncho. I then proceeded with a rifle section that took me to a forward bren gun outpost they then said to me, lots of luck Cromie you are on your own. From there I proceeded up what looked like a used path to the top of the dyke. At this time division was using large searchlights from the rear shutting them off and on at fixed intervals to light up the forward area. When the first light went on I suddenly looked at my white sheet and the muddy disturbed ground around me. Much to my shock, the white sheet I had over me stood out like a beacon in the night against the blackened and dirty snow. Needless to say I got rid of that sheet faster than a nightclub stripper. After checking the mine field I found out they were our own anti personal mines, which I believe had been laid earlier by the West Novies. I started back along the canal and had a hell of a time trying to figure which path I should take to get me back to the outpost. I had forgot to memorize it earlier but I took a chance and luckily I hit the outpost. Those damned Italians were just too efficient in cleaning their sheets.

[Tony Smith]

Originally Posted by Alex Blair

The manual says...2 1/2 ton cargo truck for the light and the same for the generator..Take your pick..

More from the AWM files, a couple of pics of a GMC CCKW with a 150cm searchlight (although in this case, it's not a GE or Sperry, but an English "Searchlight, 150cm, No2"), and another pic of the Jimmy/Genny combo:

[Local Chap]

This looks like it could be useful on a warm Summer evening, either "as is" or on the back of a Blitz or GMC:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...X:eRTM:US:1123