Searchlight - Military Use

Military Use

The Royal Navy used searchlights in 1882 to prevent Egyptian forces from staffing artillery batteries at Alexandria. 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 by torpedo boats by 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 the Russo-Japanese War from 1904–05.