Seesaw searchlight
Open-knowledge reference entry
Seesaw searchlights were an early electric powered searchlight first developed in the 1870s used in conjunction with coast artillery.
The searchlight consisted of an electric carbon lamp, capable of a strong beam for target illumination. Because the bulb was vulnerable to enemy fire, it was protected in a recessed emplacement whilst a large mirror, attached to the end of a 'see-saw' pivoting iron beam reflected the beam across the water to the target. The light was powered by steam engines usually housed in the nearby forts.
Only a few of these were built anywhere in the British Empire, and were difficult to operate and were never successful. New Zealand's example had been abandoned by 1899.
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This entry incorporates text from “Seesaw searchlight” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.