The Second World War spurred the development of technologies aimed at military applications. Each of the countries tried to surpass the others by inventing new types of weapons. One of the most interesting was the project of British military technologists called Canal Defense Light (CDL).
Light tank, prototype 1932.
England has always seen itself as Germany's next target since World War I. That is why this unusual project arose there, designed to protect the shores of Foggy Albion from enemy landing. Moreover, surprisingly, this weapon was originally offered to the French in 1934, but was rejected.
The project was developed by British officer Albert Victor Marcel Mitzakis. He invented and tried to introduce his super-powerful searchlight into the troops. When used at night, the enemy was literally blinded, deprived of the possibility of aimed fire and, as a result, disorganized, which would give the British troops an advantage in battle.
Drawing from the patent.
For mobility and protection from possible damage, the searchlight was hidden behind the armor. Tests of the finished model took place in 1937, but only three years later, the Ministry of Defense ordered three hundred Canal Defense Light searchlights installed on the hulls of conventional tanks - Matilda, Churchill and Valentine.
M4 CDL prototype.
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The Americans gave further development to the project. In the 42nd, after demonstrating the installation in action, American engineers modified the searchlights in strict secrecy. The installations were installed on the "Americans": M3 Lee, M3 Grant and M4 Sherman. Six battalions (almost five hundred vehicles) entered service with the British.
M3 Grant CDL at the Cavalry Tank Museum.
What kind of "weapons" were the secret devices carrying? It was a carbon arc lamp of enormous luminous power - almost thirteen million candela (the light from a candle is equal to one candela). Two coal electrodes burned out from an arc burning between them, and a system of concave mirrors focused a beam so bright that it blinded a person even at a distance of two kilometers.
Night tests of the Grant CDL tank searchlight.
At a distance of nine hundred meters, a strip three hundred and ten meters wide and thirty high was illuminated. The installation of the searchlight was powered by a 20 kW generator. Externally, the turret of the Canal Defense Light tank was as if dissected by a narrow gap of five cm. The installation was also equipped with a shutter to create a flickering spotlight effect. Plus, it was possible to install red or blue filters.
The tanks of the project were not widely used, but the annals of history preserved several successful operations with the use of Canal Defense Light tanks. Only two cars have survived to this day, exhibited at The Tank Museum (Bovington, England) and the Cavalry Tank Museum (Ahmednagar, India).