Bausch & Lomb Part II

The 1944 M28 Bausch & Lomb is not the only one i own. Ten years ago i came in a bookshoop where this beauty was laying on the table between all kind of books. I asked the shopowner if he knew what it was and he told me that a customer brought it in that day and traded it for a couple of nautical books. He told me he regretted that trade, because he did not knew that the weight of this piece of equipment is 52 pounds. I asked him again if he knew what it was, he told me no and asked me if i was interested for 25 euro. So i bought it, took it home and after one hour intensive googling i found out that this is a very rare World War II vintage U.S. Navy submarine conning tower binoculars known as “Torpedo Forward Control Binoculars.” To combat the effects of sea water, the body of these binoculars was made of solid stainless steel -- a very, very scarce commodity during the war and its use is indicative of the importance placed upon them! These gas-filled binoculars consist of two heavy cylinders each measuring 4 inches in diameter. Each is connected to a thick common rod with two stout mounting plates having four points of support.. The rod allows the binoculars to pivot independently of each other to adjust for interpupilary distance; the angle of which is indicated on a scale above. The distance is adjusted by a retractable lever on the objective end. Each objective is fitted with a spring-loaded lens cover which snaps open and shut. In addition, built into each cover is yet another spring-loaded filter for daylight viewing in haze or bright sunlight. The field produced by the large objective lenses and internal prisms is wide, clear and highly magnified. Prominent cross hairs, much like the submarine's periscope, are visible in the field. To the viewer's right is a lamp housing for illumination of the cross hairs at night.

I also found out that it was a good buy,  a similar pair of binoculars was sold for 4000 US dollar. The quality is absolutely stunning, the only disadvantage is it's weight. You only can use it on a tripod. It was placed permanent on the conning tower and not removed when the submarine was diving, therefor the robust design and weight.