1950s USN Battle Lantern

1950s USN Battle Lantern

Manufacturer: The Roflan Company Topsfield, Massachusetts
Model: SYM 100.2 815-74434
Approximately 6 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 4 1/2"deep
Handle is 3 1/4" tall

Across the front is marked "USN" & "NM". Not sure what the NM means?

This is a United States Navy battle lantern that was used on submarines, aricraft carriers, tug boats, landing craft,could even be found in the back of Navy pick up trucks and vans. These are waterproof and can float.

They made 2 versions, a battery operated(like this example) and a wired version. The hard wired version was set so that when power was lost, these lamps came on to provide emergency lighting. The lanterns normally come with a bracket that can be attached to walls, bulkheads or mounted in trucks.

From reading, it appears that different colors were used depending on where they were mounted in the ship. Originally the early WWII versions were metal and painted grey, but they blended into the walls. Later a bakelite version was made and some of those were brown. Eventually the yellow color was standard and is still used today. The new versions have LEDs.

The schematic label inside does not have a Federal Stock Number which is a codification system used by the U.S. federal government from 1955 to 1974. So I believe this example is post WWII and used in the 1950s.