Stabilisierter Leitstand

A Stabilisierter Leitstand (English: stabilized director post), abbreviated SL, was a fire control element in German World War II era shipborne heavy anti-aircraft defense.

Angles for bearing and height were taken through an optical sight, whilst distance was measured with a stereoscopic rangefinder.

The measured data was processed by a director analog computer (German: Rechengerät) to calculate settings for the anti-aircraft battery.

The director posts were colloqually called "Wackeltöpfe" (English: waggling pots) by the ships crew.

The II AO selected targets from the anti-aircraft operation post (German: Fla-Einsatzstand), usually situated on the foretop of the ship.

Once a lock on the target was acquired the control officer signalled permission to fire to the director computer.

[30] The SL was considered a failure: it provided an accurate firing solution but it was too heavy and affected the stability of the ships, and above all it was fragile and broke easily down.

Bad weather or a small hit could already cause enough concussion to derail the gimbals and put the director tower out of order.

The fire control solution for airborne targets made it impossible to use it for turret mounted guns.

[40] From the SL-6 onwards, the director was mounted on an inner platform, connected to the outer cylinder stand with the stabilizing gimbal.