For a long time I haven't really understood why sometimes the enemy ships use searchlights, and sometimes they don't.
I finally understood the searchlight triggering of enemy ships.
I made a test mission with a couple of destroyers.
I tried a lot of different settings, and after a couple of hours i found the answer.
It only has to do with the weather. The time of the year or crew status doesn't play a role.
clear sky, at night - no searchlights
clear sky at daytime - of course no searchlights
light, medium and heavy fog at daytime - no searchlights
when i turned clouds to heavy things startet to happen:
heavy clouds, at night - SEARCHLIGHTS
heavy clouds, at daytime - SEARCHLIGHTS
medium clouds or less at daytime or nightime - no searchlights
This means that the use of searchlights by enemy ships is triggered by the clouds.
So as long as there are heavy clouds their searchlights will be turned on!
FINALLY!