[Milsurplus] A-1 Receiver

[Glenn Little WB4UIV]

I have a U.S.N. Bureau of Ships Type US/A1 receiver.
This was manufactured by Samson United Corp.
This appears to be an infra red light receiver.
It has a 2.25" dia red filter in the front and an 0.75" eyepiece in the rear.
The receiver is 8" long and painted black with a fine wrinkle finish.
It has a battery box that holds two cells.
These appear to be slightly smaller than a AA cell.
There are charging instructions in the lid of the leather carrying case.
These state to basically charge the receiver for 2-3 minutes and age 
in the dark for 4 hours.
The receiver is then ready for use.
Does anyone recognize this receiver?
What batteries and charger would it take?
What was it used for?

This URL possibly talks about this receiver: 
http://www.optics.rochester.edu/~stroud/BookHTML/ChapII_pdf/II_14.pdf

This receiver may have been known as a metascope.



Thanks
73
Glenn
WB4UIV