Mines will fall into three main categories: bottom , moored , or drifting. Bottom mines are those that rest on the seafloor, usually in comparatively shallow waters. These mines tend to have large negative buoyancies they sink , which means after they are deployed they fall and rest on the ground. Certain bottom mines do work in deeper waters that allow them to only go after submarines.
Moored mines are used against submarines and ships and float a set distance from the seafloor thanks to a weight and mooring, or a tether. The mine itself is held in a case that floats which is attached to an anchoring device that sits on the seafloor. This mine type allows for deeper water deployment as well as other specific use cases. Mines that are found on beaches that usually make the news are typically old moored mines that have broken loose of their mooring and floated to the surface.
Drifting mines are those that float on the surface of the water and explode usually on contact with a ship. Due to their uncontrollable nature, these types of mines were actually outlawed at the Hague Convention of They have been sparingly used since then. We've discussed the different functional types of mines, but each type also can be deployed in 1 of three ways. Either by: Aircraft , submarine , or surface-laying.
Aircraft-laid mines are typically designed to be offensive in nature and are suited for rapid deployment, similar to bombs. Aircraft mines can be used to rapidly provide minefield replenishment without having to send vulnerable ships to the front lines and put them in danger from previously laid mines.
Today, aircraft are seen as an ideal mine delivery technique as the process requires little risk and can be done quickly. Essentially any aircraft that can carry and deploy bombs can also carry and deploy mines. Submarine-laid mines, like aircraft-laid mines, are typically used in offensive covert operations. These types of mines will fit in submarine torpedo tubes and can be deployed at depth. Typically submarines can only hold a small number of mines, which makes this technique not the best suited for laying large minefields.
During WWII, submarines planted a total of mines, that we know about, which directly resulted in the sinking of 27 ships and the damage of another Surface laid mines are the most economical due to the sheer volume of mines that can be transported on a ship. However, surface-laying mines require that the laying country has control of the waters and there are no potential imminent threats. This is not the case in many circumstances, which often leads to submarines and aircraft to be more preferred mine delivery techniques.
Surface-laying is typically used in defensive situations, like defending your harbors. In WWII, this was a very common practice. While there are no documented cases of these defensive minefields taking enemy casualties, there are also no documented cases of enemy vessels getting through the minefields.
This underscores one of mines' most essential qualities, their ability to scare off enemies without active engagement — a psychological weapon. Understanding how mines are actuated is crucial to understanding how to protect against them and how to use them.
Each type of actuation relies on sensors that are placed inside of the target detecting device, which ultimately triggers the detonation of the mine. There are four main techniques hinted at earlier: Magnetic , Pressure , Acoustic , and Seismic. In cases of magnetic actuation, the target detecting device will contain small magnetometers or sensors that detect magnetic fields.
Magnetometers are typically 3-axis detectors, which essentially means they can pick up on magnetic fields in any direction. Every ship has a magnetic signature of some sort which is specific to size, metal type, and even where the ship was built on earth. As a ship passes, the magnetometer picks up on the signal and converts what it senses into tiny electrical pulses. These pulses are then processed by the internal circuitry and the target detecting device determines whether it wants to actuate or not.
When the device determines it has enough input to actuate, the mine is triggered. Pressure actuation sensors detect negative pressures and convert them into electrical signals. This works similarly to magnetometers, except with pressure.
Like ships' magnetic signatures, each ship also has a pressure signature, which is dependent on things like size, shape, and weight. As ships move through the water, they displace a given volume of water. A World War II minesweeper would tow two buoys, called paravanes, behind the ship.
When the released mine would float to the surface of the water, it was destroyed by gunfire. These ships conducted sweeping operations from the beginning to the end of the war, while also completing patrol missions, escorting convoys, and conducting anti-submarine warfare maneuvers.
He ordered U. By the end of the war, 70 percent of all U. Navy casualties were caused from Korean mines, and U. This fault prompted the U. Navy to build a new designation of minesweepers to counter North Korea mine threats, which later made a more significant impact during the Vietnam War. These news ships became known as ocean minesweepers, MSO. As a result of the Korean War, the U. During the s, 65 new ships with MSO designations were built.
MSOs had the ability to sweep for moored contact mines as well as bottom magnetic and acoustic mines. In contrast to prior steel-hulled minesweepers that served in World War II, these new ships were smaller and constructed mostly of wood with bronze and non-magnetic stainless steel fittings to minimize their magnetic signature.
All of the s-era minesweepers were first equipped with UQS-1 mine-locating sonar, which were later upgraded to SQQ sonar. During the Cold War, favorable U. Two U. In the early s, the U. Navy began construction of another new minesweeper series, which were given the designation MCM for Mine Countermeasures Ships and were classified as the Avenger class.
These ships were designed as minesweepers and hunter-killers that are able to find, classify and destroy moored and bottom mines and are responsible for clearing mines from vital waterways. MCMs are equipped with sonar and video systems, a remote control mine denoting device and cable cutters. These ships are built primarily from wood with fiberglass sheathing. USS Lucid is the last surviving U. Navy MSO hull, and it is in the process of being restored as a museum piece. The current outlook for present and future minesweepers is bleak.
During the past decade, the U. Navy has dramatically decreased its minesweeper force, leaving only the Avenger-class ships to perform the once highly important duties.
Consequently, the last minesweeper class may eventually be replaced by new littoral combat ships, which will be supplied with mine countermeasure equipment as a part of their interchangeable mission gear. Thank you for your feedback. Would you like to speak with a Patient Advocate? However, as required by the new California Consumer Privacy Act CCPA , you may record your preference to view or remove your personal information by completing the form below.
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Despite the utility of mines, the Navy has traditionally neglected its minesweeping force, relying on European and Japanese minesweepers to augment its forces in wartime. The Avenger- class mine countermeasure MCM vessels are mostly based abroad, in Japan and Bahrain, where they stand ready to clear North Koran and Iranian mines—theoretically.
In reality, as ProPublica points out , the ships suffer from abysmal reliability rates. On the other hand crews that man the minesweepers are described as capable and eager to perform their mission, hobbled not only by the age and difficulty to maintain their ships but by a Navy reliant on computer simulations of missions instead of actual hands-on training and exercises.
In an ideal world the Avenger -class minesweepers would have been decommissioned years ago. In the mids the U. One of the many mission modules was the mine countermeasures module, a combination of systems, some unmanned, and took more than a decade to develop. Source: ProPublica.
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