A controlled mine was a circuit fired weapon used in coastal defenses with ancestry going back to 1805 when Robert Fulton termed his underwater explosive device a torpedo:

Robert Fulton invented the word torpedo to describe his underwater explosive device and successfully destroyed a ship in 1805. In the 1840s Samuel Colt began experimenting with underwater mines fired by electric current and in 1842, he blew up an old schooner in the Potomac River from a shore station five miles away.

History

"Torpedoes" were in use during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

when such devices were made famous with the order given by

David Farragut David Glasgow Farragut (; also spelled Glascoe; July 5, 1801 – August 14, 1870) was a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. Fa ...

at Mobile Bay. After that war similar mines were being contemplated or put into use by other nations. In 1869 the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

was directed by

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

William Belknap to assume responsibility for torpedoes for coastal defense. That responsibility continued through the formation of the U.S. Torpedo Service as part of the United States' seacoast defenses. In the United States, modern naval mine development began in 1869 at the Engineer School of Application under Major

Henry Larcom Abbot Henry Larcom Abbot (August 13, 1831 – October 1, 1927) was a military engineer and career officer in the United States Army. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and was appointed brevet brigadier general of volunteers f ...

at Willets Point, New York. Eventually, after calls for "rifled cannon" to cover the torpedo fields became reality, that service and the Corps of Engineers turned over responsibility to the newly formed coast artillery branch in 1901, which became the U.S. Army Coast Artillery Corps in 1907. The terms "mine" and "torpedo" were used interchangeably until modern usage began separating the term with "mine" applied to static explosive devices and "torpedo" to self-propelled or "locomotive torpedo" weapons. Even during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

the interchangeable terms caused confusion. In Britain, the term 'Submarine Mine' was used. Fixed minefields to defend harbours were the responsibility of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

(RE), which formed special companies of Submarine Miners to maintain them. Lieutenant-General Sir Andrew Clarke, Inspector-General of Fortifications 1882–86, found that he did not have enough Regular Army engineers to man all the minefields being installed so he decided to utilise the part-time soldiers of the

Volunteer Force The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated ...

. After successful trials the system was rolled out to ports around the country, where the Submarine Miners might be drawn from the Regular RE, the

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

, or the Volunteers.Westlake, pp. 15–16. The Submarine Miners were also to the fore in developing searchlights to illuminate the minefields. By 1907 the

War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...

had decided to hand responsibility for the minefields to the Militia, but several Volunteer units were converted to Electrical Engineer Companies employing their lights for coastal artillery control and, eventually, anti-aircraft defences.

Operation

Unlike

naval mines A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any v ...

that are dispersed at sea, the controlled mine field location is chosen so that it could be under observation. The exact location of the mines was required so that they could be fired from the mine casemate when a target vessel was plotted by observers to be within the mine's effective range. For this reason the mines were "planted" in predetermined locations with electrical connection through cables to the firing location. The complex of mines, cables and junction boxes required maintenance. Specialized vessels to undertake the hazards of planting mines and maintaining the electrical cables were used. In the United States a type of vessel termed

mine planter Mine planter and the earlier "torpedo planter" was a term used for mine warfare ships into the early days of World War I. In later terminology, particularly in the United States, a mine planter was a ship specifically designed to install controlle ...

was developed, built and deployed in 1904. By 1909 more mine planters were under construction and deployment had reached the San Francisco fortifications. These were assisted by smaller vessels. In the last stages of such coastal defenses during the Second World War the U.S. Army Mine Planter Service (USAMPS) mine flotilla usually consisted of two planters, four Distribution Box Boats and a small fleet of yawls and launches. In the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

controlled mines were often laid alongside

anti-submarine indicator loop An anti-submarine indicator loop was a submerged cable laid on the sea bed and used to detect the passage of enemy submarines. History In the first years of World War I submarines were fearful, one-sided weapons because they were invisible. In J ...

s during both World Wars; the US Navy used a similar strategy in at least World War II.Indicator loops website
/ref> A dozen specialized vessels known as "Indicator Loop Mine Layers"—including three ''Linnet''-class minelayers and nine smaller vessels—much like the U.S. mine planters, were built for the Royal Navy immediately before and during WWII. Similarly in Japan four

Hashima-class cable layer The were the only class of purpose-built cable layers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), serving during World War II. Four vessels were built in 1939–41 under the Maru 4 Programme. Apart from laying communications cables, these ships were a ...

s were built between 1939 and 1941 for mine planting duties.

References

Bibliography

* Ian F.W. Beckett, ''Riflemen Form: A study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement 1859–1908'', Aldershot: Ogilby Trusts, 1982, . * * * Maj O.M. Short, Maj H. Sherlock, Capt L.E.C.M. Perowne and Lt M.A. Fraser, ''The History of the Tyne Electrical Engineers, Royal Engineers, 1884–1933'', 1933/Uckfield: Naval & Military, nd, . * R.A. Westlake, ''Royal Engineers (Volunteers) 1859–1908'', Wembley: R.A. Westlake, 1983, .

External links

U.S. National Park Service; Torpedo Defense - COAST DEFENSE OF THE POTOMAC

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110604224519/http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA502616&Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf Mine Defense -Today and Tomorrow; ''Coast Artillery Journal'', Vol. 71, No. 3, September 1929] - .pdf from DTIC with technical information and illustrations of equipment of the day.
Shore and Underwater Elements - Mine Facilities - Fort Miles, Del.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Controlled Mines Anti-ship weapons Explosive weapons Coastal fortifications

History

Operation

See also

References

Bibliography

External links