The Singer was a

naval mine 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 ...

made and deployed by the Confederacy 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 ...

. It was a manually laid moored contact mine.

Development

During the

Matthew Fontaine Maury Matthew Fontaine Maury (January 14, 1806February 1, 1873) was an American oceanographer and naval officer, serving the United States and then joining the Confederacy during the American Civil War. He was nicknamed "Pathfinder of the Seas" and i ...

, a Confederate government official established the Torpedo Bureau and the Torpedo Corps in

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

to oversee the development and deployment of new types of naval mines. Maury was convinced that the only way to defend the coastlines against Union assaults was through the widespread use of naval mines. Mines were inexpensive and easily produced on a large scale. The low cost and large volume of mines produced would supplement the small naval forces of the Confederacy and make it possible to defend against the superior fleet of the Union navy.Hartmann, Gregory K.''Weapons That Wait: Mine Warfare in the United States'' Naval Institute Press, 1979. pg33 The efforts of the Torpedo Bureau and the Torpedo Corps proved to be worth the investment of the Confederacy. For the relative low cost of the mines they did a tremendous amount of damage to the Union forces, sinking a total of 27 Union naval vessels.Duncan, Robert C. Ph.D. ''America's Use of Sea Mines''. United States Naval Ordnance Laboratory, 1962. pg29.

Features

The most successful naval mine of the Confederacy is known as the ‘Singer’ mine, so-called because it was invented by a member of the family which owned and operated the Singer Corporation. The ‘Singer’ was a manually laid moored contact mine; it was set off when struck by an object with sufficient force to trigger the automatic fuse. The body of the mine was made from sheets of iron and was filled with a charge of 55-65 pounds of

gunpowder Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...

.Duncan, Robert C. Ph.D. ''America's Use of Sea Mines''. United States Naval Ordnance Laboratory, 1962. pg26. The automatic fuse consisted of a heavy metal cap that would be released by the force of a ship impacting it. As the cap was released it triggered a spring mechanism that struck a fulminating charge, in the form of a

percussion cap The percussion cap or percussion primer, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. This crucial invention gave rise ...

, which detonated the main explosive. It was one of the first mines equipped with a safety mechanism to prevent an accidental explosion. While being handled and during the planting of the mine a safety pin prevented the spring from accidentally triggering the fulminating charge. This pin was removed after the mine was in position. The only major drawback of the ‘Singer’ was that the spring mechanism was exposed to the water. When deployed in salt water sea growth would eventually develop on the spring mechanism, effectively preventing it from striking the fulminating charge within the mine. This flaw in the design caused Confederate minefields, especially in tropical waters, to become inert after a period of time.

References

{{reflist Weapons of the Confederate States of America Naval mines Naval weapons of the United States American Civil War weapons