Mine Planter Service
USAMP MP-7 Major General Wallace F. Randolph,[1] Army M 1 Mine Planter Hull No. 480.
Records (#742), Special Collections Department, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.
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The U.S. Army Mine Planter Service (AMPS) was an outgrowth of civilian crewed Army
Origin
Prior to the formal establishment of the Mine Planter Service, the Coast Artillery Corps had operated ships designated as Mine Planters, as well as an assortment of smaller vessels to establish and maintain the coastal defense mine fields. The ships, originating with vessels drafted into the work, were replaced by special construction in 1904 and 1909. Another block began with one ship, Gen. William M. Graham of 1917, and a group of nine constructed in 1919 to bring the fleet up to twenty planters in 1920. A massive Army reduction reduced that fleet to seven planters and one cable ship, named Joseph Henry.
Ship's crews were originally civilian mariners, operating the ship under a Coast Artillery officer, who also commanded the embarked enlisted mine specialists. Friction had developed, in particular over civilian ship's officers and crews leaving to take other employment during operations. In 1916 the Chief of Coast Artillery recommended legislation militarizing these vessels.[4] Two years later Congress granted the request.
History
The Army Mine Planter Service was formally established by act of Congress on 7 July 1918 as a part of the
The larger vessels, designated
The mine fields were composed of both contact mines, similar to conventional naval mines exploded by contact with a vessel, and controlled mines such as the M4 Ground Mine with a 3,000 pound TNT charge.[9] The contact mines were placed in areas vessels were not to enter, and the controlled mines were placed in designated ship channels.[10] Those mines were planted in planned groups at predetermined locations, connected to shore by electrical cables for firing when a target was observed within their effective range. The mines could be fired individually or as a group. The Distribution Box Boats were specially equipped to maintain the distribution boxes that joined the individual mines within a mine group to the main cable connecting the group to the mine casemate.[11]
Early mine planters of the AMPS were capable of planting the mines, but did not have specific cable-laying or maintenance capability. Two
On 16 May 1921 SGT Benjamin Lee Woodhouse (1893-1921) died of wounds received in an explosion on Junior Mine Planter 46 in the New York Harbor area. He was married two days prior to the explosion. He was a cousin of Carol Ryrie Brink, author of Caddie Woodlawn and numerous other works.[14]
World War II quickly demonstrated the obsolete nature of the static coastal defenses of which the mine fields were considered part of the principal armament. By the end of the war the forts were standing down and the Navy had been given responsibility for all mine operations. Many of the 1942 and 1943 construction vessels were transferred to the Navy to be converted to Auxiliary Minelayers (ACM), where they were armed and modified for mine operations more in the nature of the naval mine warfare model. The ships' mine planting capability was similar to
The Mine Planter Service faced major change during and at the end of the war, with its ships and role in mining transferred to the Navy. The Coast Artillery Journal for March–April 1948 noted joint training with Navy and how USAMP Spurgin was serving as a "floating laboratory" with "as many Navy hands as soldiers aboard the Spurgin as she works in the San Francisco harbor entrance".[15] The Army Mine Planter Service was officially terminated by the 1954 Warrant Officer Personnel Act.
Insignia
The following Warrant Officer insignia were described (but not authorized) by War Department Circular 15 on January 17, 1920.[16] The insignia were repealed when the Mine Planter Service was abolished on June 30, 1947. The ranks themselves were still on the books until abolished in 1954. Each Mine Planter had to have a complement of three Deck Officers (one Master, one First Mate, and one Second Mate) and three Engineering Officers (one Chief Engineer, one Assistant Engineer, and one Second Assistant Engineer) onboard serving in 8-hour shifts.
- Master: An embroidered 1-inch fouled anchor over 4 Bands of 1/2-inch brown braid.
- First Mate: An embroidered 1-inch fouled anchor over 3 Bands of 1/2-inch brown braid.
- Second Mate: An embroidered 1-inch fouled anchor over 2 Bands of 1/2-inch brown braid.
- Chief Engineer: An embroidered 1-inch three-vaned propeller over 4 Bands of 1/2-inch brown braid.
- Assistant Engineer: An embroidered 1-inch three-vaned propeller over 3 Bands of 1/2-inch brown braid.
- Second Assistant Engineer: An embroidered 1-inch three-vaned propeller over 2 Bands of 1/2-inch brown braid.
The mine planters turned over to the U.S. Navy were the core of the Auxiliary Minelayer (ACM / MMA) group of the
See also
- List of ships of the United States Army § Mine Planters
- Submarine mines in United States harbor defense
- Seacoast defense in the United States
- Harbor Defense Command
References
- ^ T. Colton. "U.S. Army Mine Craft". Shipbuilding History. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ The California State Military Museum. "Submarine Mine Defense of San Francisco Bay". The California State Military Museum. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ Jones, Henry L. (September–October 1939). "History of Army Mine Planters". Coast Artillery Journal. LXXXII (5). Washington, D.C.: United States Coast Artillery Association: 456–458.
- ^ "The Army Mine Planter Service". Coast Artillery Journal. 70: 469–472. June 1929.
- ^ U.S. Army Warrant Officer Career Center. "Origin and Early History". U.S. Army. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ FortMiles.org. "Army Mine Planters, organization table". FortMiles.org. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-9748167-3-9.
- ^ Clay 2010, pp. 1175–1176.
- ^ FortMiles.org. "Army Mine Planters, organization table". FortMiles.org. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ "Map of minefields in Manila Bay at "The Sinking of SS Corregidor" at MaritimeReview.ph". Archived from the original on 2020-02-06. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
- ^ Berhow 2015, pp. 343–352.
- ^ "R/V F. V. Hunt (ex Niles)". Miscellaneous Ships. Archived from the original on 3 February 2002. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ Clay 2010, p. 1190.
- ^ "Soldier's Injuries Fatal", The New York Times, May 16, 1921
- ^ "The Seacoast Branch, The Artillery School". Coast Artillery Journal. LXXXXI: 69. March–April 1948.
- ^ Chappell, Gordon. "The Army Mine Planter Service". The California State Military Museum. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
- ^ "Auxiliary Minelayer (ACM / MMA) Index". NavSource Photo Archives. NavSource. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ Clay, Steven E. (2010). US Army Order of Battle 1919–1941, vol. 2 (PDF). Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Combat Studies Institute Press. pp. 1187, 1192, 1195, 1196–1198, 1201, 1217.
- ^ U.S.C.G. Historian's Office. "Speedwell, 1923". U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
- ^ U.S.C.G. Historian's Office. "Pequot, 1922" (PDF). U.S. Coast Guard. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
External links
- Ft. Miles - Principle(sic) Armament - Mine Field
- The California State Military Museum - Submarine Mine Defense of San Francisco Bay
- Army Ships -- The Ghost Fleet - Coast Artillery Corps - Army Mine Planter Service
- Shipbuilding History - U.S. Army Mine Craft - MP, L and M
- U. S. Army Warrant Officers Association - LET GO! (W.O. print showing mine flotilla)