Minelayer
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A minelayer is any
An army's special-purpose
Etymology
Before World War I, mine ships were termed mine planters generally. For example, in an address to the United States Navy ships of Mine Squadron One at Portland, England, Admiral Sims used the term "mine layer" while the introduction speaks of the men assembled from the "mine planters".[4] During and after that war the term "mine planter" became particularly associated with defensive coastal fortifications. The term "minelayer" was applied to vessels deploying both defensive- and offensive mine barrages and large scale sea mining. "Minelayer" lasted well past the last common use of "mine planter" in the late 1940s.
The most common use of the term "minelayer" is a
In World War II, the British employed the Abdiel minelayers both as minelayers and as transports to isolated garrisons, such as Malta and Tobruk. Their combination of high speed (up to 40 knots) and carrying capacity was highly valued. The French used the same concept for the cruiser Pluton.
A naval minelayer can vary considerably in size, from coastal boats of several hundred
Submarines can also be minelayers. The first submarine to be designed as such was the Russian submarine Krab. USS Argonaut (SM-1) was another such minelaying submarine. Although there are no modern submarine minelayers, mines sized to be deployed from a submarine's torpedo tubes, such as the Stonefish, allow any submarine to be a minelayer.
In modern times, few navies worldwide still possess minelaying vessels. The
A few navies still have dedicated minelayers in commission, including those of South Korea, Poland, Sweden and Finland; countries with long, shallow coastlines where sea mines are most effective. Other navies have plans to create improvised minelayers in times of war, for example by rolling sea-mines into the sea from the vehicle deck through the open aft doors of a Roll-on/roll-off ferry. In 1984, the Libyan Navy was suspected of having mined the Red Sea a few nautical miles south of the Suez Canal using the Ro-Ro ferry Ghat, other nations suspected of having similar wartime plans include Iran and North Korea.
Aerial minelaying
Beginning in World War II, military aircraft were used to deliver naval mines by dropping them, attached to a parachute. Germany, Britain and the United States made significant use of aerial minelaying.
A
The British
"Gardening" operations by the RAF were also sometimes used to assist in code breaking activities at Bletchley Park. Mines would be laid, at Bletchley Park's request, in specific locations. Resulting German radio transmissions were then monitored for clues which could help deciphering messages encoded by the Germans using Enigma machines.
In the Pacific, the US dropped thousands of mines in Japanese home waters, contributing to that country's defeat.
Aerial mining was also used in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. In Vietnam, rivers and coastal waters were extensively mined with a modified bomb called a destructor that proved very successful.
Landmine laying
Some examples of minelaying vehicles:
- Shielder minelaying system
- Zemledeliye (minelaying system)
- GMZ family of minelayers, which the TM-62 series mines
- Minenwerfer Skorpion
- Type 94 Minelayer
- Istrice (M113 variant)
See also
- List of minelayer ship classes
- List of mine warfare vessels of the US Navy in the Second World War
- Mine Planter Service (U.S. Army)
- Minesweeper (ship)
- Submarine mines in United States harbor defense
Notes
- ^ "minelayer". Definitions from Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
- ^ Chappel, Gordon. "Submarine Mine Defense of San Francisco Bay". Historic California Posts — Forts Under the Sea. California State Military Museum. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ "Principle Armament – Mine Field". FortMiles.org. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ All Hands, ed. (1919). "Speech of Admiral W. S. Sims, U. S. Navy". The Northern Barrage, Mine Force, United States Atlantic Fleet, The North Sea, 1918. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. p. 108.
- ^ Fitzsimons, B (ed.). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare. p. 104.
- ^ Smith, Gordon. "Naval War in Outline". World War 1 at Sea: French Navy.
- ^ "Irresistible, Ocean and Bouvet Go Down, Hitting Mines in Strait". The New York Times. 20 March 1915.
- ^ Adkins, Paul (1997). Codeword Dictionary. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International. p. 79.
References
- Hartcup, Guy (1970). The Challenge of War. New York: Taplinger Publishing Company. ISBN 9780800814311.
- Hartmann, Gregory K. (1979). Weapons that Wait: Mine Warfare in the U.S. Navy. Annapolis, MD: ISBN 0-87021-753-4.
- Jurens, W. (2016). "Life in the Slow Lane: Some Thoughts on Minelayer and Netlayer Evolution". Warship International. LIII (1): 59–68. ISSN 0043-0374.
External links
- Dewar, Alfred (1922). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 31 (12th ed.). pp. 949–995. .