User:Pgrig/Mines

From the 1870s through the end of WW2, the U.S. Army was tasked to defend American harbors and rivers with networks of submarine mines^[1] This program of mine defenses remained active (or on stand-by) untill roughly 1946, by which time it is estimated that there were some 4,000 mines deployed (or ready to deploy) to defend American coastal waters.

U.S. submarine mine technology was the focus of one of the first concentrated programs of government-funded military research and development in America^[2] , under the aegis of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Investigations were carried out into topics as diverse as the action of different types of explosives, the effective range of underwater blasts, the best shapes and materials for mine casings, the reliability and action of differente types of fuzes, the manufacture and function of underwater cable, the technology of electrical batteries, and the use of seacoast searchlights.

The Impetus

programs of basic scientific research and the application of military technology in America. At the Engineer School of Application (WIllets Point, NYfocii of basic scientific research The history of

The Origins of American Coastal Mine Defense

One man was almost single-handedly responsible for developing the tactics and working out the scientific and technical underpinnings for America's program of coast defense via submarine mines. This man was Henry Larcom Abbot, a member of the Army Corps of Engineers who had been an artillery officer in the Civil War and who, upon its conclusion, was placed in command of the newly established Engineer School of Application at Willets Point, NY.

A controlled mine (at left), with the distribution box that connected it and the other mines in its Group to the mine casemate on shore.

This WW2-era mine, with its anchor, is on display at Fort Warren in Boston Harbor.

The modern era of defending American harbors with submarine mines (originally referred to as "torpedos") began in the post-Civil War period.

In 1866, the U.S. [Army] Corps of Engineers established the Engineer School of Application at Willets Point, NY. The first commander of this School, Maj. Henry Larcom Abbot, was almost single-handedly responsible for designing and supervising the program of research and development that defined the strategy and tactics for the mine defense of American harbors. Abbot experimented with underwater explosives, fuzes, cabling, and and electrical equipment for over a decade before publishing the first manuals on the use of mines in coast defense in 1876-77.

Then, in 1886, the Endicott Board made its report on harbor defense, giving rise to a vast expansion in the building of modern forts, the installation of new guns, and the preparation of mine defenses.

From about 1900 until 1946 the mine defense program grew, until upwards of 10,000 controlled mines were maintained by the U.S. Army's Coast Artillery Corps.^[3]

Controlled mines were anchored to the bottom of a harbor, either sitting on the bottom itself (ground mines) or floating (buoyant mines) at depths which could vary widely, from about 20 to 250 feet. These mines were fired electrically through a vast network of underwater electrical cables at each protected harbor. Mines could be set to explode on contact or be triggered by the operator, based on reports of the position of enemy ships. The networks of cables terminated on shore in massive concrete bunkers called mine casemates (see photo, below-right), that were usually buried beneath protective coverings of earth.

The mine casemate housed electrical generators, batteries, control panels, and troops that were used to test the readiness of the mines and to fire them when needed.^[4] The map of Boston Harbor's mine fields (below, right) shows the harbor mine defenses consisting of 30 groups of mines, with 19 mines per group. Each mine was normally loaded with 200 lbs. of TNT. So in Boston's case, a total of 57 tons of explosives guarded the harbor.^[5]

Each protected harbor also maintained a small fleet of mine planters and tenders that were used to lay the mines in precise patterns, haul them back up periodically to check their condition (or to remove them back to the shore during peacetime), and then lay them again.^[6] Each of these harbors also had on-shore facilities to store the mines and the TNT used to fill them, to load and transport the mines (which often weighed over 750 lbs. each when loaded), and to test and repair the electrical cables. Fire control structures were also built that were used first to observe the mine-laying process and fix location of each mine and second to track attacking ships, reporting when specific mines should be detonated (so-called "observed fire"). The preferred method of using the mines was to set them to detonate a set period of time after they had been touched or tipped, avoiding the need for observers to spot each target ship.

^ Originally, in the 1860s, these mines were referred to as "torpedos." There were several types of early torpedos. Spar torpedos were explosive charges which were attached to long planks (or spars) that protruded from the bows of ships or boats. Fish torpedos were self-propelled explosives that were launched from shipboard and traveled through the water before exploding (this is the type that later became known as "torpedos" in American service). Moored torpedos were the third type, and this was the type used for American coast defense (and now generally referred to as "mines"). Wikipedia refers to submarine mines as "naval mines."
^ This account describes the research conducted at the Engineer School of Application between 1868 and about 1888.
^ For an excellent summary, see Mark Berhow, "Controlled Mines in US Army Seacoast Defenses," in Mark Berhow, Ed, "American Seacoast Defenses," CDSG Press, McLean, VA, 2004, p.326, CDSG.org.
^ A manual of the period that explains mine defense (including the details of mine-laying and the electrical systems needed for the mines) is Training Manual TM 2160-20, "Submarine Mining," U.S. War Department, Washington, D.C., October 15, 1930.
^ As was the case with other parts of the U.S. coast defense system (e.g., its thousands of guns), there is no evidence that a mine was ever fired in anger against an attacking enemy. There is a report that a submarine attempted to penetrate the mine fields of Boston Harbor in June, 1942 but reportedly withdrew before the mines could be fired or reset to detonate on contact. See Gerald Butler, "The Military History of Boston's Harbor Islands, Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 71.
^ See supra, Note 2, Sections XXIV-XXVI. This manual contains a detailed description of the process of minelaying and describes in great detail how the ships and smaller craft were to be deployed to accomplish this task.

[1] Originally, in the 1860s, these mines were referred to as "torpedos." There were several types of early torpedos. Spar torpedos were explosive charges which were attached to long planks (or spars) that protruded from the bows of ships or boats. Fish torpedos were self-propelled explosives that were launched from shipboard and traveled through the water before exploding (this is the type that later became known as "torpedos" in American service). Moored torpedos were the third type, and this was the type used for American coast defense (and now generally referred to as "mines"). Wikipedia refers to submarine mines as "naval mines."

[2] This account describes the research conducted at the Engineer School of Application between 1868 and about 1888.

[3] For an excellent summary, see Mark Berhow, "Controlled Mines in US Army Seacoast Defenses," in Mark Berhow, Ed, "American Seacoast Defenses," CDSG Press, McLean, VA, 2004, p.326, CDSG.org.

[4] A manual of the period that explains mine defense (including the details of mine-laying and the electrical systems needed for the mines) is Training Manual TM 2160-20, "Submarine Mining," U.S. War Department, Washington, D.C., October 15, 1930.

[5] As was the case with other parts of the U.S. coast defense system (e.g., its thousands of guns), there is no evidence that a mine was ever fired in anger against an attacking enemy. There is a report that a submarine attempted to penetrate the mine fields of Boston Harbor in June, 1942 but reportedly withdrew before the mines could be fired or reset to detonate on contact. See Gerald Butler, "The Military History of Boston's Harbor Islands, Arcadia Publishing, 2000, p. 71.

[6] See supra, Note 2, Sections XXIV-XXVI. This manual contains a detailed description of the process of minelaying and describes in great detail how the ships and smaller craft were to be deployed to accomplish this task.

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