Evening star., 1939-11-19
By Joseph S. Edeerton.

~
With sudden, violent death lurk-
ing behind every succeeding wave,
sailors Of the minesweeping forces
of the European naval powers are
engaged again in the North Sea in
one of the most arduous and least
glorious of all modern naval activi-
misunderstanding.
Almost every day, ocean mines are
referred to in the naval news from
the European war. Very early in
the war came the news that a Ger
man minesWeeper and her entire
crew had fallen victim to one of the
allied mines she was attempting to
locate and destroy.
The United States cruiser Tren-
ton, of our European squadron, re-
ported sighting a mine floating at
sea, and an official notice of this
menace to navigation was published
in the photographic News, issued
by our Government to mariners.
Floating mines or mines torn
loose from their moorings by storm
are being washed ashore along the
European coasts. One recently ex-
ploded against a seawall on the
Scottish coast, damaging the wall
and houses ashore. Later, another
floating mine was sighted nearing
the same wall. One of the men
whose home had been damaged by
the first blast put on a bathing suit,
swan out and heroically toWed the
mine to safe distance from the
inhabited shoreline, so it could be
destroyed.
New Types Reported.
There are reports-none of them
yet officially verified-of new types
of fixed and floating mines to which
the warning sea powers are said to
be resorting in the present strug-
gle. At any rate, the mine again
is definitely in the spotlight of the
days news and is likely to continue
to be a source of news to laymen
and of never-ending peril to sea-
men, combatant and non combatant
alike, throughout the duration of
the hostilities-and until long after
ward, when the last of the mines
has been destroyed at its anchor
age or tracked down in its aimless
wanderings and removed from the
path of shipping.
Mine laying is one of the most
regularly conducted of naval oper-
ationS in a modern war. This
means that the perilous task of
sweeping up enemy mines also must
go on continuously The fate
which already has befallen at least
one German minesWeeper faces the
minesweepers Of both sides every
minute, hour and day they are on
duty in the deadly mine fields. For
continuous exposure to deadly haz-
ard there are few military activities,
land, sea, or air, which can exceed
this rather unromantic but neces-
sary business of mine sweeping.
Naval lines may be of number
of types. Most of them are anchored
in fields" planted across the ship
ping lanes, where they float at or
near the surface or at predetermined
depths, anti-submarine mines fire.
quently being planted in fairly deep
water.
Aids Planting.
An ingenious mechanism permits
the rapid planting of mines at any
desired depth below the surface. The
mine is attached to an anchor con-
tanning an automatic anchorage
cable-releaSlng gear. Aboard ship
the anchor forms a cradle for the
deadly mine and has four small
wheels on which both anchor and
mine may be rolled along the mine
track projecting over the stern OF
the mine laying vessel. Knowing
the depth of the water IN the mine
field which is being planted ano
the depth below the surface al
which it is desired to float the mine
the crew of the mine layer sets the
mechanism in the anchor of each
mine, which then is rolled over
board as the layer steams slowly
back and forth across the field.
From the anchor is suspended g
heavy plummet, the length of line
between anchor and plummet de.
termining the depth at which the
anchored mine finally will come te
rest. AS the anchor sinks, it pays
out the anchorage cable connect
ing it with the mine, which remain.
af1oat on the surface. The anchor
continues to play out cable until the
plummet below strikes bottom
Tension on the plummet line ther
is released, and pawl-and-ratchet
device stops the paying out of tht
line connecting the anchor ane
mine. AS the anchor completes it!
plunge to the bottom, it drags dowr
the mine to the desired depth
where it lies in wait for any pass.
ing ship.
Mines may be arranged to explode
upon the contact of any floating