Mines were first used in this country during the Civil War. After their successful use in that war, our country has used them in most subsequent conflicts. Mines in the Civil War

During the Civil War, Robert Fulton, who was best known for his invention of the steamship, devoted a good part of his life to the successful experimentation with underwater mines. In the Civil War, the Confederates defended Vicksburg by floating mines down the Mississippi River.

The first recorded successful use of a mine occurred in 1863 when the gunboat USS Cairo was struck by mines in the Yazoo River. A year later, a field of 80 mines, which for the first time had safety devices, was laid to defend the city of Mobile, Alabama. The monitor USS Tecumseh, which led the Union fleet in attacking the city, was struck by a mine.

Figure 1-l.-Bushnell's keg mine.

This is the battle in which the victorious Admiral Farragut is famous for having said, "Damn the torpedoes [mines], Captain Drayton, go ahead! Jouett, full speed ahead!" History might have read somewhat differently but for the fact that, after the battle, the Federal forces discovered that the Confederate mines were inert due to immersion and wave action.

The Confederate mining efforts, on the whole, were remarkably successful. The record shows that of the ships sunk or damaged by mines during the Civil War, only one Confederate ship, the CSS Albermarle, was sunk by Union mines. Of the 35 ships sunk by Confederate mines, 3 were Confederate ships sunk by their own mines that had broken loose from their moorings.

Although mine developments up to that time were important, they had little practical significance. However, those developments provided the background for the first effective use of mines in warfare.

Mines between the Civil War and World War I Between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of World War I, very little happened in the United States to advance the development of mines. This country relied on buying obsolete mines from other countries.

Although the United States was not involved in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904, mines played a decisive role in that war. It was during that time that mines had their first use in a naval action at sea. The Japanese lured the Russian fleet through the Japanese minefield, resulting in the loss of the Russian battleship Petropavlovsk. Admiral Makaroff, who had refused to change course because he did not consider mines dangerous, lost his life in this minefield. The Russo-Japanese War, in which the Russians sank more Japanese ships by mines than by any other form of attack, proved that mines were formidable weapons.

Mines in World War I

The United States had done very little to advance mine warfare. However, in 1917 when the United States entered World War I, many American inventors proposed various mine schemes. One such scheme noted that when a steel ship came in contact with a copper wire, it produced a galvanic current that could be used to fire a mine.

Much enthusiasm developed in the Bureau of Ordnance (BUORD) for the mine project. The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) authorized the bureau to procure 100,000 Mk 6 mines, shown in fi r 1-2 to be used in the North Sea barrage. The mines were assembled at the rate of 6,000 a week. (The original number of mines required for this operation was 300,000. However, with the invention of the galvanic antenna firing mechanisms, the quantity was reduced to 100,000 mines.)

Through 30 October 1918, the United States had planted 56,611 American-made mines, and the British had planted 16,300 of their mines. This barrage, the greatest in history, was about 230 miles long and 15 to 25 miles wide. The barrage contributed to the mutiny of the German Navy in the last days of the war. When the Germans surrendered in November 1918, the United States and Great Britain were left with large stores of mines. Se ure 1- for the depiction of a World War I mine and the barrage.

Mines after World War I

In 1919, a building was set aside and an activity was created to improve mines. The BUORD was reluctant to designate this new organization as anything more than a building. However, 10 years

Figure 1-2.-Mk 6 mine.

Figure 1-3.-World War I mine and North Sea barrage.

later, a small experimental ammunition unit was included in the organization, which was called the Naval Ordnance Laboratory (NOL). For the first time, the functions of material design, reliability, and explosive safety were the responsibility of only one activity. The tasks of the laboratory were to (1) investigate the magnetic and acoustic influences of ships, (2) design a magnetic firing device, and (3) design a 21-inch cylindrical mine that could be laid by submarines with standard torpedo tubes.