Otter installation - anti mine equipment?

[dimwitt]

Dear all,

I have been researching activities at the major docks in South Wales and came across references to a firm (C.H. Bailey who had facilities at Newport, Barry and Cardiff) installing something called the 'Otter Installation'. The work was carried out as part of on-going repair and refurbishment of vessels, which was a major undertaking for many companies in the area during the war. A number of other firms state that they installed anti-mine equipment but do not give a name for it. My question is was the otter installation just such a device?

Thanks,

Johnny

[horatio2]

An otter is a hdrodynamic device which is used to pull a minwesweeping sweep-wire laterally away from the track of the minesweeper. When an otter is rigged to pull the sweep-wire down to a predetermined depth it is known as a 'kite'.

[dimwitt]

Ahh, Thank you Horatio!

[centurion]

The technique was originally developed in the 19th century as a means for a small but relatively fast vessel delivering a towed torpedo (torpedo originally meant a mine - modern torpedoes are technically dirigible torpedoes) against the side of a larger ship and later became a means of sweeping tethered mines.

[dimwitt]

I have found references to a number of firms installing such equipment and at least one firm (Edward Finch at Chepstow) making minesweepers. I can well understand the need for the equipment in the Bristol Channel, and off South Wales given the amount of export/import of coal, iron, steel etc. that would have occurred from the ports. I am struggling however to find out much information on the actual coastal and port defences of the time. There is information on Second World War defences but not much on the First World war. The same can be said for coastal batteries - The Victorian and Second World War phases of coastal batteries are covered in the easily accessible sources e.g. Barry, Flatholm, Steepholme and Lavernock Point, but the First World War is strangely absent from the record. Could anyone give me any pointers?

Cheers,

Johnny

[michaeldr]

In his book 'The Paravane Adventure,' L. Cope Cornford informs that

“The Otter... …is the merchant service variety of the Paravane”

You can down-load the book here https://archive.org/details/paravaneadventur00corn

Pages 274-276 give a chronological list of officially reported incidents where a merchant vessel has tackled a mine using the Otter equipment.