LarsA Posted 29 November , 2014 Share Posted 29 November , 2014 Saw this wwi mine in Båstad, Sweden today. What nation and type? ATB, Lars Sorry, photo too large. Can't rezise for a couple of hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarsA Posted 29 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 29 November , 2014 New try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 29 November , 2014 Share Posted 29 November , 2014 Lars Maybe Russian. Here a link or two,the first gives a story on the Gulf of Finland about mines and storage,and the second is almost your pic made into a fireplace !! http://www.marinemine.com/mine/ http://www.marinemine.com/category/fireplaces/ Hopefully,they cleaned the cases thoroughly before setting a fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarsA Posted 29 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 29 November , 2014 Båstad is on the west coast of Sweden, near Jutland and Scagerack. It could have drifted of course, thanks for the input. Unfortunately the horns are missing - i have a couple of british horns i'll try to fit next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndersG Posted 29 November , 2014 Share Posted 29 November , 2014 To me a Russian mine wouldn't be that likely on the west coast of Sweden where Båstad is. If it is a real mine casing that was recovered locally it'd be far more likely to be a German or, perhaps, British mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotonmate Posted 29 November , 2014 Share Posted 29 November , 2014 An open mind is necessary at this stage,until someone can identify it positively. Tidal currents are very resourceful,as are metal dealers ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarsA Posted 29 November , 2014 Author Share Posted 29 November , 2014 It is a real casing, put in place in 1922. WWI. I suspect british, but would be nice to know. Realize I should have taken a close up of the horn fittings, to me they looked similar to the horns i have from british mines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 30 November , 2014 Share Posted 30 November , 2014 Surely this is a standard 150 kg German contact mine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Lowrey Posted 30 November , 2014 Share Posted 30 November , 2014 Except that British mines from 1917 on were copies of German mines. And there were a lot more British mines in the North Sea than German mines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 1 December , 2014 Share Posted 1 December , 2014 (edited) Except that British mines from 1917 on were copies of German mines. And there were a lot more British mines in the North Sea than German mines. Looks and location are the only clues we have so far. Looks are consistent with a German C/12 type contact mine, and large number of these were used around the entrance to the Baltic in order to prevent the British Fleet from forcing a way through - so quite conceiveable one found its way on to the beach at Bastad, on the shores of the Skaggerak. British naval mines were considered fairly unreliable up until the introduction of the H.II mine in 1917. Having recovered unexploded German naval mines, and studyed the triggering mechanisms, the Royal Navy 'copied' the German developed Hertz horns as the firing initiator - but the body shape of the Royal Navy Mark II naval mine was spherical (so it can't be the Bastad mine shown in the picture). Hertz horns were tubes made of soft metal. Inside of the tube was a glass vial containing sulphuric acid which would break on contact and the acid would run into a battery. Once activated the battery would then detonate the mine. Earlier WW1 British contact mines had been making use of firing levers to explode the mine. Edited 1 December , 2014 by KizmeRD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebonnet Posted 7 December , 2014 Share Posted 7 December , 2014 KizmeRD--Having looked at a number of images of the German C/12 type sea mine-I could not see an attaching ring-which this particular mine does have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 7 December , 2014 Share Posted 7 December , 2014 KizmeRD--Having looked at a number of images of the German C/12 type sea mine-I could not see an attaching ring-which this particular mine does have. Isn't the lifting eye that small vertical protruberance seen side-on at the top of the pictured mine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebonnet Posted 8 December , 2014 Share Posted 8 December , 2014 Correct- and that is what I did not see on the images of the German C/12 mine on the internet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 8 December , 2014 Share Posted 8 December , 2014 Jim, Have a look at the following link which shows a German horned contact mone type C/12 sitting outside the naval memorial in Laboe (complete with lifting ring). http://www.pbase.com/calaf/image/137885252 If this is not the same type as in the Bastad picture, then what what are you suggesting it might be? Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebonnet Posted 10 December , 2014 Share Posted 10 December , 2014 I thought sotonmate's Russian mine to be more likely,in terms of appearance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarsA Posted 10 December , 2014 Author Share Posted 10 December , 2014 I think it looks more like the German one. It has two lifting rings on top. Thanks to all who contributed! Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KizmeRD Posted 10 December , 2014 Share Posted 10 December , 2014 I thought sotonmate's Russian mine to be more likely,in terms of appearance What type of Russian mine are you referring to? Only I'm not aware of any WW1 Russian contact mine using Herzt horn detonators with hemispherical top and botom and a cylindrical mid-section; but I'd be happy to be proved wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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