WW1 mines laid in Atlantic?

[heatherannej]

Hi All .... when did ships crossing the Atlantic during the First World War, first face the danger of mines please, or was it only the danger of submarines?  Many thanks Heather  

[Nom Anor]

The German auxiliary cruiser Berlin laid mines off the North Irish coast in October 1914 that caused the loss of a few merchant ships. As far as I know, these were the first German mines laid in a position to threaten Atlantic shipping. These mines also sank the dreadnought HMS Audacious.

[seaJane]

Hi Heather,

 

On an extremely quick-and-dirty search I discover only the North Sea Barrage, which was designed to hamper routes to the Atlantic, though not laid in the Atlantic:-

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Sea_Mine_Barrage

http://www.climate-ocean.com/book 2005/05_14-Dateien/05_14.html

http://www.oldmagazinearticles.com/WW1_Sea-Mines-pdf

 

It's very probable that someone else knows more.

 

 

 

[Michael Lowrey]

German mines laid by surface ships beyond the North Sea were rare, the notable cases being those laid by the Berlin mentioned above, Meteor in the White Sea, and the famous raiders Möwe and Wolf. The Kaiserliche Marine however also built several classes of minelaying U-boats, so there was a significant threat from submarine-laid mines from the Bay of Biscay north throughout the British Isles and in the Mediterranean by early 1917.

 

Best wishes,

Michael

[michaeldr]

On 09/08/2016 at 07:32, Michael Lowrey said:

German mines laid by surface ships beyond the North Sea were rare, the notable cases being those laid by the Berlin mentioned above, Meteor in the White Sea, and the famous raiders Möwe and Wolf. 

The Wolf laid 110 mines in the sea lanes off Bombay (February 1917), some of which were captured by quite small boats and others may have drifted ashore.

Indian minesweeping

The three photographs appear in Ruhmestage der Deutschen Marine by Kapitänleutnant Norbert von Baumbach, Hamburg 1933

 

 

and for good measure

 

[heatherannej]

Oh ... thank you one and all - that is all a great help and answers my query fully.   Much obliged, Heather

[heatherannej]

Michael .... I looked up the 'Beaucourt Revisited' poem, seeing you quote two lines ... very moving!!   Heather

[michaeldr]

Hi Heather,

 

I'm glad that APH's poem struck a cord;

I also that think those lines are very appropriate for this forum.

The second item has a RND connection too: it comes from the headstone of a young officer who was shot-at-dawn

 

best regards

Michael

[dman]

German submarine laid number of mines along East Coast of America  U 117 laid minefields off NJ, .Deleware and Maryland at end of September 1918

 

Damaged battleship USS MINESOTA, sank steamers SAN SABA, SAETIA and Cuban freighter CHAPARRA

 

http://www.uboat.net/wwi/boats/successes/u117.html