WW1 Sea Mines

[sandi921]

Looking for any info on the Mk 8 sea mine which may or may not have been used during WW1.  Also not sure by which Navy, but may be in connection with North Sea Barrage. Thanks.

[Malcolm12hl]

According to Norman Friedman, the mine most commonly employed in the North Sea Barrage was the American Mk VI - the total of mines laid in the Northern Barrage was 56,611 American and 13,652 British.  If it is not the American Mk VI you are looking for, let me know and I will do some more digging.

 

Malcolm

[Hyacinth1326]

Well if I was you Sandi 921 I would start by looking for 'History of British Minefields 1914-1918' by Lockhart Leith, Naval Staff Monograph c1920.  It is a rare volume indeed.  I have encountered only two in my researches, one in the Caird Library, Greenwich minus the charts and the other in what was/is ? The RN Historical Branch Library, Portsmouth Dockyard.  The charts associated with the latter edition had been preserved but could only be accessed via a pre-historic viewer.   The basic narrative is that British sea mines were ineffective until the introduction of H2 and H4 models (based upon German prototypes) in late 1917.  The Lockhart Leith monograph will provide you with all the information you will require.

[RobynM]

Off topic I know, but during the 1990/91 Gulf War, Australian Clearance Diving Team 3 recovered a Turkish seamine from the Great War period which floated up onto the beach at Bubiyan Island in Kuwait. It didn't look like it had been floating around since Allenby's offensives.

 

[ARABIS]

There was a U.S., Mark 8 mine developed around WW2. With an aluminium casing it had a magnetic pistol with a back-up hydrostatic pistol.

Source, "Depth Charge. Royal Naval Mines, Depth Charges & Underwater Weapons 1914-1945" by Chris Henry.

 

ARABIS.

[Terry_Reeves]

I might be wrong but I suspect the North Sea Barrage was made up of Mk 6 mines laid by the US Navy:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0224vgk

 

TR

[sandi921]

Yes it was the American Mk VI for the Northern Barrage but someone brought to my attention the Mk 8 mine.  Now it may well be it was not for the barrage, it is not specific.  According to Mines of the United States the Mark 8 was a surface-ship launched acoustic mine (WW1) but not in service. Perhaps it was not put in service because of Armistice.  British Navy were also involved in this barrage using contact mines.

Thanks to everyone who replied.   

[dman]

Navweaps site 

 

British Sea Mines 

 

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WAMBR_Mines.php

 

US Sea Mines 

 

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WAMUS_Mines.php

[sandi921]

Yes seen this thanks.  Bit of a mystery this one. 

Surface-ship launched acoustic mine, not in service

 

 

[mbriscoe]

On 04/03/2018 at 18:42, sandi921 said:

Yes it was the American Mk VI for the Northern Barrage but someone brought to my attention the Mk 8 mine.  Now it may well be it was not for the barrage, it is not specific.  According to Mines of the United States the Mark 8 was a surface-ship launched acoustic mine (WW1) but not in service. Perhaps it was not put in service because of Armistice.  British Navy were also involved in this barrage using contact mines.

Thanks to everyone who replied.   

 

The American set up an enormous manufacturing operation to make Mark VI mines for the Northern Barrage.  The component parts were made by many sompanies who were not told what they making.  The mines were assembled at Norfolk naval base - the footprints of the large buildings can still be seen on Google Earth.  They were shipped across the Atlantic to Corpach and Kyle and Lochalsh (via Oban for some reason) then transported across to Dalmore and Inverness.

 

The RN was assembling their mines at another large plant built at Grangemouth.

 

 

[michaeldr]

On 04/03/2018 at 08:52, RobynM said:

Off topic I know, but during the 1990/91 Gulf War, Australian Clearance Diving Team 3 recovered a Turkish seamine from the Great War period which floated up onto the beach at Bubiyan Island in Kuwait. It didn't look like it had been floating around since Allenby's offensives.

 

Mines were used by the Ottoman Turks (c.May 1915) in the [nearby ?] areas of the Al Huwair creek and the Euphrates above Kurnah – see Julian S. Corbet, Naval Operations, Vol. III

[mbriscoe]

21 minutes ago, michaeldr said:

 

Mines were used by the Ottoman Turks (c.May 1915) in the [nearby ?] areas of the Al Huwair creek and the Euphrates above Kurnah – see Julian S. Corbet, Naval Operations, Vol. III

 

Apparently the US Mark VI mine was used until about the 1970s.

[seaJane]

On 04/03/2018 at 08:31, Hyacinth1326 said:

was/is ? The RN Historical Branch Library, Portsmouth Dockyard

Admiralty Library, housed with the Naval Historical Branch in HM Naval Base Portsmouth.

 

If you were on the Historic Dockyard side of the fence it may have belonged to the Library of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, or have been sent there by the AL to save passing you into a secure area.