Canadian sailors with a mine aboard the minelayer H. M. C. S. Sankaty off Halifax, Nova Scotia during World War II

Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Construction The Sankaty was designed by Chauncey G Whiton built by the Fore River Works in Quincy MA and launched in 1911 The City of Halifax (est 1841 is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, the term Minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying sea mines. A naval ship is a Ship (or sometimes Boat, depending on classification used for combat purposes commonly by a Navy. A naval mine is a self-contained Explosive device placed in water to destroy Ships or Submarines Unlike Depth charges mines are deposited ^[1] The term also sometimes refers to an army's special-purpose combat engineering vehicles used to lay land mines. Combat engineering is a Combat service support role of using the knowledge tools and techniques of Engineering by troops in peace and war but specifically in A land mine is an Explosive device designed to be placed on or in the ground to explode when triggered by an operator or the Proximity of a vehicle person

Naval minelayers

Swedish minelayer Ãlvsborg (1974)

The most common use of the term "minelayer" is a naval ship used for deploying sea mines. A naval ship is a Ship (or sometimes Boat, depending on classification used for combat purposes commonly by a Navy. A naval mine is a self-contained Explosive device placed in water to destroy Ships or Submarines Unlike Depth charges mines are deposited Probably the most famous minelayer in history is the Ottoman Empire's Navy's Nusrat, active during the Gallipoli Campaign of the First World War. The Turkish Navy (Türk Deniz Kuvvetleri is a branch of the Turkish Armed Forces. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Nusrat laid the mines that sank HMS Irresistible, HMS Ocean, and the French battleship Bouvet in the Dardanelles on 18 March 1915. Technical characteristics HMS Irresistible was laid down at Chatham Dockyard on 11 April 1898 and launched on 15 December 1898 in a very incomplete state Technical Description HMS Ocean was laid down at Devonport Dockyard on 15 December 1897 launched on 5 July 1898 and completed in February 1900 See also List of French battleships See also [[Hellespont]] The Dardanelles ( Turkish: Çanakkale Boğazı Greek: Δαρδανέλλια Dardanellia) formerly Events 37 - The Roman Senate annuls Tiberius ' will and proclaims Caligula emperor Year 1915 ( MCMXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Russian minelayer Amur was also efficient; it sunk the Japanese battleships Hatsuse and Yashima in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War. The Russo-Japanese War (日露戦争 Romaji: Nichi-Ro Sensō Русско-японская война Russko-Yaponskaya Voyna;, 10 February 1904 – 5 September ^[2]

In World War II, the British employed the Abdiel class minelayers both as minelayers and as transports to isolated garrisons, such as Malta and Tobruk. Design The Royal Navy ordered the first four ships in 1938 with a further 2 acquired as part of the War Emergency Programme. Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Repubblika ta' Malta is a European Microstate, comprising an Archipelago of three islands Tobruk or Tubruq (طبرق also transliterated as Tóbruch, Tobruch, Ţubruq, Tobruck) is a Town, Seaport Their combination of high speed (up to 40 knots) and carrying capacity was highly valued. The French used the same concept for the Pluton. Design The Marine Nationale decided to build a fast minelayer after the British HMS ''Adventure'' made its debut in the early 1920s

A naval minelayer can vary considerably in size, from coastal boats of several hundred tonnes in displacement to destroyer-like ships of several thousand tonnes in displacement. This article is about the tonne or metric ton For other tons see Ton. Tonnage is a measure of the size or Cargo capacity of a Ship. In naval terminology a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance Warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, Convoy Apart from their loads of sea mines, most would also carry other weapons for self-defense.

Submarines can also act as minelayers. A submarine is a Watercraft that can operate independently below water as distinct from a Submersible that has only limited underwater capability The first submarine to be designed as such was the Russian submarine Krab. Service This submarine fought during World War I in the Black Sea Fleet. USS Argonaut (SM-1) was also one such minelaying submarine. Trials and a new name in the 1930s In January and February 1929 V-4 underwent a series of trials off Provincetown Massachusetts.

Aerial minelaying

Beginning in World War II, aircraft were used to deliver mines. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including They would be dropped, attached to a parachute. A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag. Germany, Britain, and the U.S. made significant use of aerial minelaying. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The United States of America —commonly referred to as the (The British codename for such missions was GARDENING. A code name or cryptonym is a word or name used clandestinely to refer to another name or word ) In a famous example, a German magnetic mine landed in a mudflat where disposal experts deciphered its operation, which allowed Britain to fashion appropriate countermeasures. A countermeasure is a system (usually for a Military application designed to prevent Sensor -based Weapons from acquiring and/or destroying a target In the Pacific, the U. The Pacific War was the part of World War II —and preceding conflicts—that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands and in East Asia, between S. dropped thousands of mines in Japanese home waters, contributing to that country's defeat. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.

Mining was also used in the Korean War and in Vietnam. The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korean and South Korean regimes with major hostilities lasting from June 25 1950 until the The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia In Vietnam, rivers and coastal waters were extensively mined with a modified bomb called a destructor that proved very successful.

In modern times, most navies worldwide no longer possess any minelaying vessels; the United States Navy, for example, uses aircraft to lay sea mines instead. A few navies still have minelayers in commission; these include South Korea, Norway, Sweden and Finland, countries with long, shallow coastlines where sea mines are most effective. South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea and often referred to as Korea ( Korean: 대한민국 tɛː Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe.

See also

• Land mine
• Naval mine

References

Sources

• Hartcup, Guy. The Challenge of War. New York: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1970.
• Hartmann, Gregory K. Weapons that Wait. Annapolis, MD: United States Naval Institute Press, 1979.