MK 6 Mines in WWI
In an attempt to stop German U-boats, the Allied powers began to use underwater mines. They dropped thousands of MK 6 mines all over the North Sea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. The North Sea stretches between Great Britain, Scandinavia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. This vast mine field did much to dishearten the U-boat crews, and led to mutinies and finally the abandonment of the U-boat campaign in that area.
The MK 6 mines detonated when the metal hull of a ship or submarine brushed against a copper wire that extended above the mine. A battery inside the mine was given enough charge when the ship touched the antenna, for the antenna alone did not have the power to activate the battery. When the ship touched the antenna though the whole ship became the antenna. When the hull touched the wire it completed an electrical circuit that detonated the mine. The mines were packed with TNT.
After the war, a large scale mine sweeping operation began. The object of which was to rid the ocean of the thousands of still- unexploded mines. Many mines were destroyed through these operations but not all of them. Occasionally, even today, one of these old mines will blow up. They have even damaged or sunk a few ships.
I found this article from 2005:
ReplyDeleteSwedes detonate WWI mine that triggered alert
Published: Saturday, 10 December, 2005
STOCKHOLM: The Swedish military announced yesterday that it safely destroyed a World War I mine that triggered a security alert in Sweden’s second largest city Gothenburg.
The mine was towed to sea where it was destroyed.
The mine was caught in the nets of a fishing trawler earlier in the week and detected when the crew unloaded their catch on Thursday at the fishing harbour on the banks of the Gota Alv estuary that divides the city.
Large sections of the port city were cordoned off on Thursday, causing disruptions in morning commuter traffic, and ferry services to Denmark and Germany were temporarily suspended.
Tens of thousands of mines deployed during World Wars I and II remain in waters along the Swedish coast, despite efforts to destroy them.
The British-made Mark III deployed around 1918 was believed to have contained 150kg of TNT.
People living and working within a 1km radius of the harbour were advised to be on the alert and avoid open spaces due to the risk of shrapnel should the mine detonate.