Diagram of an underwater mine. Marine mines

A sea mine is a self-sufficient one placed in the water for the purpose of damaging or destroying the hulls of ships, submarines, ferries, boats and other watercraft. Unlike mines, they are in a "sleeping" position until the moment of contact with the ship's side. Naval mines can be used both to inflict direct damage on the enemy and to impede his movements in strategic directions. In international law, the rules for conducting mine warfare are established by the 8th Hague Convention of 1907.

Classification

Naval mines are classified according to the following criteria:

• Type of charge - conventional, special (nuclear).
• Degrees of selectivity - ordinary (for any purpose), selective (recognize the characteristics of the vessel).
• Manageability - managed (by wire, acoustically, by radio), unmanaged.
• Multiplicity - multiple (a given number of targets), non-multiple.
• Type of fuse - non-contact (induction, hydrodynamic, acoustic, magnetic), contact (antenna, galvanic shock), combined.
• Type of installation - self-guided (torpedo), pop-up, floating, bottom, anchor.

Mines usually have a round or oval shape (with the exception of torpedo mines), sizes from half a meter to 6 m (or more) in diameter. Anchors are characterized by a charge of up to 350 kg, bottom - up to a ton.

History reference

Sea mines were first used by the Chinese in the 14th century. Their design was quite simple: there was a tarred barrel of gunpowder under water, to which a wick led, supported on the surface by a float. To use it, it was necessary to set fire to the wick at the right time. The use of such structures is already found in treatises of the 16th century in the same China, but a more technologically advanced flint mechanism was used as a fuse. Improved mines were used against Japanese pirates.

In Europe, the first naval mine was developed in 1574 by the Englishman Ralph Rabbards. A century later, the Dutchman Cornelius Drebbel, who served in the artillery department of England, proposed his own design of ineffective "floating firecrackers".

American developments

A truly formidable design was developed in the United States during the Revolutionary War by David Bushnell (1777). It was still the same powder keg, but equipped with a mechanism that detonated upon collision with the ship's hull.

At the height of the Civil War (1861) in the United States, Alfred Vaud invented a double-hulled floating sea mine. The name for it was chosen appropriate - "infernal machine." The explosive was located in a metal cylinder, which was under water, which was held by a wooden barrel floating on the surface, which simultaneously served as a float and a detonator.

Domestic developments

For the first time, an electric fuse for "infernal machines" was invented by Russian engineer Pavel Schilling in 1812. During the unsuccessful siege of Kronstadt by the Anglo-French fleet (1854) in the Crimean War, a naval mine designed by Jacobi and Nobel proved to be excellent. One and a half thousand exposed "infernal machines" not only fettered the movement of the enemy fleet, but they also damaged three large British steamships.

The Jacobi-Nobel mine had its own buoyancy (thanks to the air chambers) and did not need floats. This made it possible to install it secretly, in the water column, hanging it on chains, or let it go with the flow.

Later, a sphero-conical floating mine was actively used, held at the required depth by a small and inconspicuous buoy or anchor. It was first used in the Russian-Turkish war (1877-1878) and was in service with the fleet with subsequent improvements until the 1960s.

anchor mine

She was held at the required depth by an anchor end - a cable. The melting of the first samples was provided by manually adjusting the length of the cable, which required a lot of time. Lieutenant Azarov proposed a design that allowed automatic installation of sea mines.

The device was equipped with a system of lead cargo and an anchor suspended above the cargo. The anchor end was wound on a drum. Under the action of the load and anchor, the drum was released from the brake, and the end was unwound from the drum. When the load reached the bottom, the pulling force of the end decreased and the drum stopped, due to which the "hellish machine" plunged to a depth corresponding to the distance from the load to the anchor.

Early 20th century

Massively sea mines began to be used in the twentieth century. During the Boxer Rebellion in China (1899-1901), the imperial army mined the Haife River, blocking the way to Beijing. In the Russo-Japanese confrontation in 1905, the first mine war unfolded, when both sides actively used massive barrages and breakthroughs with the help of minesweepers.

This experience was adopted in the First World War. German naval mines prevented British landings and fettered operations. Submarines mined trade routes, bays and straits. The Allies did not remain in debt, practically blocking the exits from the North Sea for Germany (this took 70,000 mines). The total number of "infernal machines" used by experts is estimated at 235,000 pieces.

Naval mines of World War II

During the war, about a million mines were delivered to naval theaters of operations, including more than 160,000 in the waters of the USSR. Germany installed weapons of death in the seas, lakes, rivers, in the ice and in the lower reaches of the Ob River. Retreating, the enemy mined port moorings, raids, harbors. The mine war in the Baltic was especially cruel, where the Germans delivered more than 70,000 mines in the Gulf of Finland alone.

As a result of mine explosions, approximately 8,000 ships and vessels sank. In addition, thousands of ships were heavily damaged. In European waters, already in the post-war period, 558 ships were blown up by sea mines, 290 of which sank. On the very first day of the start of the war in the Baltic, the destroyer "Angry" and the cruiser "Maxim Gorky" were blown up.

German mines

German engineers at the beginning of the war surprised the Allies with new highly effective types of mines with a magnetic fuse. The sea mine exploded not from contact. It was enough for the ship to sail close enough to the lethal charge. Its shock wave was enough to turn the side. Damaged ships had to abort the mission and return for repairs.

The English fleet suffered more than others. Churchill personally made it his highest priority to develop a similar design and find an effective means of clearing mines, but British specialists could not reveal the secret of the technology. The case helped. One of the mines dropped by the German plane got stuck in the coastal silt. It turned out that the explosive mechanism was quite complex and was based on the Earth. Research has helped create effective

Soviet naval mines were not as technologically advanced, but no less effective. The models of KB "Crab" and AG were mainly used. "Crab" was an anchor mine. KB-1 was put into service in 1931, in 1940 - the modernized KB-3. Intended for mass mine laying, in total, the fleet had about 8,000 units at the start of the war. With a length of 2 meters and a mass of over a ton, the device contained 230 kg of explosives.

Antenna deep-sea mine (AG) was used to flood submarines and ships, as well as to impede the navigation of the enemy fleet. In fact, it was a modification of the design bureau with antenna devices. During combat setting in sea water, the electrical potential was equalized between two copper antennas. When the antenna touched the hull of a submarine or ship, the potential balance was disturbed, which caused the electrical circuit of the fuse to close. One mine "controlled" 60 m of space. General characteristics correspond to the KB model. Later, copper antennas (requiring 30 kg of valuable metal) were replaced with steel ones, the product received the designation AGSB. Few people know the name of the sea mine of the AGSB model: a deep-water antenna mine with steel antennas and equipment assembled into a single unit.

Mine clearance

After 70 years, the sea mines of the Second World War still pose a danger to peaceful shipping. A large number of them still remain somewhere in the depths of the Baltic. Until 1945, only 7% of the mines had been cleared, the rest required decades of dangerous mine clearance work.

The main burden of the fight against the mine danger fell on the personnel of minesweepers in the post-war years. In the USSR alone, about 2,000 minesweepers and up to 100,000 personnel were involved. The degree of risk was exceptionally high due to constantly counteracting factors:

• the uncertainty of the boundaries of minefields;
• different depths of setting mines;
• various types of mines (anchor, antenna, with traps, bottom non-contact mines with urgency and multiplicity devices);
• the possibility of being hit by fragments of exploding mines.

Trawling technology

The method of trawling was far from perfect and dangerous. At the risk of being blown up by mines, the ships walked along the minefield and pulled the trawl behind them. Hence the constant stressful state of people from the expectation of a deadly explosion.

A mine cut by a trawl and a floating mine (if it did not explode under a ship or in a trawl) must be destroyed. When the sea is rough, fix a subversive cartridge on it. Undermining a mine is more reliable than shooting it out of it, since the projectile often pierced the shell of the mine without hitting the fuse. An unexploded military mine fell on the ground, presenting a new, no longer amenable to liquidation danger.

Conclusion

The sea mine, the photo of which inspires fear with just one look, is still a formidable, deadly, and at the same time cheap weapon. Devices have become even smarter and more powerful. There are developments with an installed nuclear charge. In addition to the listed types, there are towed, pole, throwing, self-propelled and other "hellish machines".

Sea mines, even the most primitive ones, still remain one of the main threats to warships and vessels at sea, especially in shallow coastal areas, narrows and harbors of ports and naval bases. A vivid example of this is mine explosions during Operation Desert Storm on the same day of two large warships of the US Navy.

Early morning February 18, 1991, about half past four in the morning, Persian Gulf. Operation Desert Storm is in full swing as the multinational coalition forces prepare to liberate Kuwait and make final preparations.

Landing helicopter carrier "Tripoli" (USS Tripoli, LPH-10), type "Iwo Jima", which during the operation played the role of the flagship of the formation of mine-sweeping means and on board of which at that moment there was a large group of minesweeper helicopters from the 14th minesweeper squadron, was heading to a given area, where his rotorcraft were to perform an important combat mission - to mine the area of ​​​​the coastal waters, where they were to carry out the landing of amphibious assault forces.

Suddenly, a huge ship is shaken by a powerful explosion on the starboard side. What's this? Torpedo? Mine? Yes, the mine - the giant "Tripoli" fell victim to the Iraqi anchor contact mine LUGM-145, which was produced in Iraq, had an explosive mass of 145 kg and was not much different from its older "horned girlfriends" who sent to the bottom during the Second World War oceans and seas, more than one hundred warships and ships. The explosion punched a hole approximately 4.9 x 6.1 m in size in the area below the ship's waterline, four sailors were injured. Moreover, Tripoli was still lucky - shortly after the explosion, when the ship stalled, the two minesweepers accompanying it discovered and dragged three more mines from the helicopter carrier.

It took the team 20 hours to seal the hole and pump out the water that had entered the hull, after which the ship was ready to continue solving the combat mission. However, this was impossible - during a mine explosion, fuel tanks with aviation fuel were damaged, and the helicopters of the 14th squadron had no choice but to remain in the Tripoli hangar (in total, according to available data, Tripoli lost about a third all the fuel available on board at the time of the mine explosion). Seven days later, he headed to Al Jubail, a port and naval base in Saudi Arabia, where the 14th squadron was relocated to another landing helicopter carrier, the New Orleans (USS New Orleans, LPH-11), type Iwo Jima , and then "Tripoli" went to Bahrain to perform repairs. Only after 30 days the ship was able to return to the fleet, and its repair cost the Americans $ 5 million, while the cost of one mine of the LUGM-145 type is only about $ 1.5 thousand.

But these were still flowers - four hours after the Tripoli was blown up, the American cruiser Princeton (USS Princeton, CG-59) of the Ticonderoga type, located about 28 miles from the Kuwaiti island of Failaka, was blown up on a mine - on the left flank of the coalition ship group. This time, the hero was the Italian-made Manta mine, which was in service with the Iraqi Navy. Under the cruiser, two mines worked at once - one exploded directly under the left steering gear, and the second - in the bow of the ship on the starboard side.

After two explosions, the left rudder jammed and the starboard propeller shaft was damaged, and as a result of damage to the chilled water supply pipeline, switchboard compartment No. 3 was flooded. the cruiser received local deformations (experts counted three strong dents with a partial break in the hull). Three members of the cruiser's crew received injuries of varying severity.

However, the personnel managed to quickly restore the combat readiness of the ship - after 15 minutes, the Aegis combat system and the weapons systems located in the bow of the ship were ready for use for their intended purpose in full, which allowed the Princeton, after it was taken out of the minefield the base minesweeper "Adroit" (USS Adroit, AM-509 / MSO-509), type "Ekmi", stay in the patrol area for another 30 hours, and only then it was replaced by another ship. For the courage and heroism shown in this episode, the ship and its crew received the Combat Action Ribbon, a special award - a bar awarded for direct participation in hostilities.

The primary repair of the cruiser took place in Bahrain, and then with the help of the destroyer mother ship Acadia (USS Acadia, AD-42), Yellowstone type, she moved to the port of Jebel Ali, near Dubai (UAE), and then was transferred to dry dock directly in Dubai, where the main repairs were carried out. Eight weeks later, the cruiser URO "Princeton" under its own power left for the United States, where it carried out the final repair and restoration work.

In total, the repair of the ship cost the budget of the US Navy, according to official data from the Research and Development Administration (report by the head of the department, Rear Admiral Nevin? P. Carr at the regional conference on the use of mines and mine action MINWARA in May 2011), almost 24 million. dollars (according to other sources, the work to return the ship to service cost the American fleet even $ 100 million), which is disproportionately more than the cost of two, in general, not very technologically sophisticated "shallow" bottom mines, each of which costs the buyer about 15 thousand dollars. In this way, the Italian developers of naval mines took part in Operation Desert Storm in a peculiar way.

However, the most significant result of the “Iraqi mine threat”, the seriousness of which was confirmed by the undermining of the Tripoli and the Princeton, was that the command of the coalition forces refused to conduct an amphibious landing operation, rightly fearing great losses. Only after the war did it become clear that the Iraqis had placed about 1,300 sea mines of various types in the northern part of the bay, in the landing-dangerous directions.
Deadly "Manta"

Mina MN103 "Manta» (Manta) developed and produced by the Italian company "SEI SpA", located in the city of Gedi, is equipped with proximity fuses of two types and is classified in specialized literature as either anti-amphibious or bottom. In particular, in the Jane's Underwater Warfare Systems reference book, the Manta mine is classified as a "stealth shallow water anti-invasion mine".

If, as they say, to look at this issue broadly, then we can conclude that both of these options are correct, since the Manta mine is installed at the bottom at depths from 2.5 to 100 meters, but the most priority scenario for its combat use is the installation mines in shallow water as part of a system of antiamphibious obstacles, as well as in narrow places, straits, in roadsteads, in harbors and ports. According to domestic terminology, "Manta" is a non-contact bottom mine.

The main targets for the Manta are landing ships and boats that go out during amphibious operations in shallow water, as well as combat surface ships and ships of small and medium displacement, various boats and submarines operating in shallow water areas. However, as was shown at the beginning of the material, the Manta mine is a very formidable and dangerous enemy for warships of larger displacement - up to URO cruisers.

The combat kit of the mine "Manta" includes:

A fiberglass hull having the shape of a truncated cone and filled with ballast in the lower part, and having free volumes in the upper part, filled through the holes with water after the mine is placed on the ground;

Explosive charge (located at the bottom of the mine);

ignition device;

Safety devices for the safe transportation of the mine, its preparation and setting (the detonator is isolated from the explosive charge until the mine is immersed to a given depth);

Multiplicity and urgency devices;

Devices for providing remote control of the operation of a mine by wire (from a coastal post, etc.);

Proximity fuse equipment (acoustic and magnetic fuses);

Power Supply;

Elements of the electrical circuit.

The design features of the Manta mine (low silhouette, non-magnetic fiberglass hull, etc.) provide it with a high degree of stealth even when used by the enemy during trawling of such modern systems as anti-mine search vehicles with side-scan sonar stations, not to mention the use of traditional sonar mine detection stations for mine-sweeping ships, trawls of various types or optical-electronic detection tools (TV cameras). You can assess the degree of danger posed by the Manta mine to enemy warships and auxiliary vessels by looking at a photograph showing such a mine just a week after it was placed on the ground. In addition, the design of the mine hull and its weight and size characteristics, successfully selected by the developer, ensure its reliable fastening on the ground, including in coastal and torrential zones characterized by strong tidal currents, as well as in the waters of rivers and canals.

Manta minelaying can be carried out by warships and boats of all classes and types, as well as aircraft and helicopters - without the need for a significant amount of work to adapt them for this purpose. Target detection is carried out by the duty channel of the explosive device of the mine, which activates the acoustic sensor, after which the combat channel of the mine is switched on. The domestic literature indicates that the combat channel of the Manta mine includes magnetic and hydrodynamic sensors, but there is no mention of a hydrodynamic sensor in foreign specialized literature.

Mention should also be made of the possibility of delaying the time of bringing the Manta mine into a combat state, up to 63 days, which is ensured by means of an urgency device with a step of one day. In addition, it is possible to control the detonation of mines by wire from a coastal post, which significantly increases the effectiveness of the combat use of mines of this type as part of the antiamphibious or antisubmarine defense of the coast, harbors, ports, naval bases and bases.

The development company produces three modifications of Manta mines: combat, intended for use in their main purpose; practical, used in the process of training miners, during exercises, testing various anti-mine weapons and collecting various statistics, as well as training mines or mock-ups, which are also used for training specialists, but only in classrooms and classes on the shore (ship) .

The combat modification of the mine has the following performance characteristics: maximum diameter - 980 mm; height - 440 mm; weight - 220 kg; explosive mass - 130 kg; type of explosive - trinitrotoluene (TNT), HBX-3 (phlegmatized TNT-hexogen-aluminum) or solid thermobaric explosive type PBXN-111 (cast composition on a polymer binder); setting depth - 2.5–100 m; the radius of the dangerous zone of the mine (destruction zone) - 20–30 m; permissible water temperature - from -2.5 ° C to +35 ° C; the term of combat service in position (on the ground in a combat position) - at least one year; shelf life in a warehouse - not less than 20 years.

Currently, the Manta mine is in service with the Italian Navy, as well as the navies of a number of countries around the world. It is hardly possible to determine exactly which countries, since the owner countries usually do not seek to advertise the presence of such means of armed struggle in their arsenal. However, one such country-owner of Manta-type mines appeared, as already mentioned above, during the first Gulf War of 1990-91. In total, according to the reference book "Janes" for 2010-11, more than 5,000 mines of the "Manta" type have been fired to date.

Mine weapons were the first to be used at the dawn of the appearance of submarines. Over time, it gave way to torpedoes and missiles, but has not lost its relevance to this day. On modern submarines, the following types of mines have been adopted:
- anchor
- bottom
- pop-up
- torpedo mines
- rocket mines

Anchor mine PM-1 is designed to destroy submarines. It is placed from 533-mm torpedo tubes (2 each) at depths up to 400 m, deepening mines 10-25 m. Explosive weight - 230 kg, acoustic fuse response radius 15-20 m. , adopted in 1965, are the same, but it can hit submarines and surface ships at depths up to 900 m.
Sea bottom mine MDM-6 is designed to combat surface ships and submarines. It is equipped with a 3-channel proximity fuse with acoustic, electromagnetic and hydrodynamic channels and devices for urgency, multiplicity, elimination. Caliber - 533 mm. Setting depth up to 120 m.

The MDS self-transporting bottom mine is also designed to destroy surface ships and submarines. Positioning occurs by firing a mine from a 533-mm submarine torpedo tube, after which it continues to independently move to the place of laying with the help of a carrier torpedo. The mine is detonated after the target approaches a distance sufficient to trigger a proximity fuse. Dangerous zone - up to 50 m. Can be placed in ocean, sea and coastal areas, the minimum setting depth is 8 m.

Anchor non-contact reactive-floating mine RM-2 is designed to destroy surface ships and submarines. It is used from 533-mm submarine torpedo tubes. The mine consists of a hull and an anchor. A jet solid propellant engine is attached to the body. Movement in the direction of the target begins after the proximity fuse is triggered by the influence of the physical fields of the target ship. There is also a contact fuse.

The PMT-1 anti-submarine torpedo mine was put into service in 1972. It is a combination of an anchor mine and a small-sized MGT-1 torpedo of 406 mm caliber. It is installed from 533-mm submarine torpedo tubes. Anchor anti-submarine mine-rocket PMR-2 is a combination of an anchor mine with an underwater missile. Consists of a launch container, a rocket and an anchor. The movement of the missile to the target begins after the detection system is triggered, caused by the impact of the physical fields of the submarine. The target is hit by detonating the rocket charge with a contact or proximity fuse.

Marine shelf mine MSHM is designed to combat submarines and surface ships in coastal areas. It is a combination of a bottom mine with an underwater missile. Mounted on the ground in a vertical position. The acoustic equipment of the mine provides target detection. An underwater missile launched from the MSHM hull is equipped with non-contact acoustic equipment, which makes it possible to effectively hit the target. Caliber - 533 mm.

On land, mines never left the category of auxiliary, secondary weapons of tactical significance, even during their peak, which fell on the Second World War. At sea, the situation is completely different. As soon as they appeared in the navy, mines replaced artillery and soon became a weapon of strategic importance, often relegating other types of naval weapons to secondary roles.

Why did mines become so important at sea? The point is the cost and significance of each vessel. The number of warships in any fleet is limited, and the loss of even one can drastically change the operational situation in favor of the enemy. A warship has great firepower, a significant crew and can perform very serious tasks. For example, the sinking of only one tanker by the British in the Mediterranean Sea deprived Rommel's tanks of the ability to move, which played a large role in the outcome of the battle for North Africa. Therefore, the explosion of one mine under a ship plays a much greater role in the course of a war than the explosions of hundreds of mines under tanks on land.

"Horned Death" and others

In the minds of many people, a naval mine is a large, horned black ball attached to an anchor line underwater or floating on the waves. If a passing ship touches one of the "horns", an explosion will occur and another victim will go to visit Neptune. These are the most common mines - anchor galvanic impact mines. They can be installed at great depths, and they can stand for decades. True, they also have a significant drawback: they are quite easy to find and destroy - trawl. A ship (minesweeper) with a small draft drags a trawl, which, bumping into a mine cable, interrupts it, and the mine floats up, after which it is shot from a cannon.

The enormous importance of these naval guns prompted the designers to develop a number of mines of other designs - which are difficult to detect and even more difficult to defuse or destroy. One of the most interesting types of such weapons is sea bottom non-contact mines.

Such a mine lies at the bottom, so that it cannot be detected and hooked with an ordinary trawl. For a mine to work, it is absolutely not necessary to touch it - it reacts to a change in the Earth's magnetic field by a ship sailing over the mine, to the noise of propellers, to the rumble of working machines, to a drop in water pressure. The only way to deal with such mines is to use devices (trawls) that imitate a real ship and provoke an explosion. But this is very difficult to do, especially since the fuses of such mines are designed in such a way that they are often able to distinguish ships from trawls.

In the 1920s and 1930s and during World War II, such mines were most developed in Germany, which lost its entire fleet under the Treaty of Versailles. Creating a new fleet is a task that requires many decades and enormous costs, and Hitler was going to conquer the whole world with lightning speed. Therefore, the lack of ships was compensated by mines. In this way, it was possible to drastically limit the mobility of the enemy fleet: mines dropped from aircraft locked ships in harbors, prevented foreign ships from approaching their ports, disrupted navigation in certain areas and in certain directions. According to the plan of the Germans, by depriving England of a sea supply, it was possible to create famine and devastation in this country and thereby make Churchill more accommodating.

Delayed strike

One of the most interesting bottom non-contact mines was the LMB mine - Luftwaffe Mine B, developed in Germany and actively used during the Second World War by German aviation (mines installed from ships are identical to aircraft mines, but do not have devices that ensure delivery by air and drop from large heights and at high speeds). The LMB mine was the most massive of all German naval non-contact mines laid from aircraft. It turned out to be so successful that the German navy adopted it and installed it from ships. The naval version of the mine was designated LMB / S.

German specialists began developing the LMB in 1928, and by 1934 it was ready for use, although the German Air Force did not adopt it until 1938. Outwardly resembling an aerial bomb without a tail, it was suspended from the aircraft, after dropping a parachute opened over it, which provided the mine with a descent speed of 5-7 m / s to prevent a strong impact on the water: the mine body was made of thin aluminum (later series were made of pressed waterproof cardboard), and the explosive mechanism was a complex battery-powered electrical circuit.

As soon as the mine was separated from the aircraft, the clock mechanism of the auxiliary fuse LH-ZUS Z (34) began to work, which, after seven seconds, brought this fuse into the combat position. 19 seconds after touching the surface of the water or the ground, if by this time the mine was not at a depth of more than 4.57 m, the fuse initiated the explosion. In this way, the mine was protected from overly curious enemy deminers. But if the mine reached the specified depth, a special hydrostatic mechanism stopped the clock and blocked the operation of the fuse.

At a depth of 5.18 m, another hydrostat started the clock (UES, Uhrwerkseinschalter), which began counting the time until the mine was brought into combat position. This clock could be set in advance (when preparing a mine) for a time from 30 minutes to 6 hours (with an accuracy of 15 minutes) or from 12 hours to 6 days (with an accuracy of 6 hours). Thus, the main explosive device was not brought into combat position immediately, but after a predetermined time, before that the mine was completely safe. Additionally, a hydrostatic non-removable mechanism (LiS, Lihtsicherung) could be built into the mechanism of this watch, which blew up a mine when trying to remove it from the water. After the clock worked out the set time, they closed the contacts, and the process of bringing the mine into combat position began.

The picture shows an LMB mine equipped with an AT-1 explosive device. The parachute cover has been shifted to show the tail section of the mine. The shiny plates in the tail of the mine are not a tail, but a tube of resonators for a low-frequency acoustic circuit. Between them is a parachute eyelet. On the upper part of the hull there is a T-shaped yoke for hanging mines to the aircraft.

magnetic death

The most interesting thing about LMB mines is a non-contact explosive device that works when an enemy ship appears in the sensitivity zone. The very first was the device from Hartmann und Braun SVK, designated M1 (aka E-Bik, SE-Bik). It responded to the distortion of the Earth's magnetic field at a distance of up to 35 m from the mine.

By itself, the principle of M1 response is quite simple. An ordinary compass is used as a circuit breaker. One wire is connected to a magnetic needle, the second is attached, say, to the mark "East". It is worth bringing a steel object to the compass, as the arrow deviates from the “North” position and closes the circuit.

Of course, technically, a magnetic explosive device is more complicated. First of all, after power is applied, it begins to tune in to the Earth's magnetic field, which is available in a given place at that time. This takes into account all magnetic objects (for example, a nearby ship) that are nearby. This process takes up to 20 minutes.

When an enemy ship appears near the mine, the explosive device will react to the distortion of the magnetic field, and ... the mine will not explode. She will pass the ship peacefully. This is the multiplicity device (ZK, Zahl Kontakt). It will just rotate the death contact one step. And there can be from 1 to 12 such steps in the M1 explosive device - the mine will miss a given number of ships, and explode under the next one. This is done in order to hinder the work of enemy minesweepers. After all, it is not at all difficult to make a magnetic trawl: a simple electromagnet on a raft towed behind a wooden boat is enough. But it is not known how many times the trawl will have to be pulled along the suspicious fairway. And time goes by! Warships are deprived of the opportunity to operate in this area. The mine has not yet exploded, but it is already fulfilling its main task of disrupting the actions of enemy ships.

Sometimes, instead of a multiplicity device, a Pausenuhr (PU) clock device was built into the mine, which, for 15 days, periodically turned the explosive device on and off according to a given program - for example, 3 hours on, 21 hours off or 6 hours on, 18 hours off, etc. So the minesweepers only had to wait for the maximum operating time of UES (6 days) and PU (15 days) and only then start trawling. For a month, enemy ships could not sail where they needed to.

Beat on the sound

And yet, the M1 magnetic explosive device already in 1940 ceased to satisfy the Germans. The British, in a desperate struggle to free the entrances to their ports, used all the new magnetic minesweepers - from the simplest to those installed on low-flying aircraft. They managed to find and deactivate several LMB mines, figured out the device and learned how to deceive this fuse. In response to this, in May 1940, German miners launched a new fuse from Dr. Hell SVK - A1 that reacts to the noise of the ship's propellers. And not just for noise - the device worked if this noise had a frequency of about 200 Hz and doubled within 3.5 seconds. It is this noise that a high-speed warship of a sufficiently large displacement creates. The fuse did not respond to small vessels. In addition to the devices listed above (UES, ZK, PU), the new fuse was equipped with a self-destruct device for protection against opening (Geheimhaltereinrichtung, GE).

But the British came up with a witty answer. They began to install propellers on light pontoons, which rotated from the oncoming flow of water and imitated the noise of a warship. A pontoon in a long tow was dragged by a speedboat, on the propellers of which the mine did not react. Soon, English engineers came up with an even better way: they began to put such screws in the bow of the ships themselves. Of course, this reduced the speed of the ship, but the mines did not explode under the ship, but in front of it.

Kirov-class cruiser Displacement: 8,600 tons // Length: 1.91 m // Beam: 18 m // Speed: 35 knots // Armament: 9 180 mm guns | 8 100 mm guns | 10 37 mm guns | 12 heavy machine guns | 2 triple torpedo tubes | 170 min.

Then the Germans combined the M1 magnetic fuse and the A1 acoustic fuse, getting a new model MA1. This fuse required for its operation, in addition to the distortion of the magnetic field, also the noise of the propellers. The designers were also pushed to this step by the fact that the A1 consumed too much electricity, so that the batteries were only enough for a period of 2 to 14 days. In MA1, the acoustic circuit in the standby position was disconnected from the power supply. At first, the magnetic circuit reacted to the enemy ship, which turned on the acoustic sensor. The latter closed the explosive chain. The combat time of a mine equipped with MA1 has become significantly longer than that of a mine equipped with A1.

But the German designers did not stop there. In 1942, the AT1 explosive device was developed by Elac SVK and Eumig. This fuse had two acoustic circuits. The first did not differ from the A1 circuit, but the second reacted only to low-frequency sounds (25 Hz) coming strictly from above. That is, for the operation of the mine, only the noise of the propellers was not enough, the fuse resonators had to catch the characteristic hum of the ship's engines. These fuses began to be installed in LMB mines in 1943.

In their desire to deceive the Allied minesweepers, the Germans in 1942 modernized the magnetic-acoustic fuse. The new sample was named MA2. The novelty, in addition to the noise of the propellers of the ship, also took into account the noise of the propellers of the minesweeper or imitators. If she detected the noise of propellers coming from two points at the same time, then the explosive chain was blocked.

water column

At the same time, in 1942, Hasag SVK developed a very interesting fuse, designated DM1. In addition to the usual magnetic circuit, this fuse was equipped with a sensor that responded to a decrease in water pressure (only 15–25 mm of water column was enough). The fact is that when moving through shallow water (up to depths of 30-35 m), the propellers of a large ship “suck” the water from below and throw it back. The pressure in the gap between the bottom of the ship and the seabed drops slightly, and this is exactly what the hydrodynamic sensor responds to. Thus, the mine did not react to passing small boats, but exploded under a destroyer or a larger ship.

But by this time, the issue of breaking the mine blockade of the British Isles was no longer in front of the Allies. The Germans needed many mines to defend their waters from Allied ships. On long-distance campaigns, Allied light minesweepers could not accompany warships. Therefore, engineers dramatically simplified the design of the AT1 by creating the AT2 model. The AT2 was no longer equipped with any additional devices such as multiplicity devices (ZK), non-removable devices (LiS), tamper-evident devices (GE) and others.

At the very end of the war, German firms proposed AMT1 fuses for LMB mines, which had three circuits (magnetic, acoustic and low-frequency). But the war inevitably came to an end, the factories were subjected to powerful allied air raids, and it was no longer possible to organize the industrial production of AMT1.

Why naval mine weapons are becoming popular again in the 21st century

Mine hazard fighter - raid minesweeper. Photo from the book "Weapons of Russia"

Naval mine weapons (here we will understand by this term only naval mines and mine complexes of various types) are especially popular today among countries that do not have powerful navies, but have a fairly long coastline, as well as among the so-called third world countries or terrorist (criminal) communities that, for one reason or another, do not have the opportunity to purchase modern high-precision weapons for their naval forces (such as anti-ship and cruise missiles, missile-carrying aircraft, warships of the main classes).

The main reasons for this are the extreme simplicity of the design of sea mines and the ease of their operation compared to other types of naval underwater weapons, as well as a very reasonable price, which is many times different from the same anti-ship missiles.

"Cheap, but cheerful" - such a motto can be applied without any reservations to modern naval mine weapons.

OLD NEW THREAT

Moreover, the high potential of naval mine weapons is ensured not only due to their high tactical and technical characteristics, but also due to the high flexibility and variety of tactics for their use. So, for example, the enemy can carry out minelaying in their territorial or even internal waters, under the cover of coastal defense means and at the most convenient time for him, which significantly increases the factor of surprise of its use and limits the ability of the opposing side to timely identify the mine threat and eliminate it. . Especially great is the danger posed by bottom mines with proximity fuses of various types, installed in shallow areas of coastal seas: in this case, mine detection systems function more efficiently, and poor visibility, strong coastal and tidal currents, the presence of a large number of mine-like objects (false targets) and the proximity of naval bases or coastal defense facilities of the enemy makes it difficult for the mine-sweeping forces and groups of divers-miners of a potential aggressor.

According to naval experts, naval mines are "the quintessence of modern asymmetric warfare." They are easy to install and can remain in combat position for many months and even years without requiring additional maintenance or issuing any commands. They are in no way affected by any change in the conceptual provisions of warfare at sea, or a change in the political course of the country. They just lie there, at the bottom, and wait for their prey.

For a better understanding of how high the potential of modern mines and mine complexes, let's look at several samples of Russian naval mine weapons that are allowed for export.

For example, bottom mine MDM-1 Mod. 1, deployed both from submarines with 534 mm torpedo tubes and from surface ships, is designed to destroy enemy surface ships and submerged submarines. With a combat weight of 960 kg (boat version) or 1070 kg (installed from surface ships) and a warhead equivalent to a TNT charge weighing 1120 kg, it is capable of being in position in the "cocked state" for at least one year, and after the expiration of the time assigned to it military service, it simply self-destructs (which eliminates the need to engage in its search and destruction). The mine has a fairly wide range in depth of application - from 8 to 120 m, is equipped with a three-channel proximity fuse that responds to the acoustic, electromagnetic and hydrodynamic fields of the target ship, urgency and multiplicity devices, and also has effective means of countering modern mine-sweeping systems of various types (contact, non-contact trawls, etc.). In addition, the detection of mines using acoustic and optical means is hampered by the camouflage paint used and the special case material. For the first time, a mine, adopted in 1979, was demonstrated to the general public at the exhibition of weapons and military equipment in Abu Dhabi (IDEX) in February 1993. Note - this is a mine adopted in the domestic fleet for service almost 30 years ago, but after that there were other bottom mines ...

Another sample of domestic mine weapons is the PMK-2 anti-submarine mine complex (export designation of the PMT-1 anti-submarine mine-torpedo, adopted by the USSR Navy in 1972 and upgraded in 1983 according to the MTPK-1 variant), designed to destroy enemy submarines of various classes and types at depths from 100 to 1000 m. The PMK-2 can be deployed from 534-mm submarine torpedo tubes at depths up to 300 meters and speeds up to eight knots, or from surface ships at speeds up to 18 knots, or from anti-submarine aircraft from altitudes not exceeding 500 m and at flight speeds up to 1000 km/h.

A distinctive feature of this mine complex is the use of a small-sized anti-submarine torpedo as a warhead (the latter, in turn, has a warhead weighing 130 kg in TNT equivalent and equipped with a combined fuse). The total weight of the PMK-2, depending on the modification (type of director), ranges from 1400 to 1800 kg. After the installation of the PMK-2, it can be in position in a combat-ready state for at least one year. The hydroacoustic system of the complex constantly monitors its sector, detects the target, classifies it and outputs data to the computing device to determine the elements of the target's movement and generate data for launching a torpedo. After the torpedo enters the target zone at the designated depth, it begins to move in a spiral, and its seeker searches for the target and then captures it. An analogue of the PMK-2 is the American anti-submarine mine complex Mk60 Mod0 / Mod1 CAPTOR (enCAPsulated TORpedo), which has been supplied to the United States Navy since 1979, but has already been removed from service and production.

FOREIGN SAMPLES

However, such a “self-prohibition” does not apply to British companies, and, for example, BAE Systems produces a Stonefish-type mine for export. In particular, this mine, equipped with a combined fuse that reacts to the acoustic, magnetic and hydrodynamic fields of the ship, is in service in Australia. The mine has an operating depth range of 30–200 m and can be deployed from aircraft, helicopters, surface ships and submarines.

Of the foreign samples of naval mine weapons, it should be noted the American self-transporting bottom mine Mk67 SLMM (Submarine-Launched Mobile Mine), which is designed for covert mining of shallow (actually coastal) areas of the seas, as well as fairways, water areas of naval bases and ports, an approach to which is too dangerous for a mine-laying submarine due to the strong anti-submarine defense of the enemy or is difficult due to the bottom topography, shallow depths, etc. In such cases, the carrier submarine can mine from a distance equal to the range of the mine itself, which, after leaving from the torpedo tube, the submarine, due to its electrical power plant, is advanced to a given area and lies on the ground, turning into an ordinary bottom mine capable of detecting and attacking surface ships and submarines. Taking into account the fact that the range of the mine is about 8.6 miles (16 km), and the width of territorial waters is 12 miles, it can be easily seen that submarines equipped with such mines can, in peacetime or on the eve of the start of hostilities actions without much difficulty to carry out mining of the coastal areas of a potential enemy.

Externally, the Mk67 SLMM looks like a standard torpedo. However, the torpedo is just included in its composition - the mine itself is built on the basis of the Mk37 Mod2 torpedo, in the design of which about 500 changes and improvements were made. Among other things, the warhead underwent changes - instead of a typical warhead, a mine was installed (it used explosives of the PBXM-103 type). The on-board equipment of the guidance system underwent modernization, and combined proximity fuses Mk58 and Mk70 were used, similar to those installed on the American bottom mines of the Quickstrike family. The working depth of the mine ranges from 10 to 300 m, and the mine interval (the distance between two adjacent mines) is 60 m.

The disadvantage of the Mk67 SLMM is its "analogue" nature, as a result of which, when using a mine on submarines with a "digital" CIUS, it is necessary to perform additional steps to "adapt" to the carrier.

Development of the Mk67 SLMM began in 1977-1978 and initial plans called for 2,421 new-type mines to be delivered to the United States Navy by 1982. However, for a number of reasons, including the end of the Cold War, the work was delayed, and the complex reached the state of initial operational readiness only in 1992 (which is tantamount to putting it into service). In the end, the Pentagon purchased from the manufacturer - Raytheon Naval and Maritime Integrated Systems Companies (Portsmouth, formerly Deway Electronics) - only 889 mines, of which the oldest ones are already being removed from service and disposed of due to the expiration of storage periods. An analogue of this mine are Russian self-transporting bottom mines of the SMDM family, created on the basis of a 533-mm torpedo 53-65KE and a 650-mm torpedo 65-73 (65-76).

Recently, work has been underway in the United States to modernize the Mk67 SLMM mine complex, which is carried out in several directions: firstly, the independent range of the mine is increased (due to the improvement of the power plant) and its sensitivity is increased (due to the installation of a newer programmable proximity fuse of the TDD type Mk71); secondly, Honeywell Marine Systems offers its own version of the mine - based on the NT-37E torpedo, and thirdly, back in 1993, work began on creating a new modification of a self-transporting mine based on the Mk48 Mod4 torpedo (the highlight of the mine should be the presence two warheads that have the ability to separate and detonate independently of each other, thus undermining two separate targets).

The US military also continues to improve the Quickstrike family of bottom mines, based on the Mk80 series of aerial bombs of various calibers. Moreover, these mines are constantly used in various exercises of the Navy and Air Force of the United States and their allies.

The work in the field of naval mine weapons, carried out by Finnish specialists, deserves special mention. This is especially interesting due to the fact that the military-political leadership of Finland announced at the official level that the defensive strategy of the state in the maritime direction will be based on the widespread use of sea mines. At the same time, minefields designed to turn coastal areas into a “dumpling soup” will be covered by coastal artillery batteries and missile battalions of coastal defense.

The latest development of Finnish gunsmiths is the M2004 mine complex, the serial production of which began in 2005 - the first contract for sea mines under the designation "Sea Mine 2000" was received by Patria (the main contractor for the program) in September 2004, undertaking to supply an unnamed number of them in 2004-2008 and then carry out maintenance of products in places of storage and operation.

SAD LESSONS

If we evaluate the amount of effort expended even by the most advanced countries of the world to eliminate the threat of mines, then it is enough to give such an example. On the eve of the First Gulf War, in January-February 1991, the Iraqi Navy deployed more than 1,300 sea mines of 16 different types in the coastal regions of Kuwait, in amphibious directions, which, among other things, caused the disruption of the "brilliantly thought out" American amphibious landing operation. After the expulsion of Iraqi troops from Kuwait, it took several months for the multinational coalition forces to completely clear the indicated areas of mines. According to published data, the mine action forces of the US, German, British and Belgian navies managed to find and destroy 112 mines - mainly old Soviet AMD aviation ground mines and KMD ship mines with Krab proximity fuses.

Helicopter carrier "Tripoli": a hole in the explosion of an Iraqi mine. Photo from www.wikipedia.org

In general, in the period from 1988 to 1991, it was mines that caused serious damage received by American warships operating in the waters of the Persian Gulf:

- 1988 - the frigate URO "Samuel B. Roberts" was blown up on an Iranian mine of the M-08 type, which received a hole measuring 6.5 m (mechanisms were torn off the foundations, the keel was broken) and then withstood repairs worth $ 135 million;

- February 1991 - the landing helicopter carrier "Tripoli" was blown up presumably on an Iraqi mine of the LUGM-145 type, and the cruiser URO "Princeton" was also blown up on an Iraqi bottom mine of the "Manta" type of Italian development (the explosion damaged the equipment of the Aegis system, UVP SAM, propeller shafting, rudder and part of superstructures and decks). It should be noted that both of these ships were part of a large amphibious formation with 20,000 marines on board, which was tasked with conducting an amphibious landing operation (during the liberation of Kuwait, the Americans were not able to conduct a single amphibious landing operation).

In addition, the destroyer URO "Paul F. Foster" ran into an anchor contact, "horned" mine, and only by a lucky chance remained unharmed - it turned out to be too old and simply did not work. By the way, in the same conflict, the American minesweeper "Avenger" became the first anti-mine ship in history, which, in combat conditions, discovered and defused a Manta-type mine - one of the best "shallow" bottom mines in the world.

When the time came for Operation Iraqi Freedom, the allied forces had to worry more seriously. In the areas of operation of the forces and means of the joint grouping of naval forces, according to the data officially released by the Pentagon, 68 mines and mine-like objects were discovered and destroyed. Although such data raises reasonable doubts: for example, according to the US military, several dozens of Manta-type mines were found, plus 86 Mantas were found by Australians in Iraqi warehouses and minelayers. In addition, units of the American special operations forces managed to detect and intercept a cargo ship, literally "clogged" with Iraqi anchor and bottom mines, which were supposed to be placed on the lines of communication in the Persian Gulf and presumably in the Strait of Hormuz. Moreover, each mine was disguised in a special "cocoon" made from an empty oil barrel. And after the end of the active phase of hostilities, the American operational search groups stumbled upon several more small vessels converted into minelayers.

It should be especially noted that during the Second Gulf War, in the combat area and on the territory of naval bases and bases of the US Navy and its allies in the Persian Gulf, American units were actively used, which had dolphins and California lions specially trained to combat naval mines and mine-like objects. In particular, "animals in uniform" were involved in the protection of the naval base in Bahrain. Exact data on the results of the use of such units was not officially made public, but the US military command acknowledged the death of one sapper dolphin.

Additional tension during the operation was created by the fact that the military personnel of the mine-sweeping forces and units of divers-miners were often involved not only in the search for and destruction of mines and mine-like objects of all types - floating, anchored, bottom, "self-burrowing", etc., but also in destruction of anti-amphibious mine-explosive and other obstacles (for example, anti-tank minefields on the coast).

In the domestic fleet, demining operations also left their indelible imprint. Particularly memorable was the demining of the Suez Canal, which was carried out by the Soviet Navy at the request of the Egyptian government from July 15, 1974. On the part of the USSR, 10 minesweepers, 2 cord-layers and another 15 escort ships and auxiliary vessels participated; the French, Italian, American and British navies also took part in the trawling of the channel and the bay. Moreover, the "Yankees" and "Tommies" trawled areas with exposed Soviet-style mines - which helped them a lot in working out actions to combat mine weapons of a potential enemy. By the way, permission for the US-British allies to trawl these areas was issued by the military-political leadership of Egypt in violation of the Agreement on military supplies of September 10, 1965, signed by the USSR and Egypt.

However, this does not in the least detract from the invaluable experience gained by Soviet sailors in the Suez Canal. It was then that in real conditions, on combat mines, actions were worked out to destroy bottom mines with the help of minesweeper helicopters that laid cord charges or towed non-contact trawls. The use of all types of trawls and mine detectors in tropical conditions, the use of the VKT trawl for punching the first tack and the BSHZ (combat cord charge) for rarefying the minefield of combat mines by helicopters were also worked out. Based on the experience gained, Soviet miners corrected the trawling instructions that existed in the USSR Navy. A large number of officers, foremen and sailors were also trained, who gained invaluable experience in combat trawling.

NEW THREATS - NEW CHALLENGES

All this requires from the military personnel of the mine-sweeping forces not only the appropriate versatile training, but also the availability of the necessary weapons and technical means for detecting mines and mine-like objects, their examination and subsequent destruction.

A particular danger of modern naval mine weapons and their rapid spread around the world lies in the fact that up to 98% of world merchant shipping falls on water areas favorable for setting sea mines. The following circumstance is also important: modern concepts of the use of the naval forces of the leading countries of the world pay special attention to the ability of ship groups to perform various maneuvers, including in the coastal, or "littoral" zone. Sea mines, on the other hand, limit the actions of warships and auxiliary vessels, thus becoming a significant obstacle to the solution of their assigned tactical tasks. The result - for the leading countries of the world with large naval forces, it has now become more preferable to create effective anti-mine forces than to develop mines and minelayers.

In connection with all of the above, in the navies of the leading countries of the world, increased attention has recently been paid to the development of mine action forces and means. At the same time, the emphasis is on the use of modern technologies and the use of uninhabited remote-controlled underwater equipment. In the following material, we will consider current trends in the development of anti-mine means and improving the tactics of action of anti-mine forces of the leading countries of the world.