The Development Of Mine Warfare

Environmental information is important for successful planning and execution of naval operations. A thorough understanding of environmental variability greatly increases the likelihood of mission success. To ensure that naval forces have the most up-to-date capabilities, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has an extensive environmental research program. This research, to be of greatest use to the warfighter, needs to be directed towards assisting and solving battlefield problems. To increase research community understanding of the operational demands placed on naval operators and to facilitate discussion between these two groups, the National Research Council's (NRC) Ocean Studies Board (OSB), working with ONR and the Office of the Oceanographer of the Navy, convened five previous symposia on tactical oceanography. Oceanography and Mine Warfare examines the following issues: (1) how environmental data are used in current mine warfare doctrine, (2) current procedures for in situ collection of data, (3) the present capabilities of the Navy's oceanographic community to provide supporting information for mine warfare operations, and (4) the ability of oceanographic research and technology developments to enhance current mine warfare capabilities. This report primarily concentrates on the importance of oceanographic data for mine countermeasures.

Sea mines have been important in naval warfare throughout history and continue to be so today. They have caused major damage to naval forces, slowed or stopped naval actions and commercial shipping, and forced the alteration of strategic and tactical plans. The threat posed by sea mines continues, and is increasing, in today's world of inexpensive advanced electronics, nanotechnology, and multiple potential enemies, some of which are difficult to identify. This report assesses the Department of the Navy's capabilities for conducting naval mining and countermining sea operations.

In 1997, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) coordinated the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction. As of mid-2005, 145 states had signed the agreement. The ICBL's efforts were in large part a response to the careless use of landmines in the previous fifty years. The history of mine use in warfare, however, goes back much further than the World Wars of the 20th century and includes both land and sea use. This first comprehensive study traces the technical, tactical, and ethical developments of mine warfare, from ancient times to the present. Beginning with mine warfare's roots in ancient Assyria and China, Youngblood takes the reader through the centuries of debate about how these hidden weapons should be used. A look at 19th-century developments explores the intertwined development of land and sea mines and the inventors behind them, including Robert Fulton, Samuel Colt, and Immanuel Nobel, father of Alfred Nobel. Subsequent chapters examine the use of mines in the American Civil War, the Russo-Japanese War, both World Wars, and the battlefields of the Cold War, and chart key battles and technical innovations, such as the development of air-delivered munitions. Finally, the author addresses the ethical concerns raised by the careless mining, namely the impact on civilians and the difficulties of de-mining, and the treaties that regulate landmine use.

Mine warfare, in its various forms, is a favoured weapon used by insurgents against government forces. By June 1966, when the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) arrived in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam, the Viet Cong and People’s Army of Vietnam forces were well entrenched in the province and used mines extensively. The mine campaign risked few enemy lives and was a powerful statement to everyone, including civilians, that the Viet Cong were still in the war and not a spent force. The intense patrolling practised by 1ATF inevitably put its men in close contact with enemy mines. Indeed, 1ATF suffered more casualties from the Viet Cong mine warfare campaign than from any other single cause, yet enemy casualties were minimal. So why did the enemy mine campaign collapse in the period July to December 1970 and continue its rapid decline until 1ATF ended combat operations in September 1971? Counterinsurgency has been described as a competition in learning and, facing a well-organised mine campaign against them, 1ATF learned and adapted to the enemy’s mine warfare techniques. Supported by statistical analyses of operational research data, this book details the complex tactics adopted by 1ATF to eventually defeat the Viet Cong mine campaign, and how enemy forces were reduced to a negligible military presence in Phuoc Tuy Province.

This volume is devoted to the history and use by the United States of one of the Navy's least spectacular and most effective weapons. The effectiveness of the submarine mine has not decreased with the coming of the space age. So long as cargo ships cross the sea, this unspectacular weapon will remain a major factor in control of the approaches to harbors, and the shallow straits between seas. Robert Duncan has devoted most of his adult life to the generation and augmentation of competence in the application of growing science to the design, production, and use of mines for the U.S. Navy. He joined the staff of the Naval Ordnance Laboratory before it was known by that name, but in time to capitalize on the experience of the Navy with mines in World War I. He provided the technical leadership which was an important factor in keeping the art and science of mining alive in the Navy in the days of the depression. By so doing, he provided a basis for a hundredfold expansion of the Navy's effort previous to and during World War II. The hundreds of technical people who had the privilege of joining in this effort under Dr. Duncan's leadership will be happy to see this accurate and factual record of achievement. The experience recorded between these covers will serve as a guide to those still engaged in the development of this type of weapon, and the achievements made during World War II will be an inspiration to any who might be responsible for again expanding our national effort in mining, should the occasion arise. (Author).

This book includes a study of the history of mine warfare at sea from the earliest days to the present time. It will be of interest to military lawyers and to all those concerned with the conduct and control of warfare. At the technical level, it is intended for laymen. While there is a chapter dealing with many technical matters relating to both mine warfare at sea and mine countermeasures, the sole purpose of that chapter is to give the non-technician, whether naval officer or civilian, a basic understanding of various categories of sea mines and their accessories and of mine countermeasure gear. It assumes that, like the author, the reader will have a minimum of electrical and mechanical knowledge. However, it is believed that after finishing this volume the reader will have a much better understanding of the part that mines have played in warfare at sea in past conflicts as well as the part they may be expected to play in any future conflict. "Howard S. Levie" is Professor Emeritus of Law at Saint Louis University School of Law, and Adjunct Professor of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College.

A comprehensive guide to modern naval minewarfare. This work examines the basic tenets of naval mining and naval mine countermeasures. It considers the modern history of naval mining and the legal, political and statecraft factors that should underpin any decisions to employ naval mines.

Seven unique U.S. Navy documents provide a thorough guide to naval mine warfare, with information on modern mine countermeasures (MCM), marine mammal systems, the use of dolphins and sea lions, organic MCM, Avenger class, SQQ-32 Sonar, SLQ-37, SLQ-38, SLQ-48(V), MH-53E Sea Dragon Helicopters, explosive ordnance disposal, littoral combat ship (LCS), methods of actuation, USMC Shallow Water Mine Countermeasures, and much more. The History of the Sea Mine and its Continued Importance in Today's Navy - David Bushnell has become known as the father of mine warfare. As a student at Yale University, he worked on the development of underwater explosives. In his research, he discovered that gunpowder could be exploded underwater. During the American Revolution Bushnell was authorized to design a sea mine (usually referred to as a "torpedo" by Bushnell) to be used against the British fleet. 21st Century U.S. Navy Mine Warfare - Ensuring Global Access and Commerce - In February 1991 the Navy lost command of the sea-the North Arabian Gulf- to more than a thousand mines that had been sown by Iraqi forces. Mines severely damaged two Navy warships, and commanders aborted an amphibious assault for fear of even more casualties. Spurred on by this experience, the Navy has taken consistent, aggressive and focused action to ensure that it is prepared for all future mine "events." Solving the Mine Countermeasures Problem: A Matter of Focus and Priority - This document reviews mine countermeasure operations and how they impact on current national security and national military strategies as well as service doctrine. Shallow-Water Mine Countermeasure Capability for USMC Ground Reconnaissance Assets - As the Marine Corps looks to the future with its concept of expeditionary maneuver warfare (EMW), shallow-water mines remain a "show-stopper" to the Corps' forcible entry requirement. With limited Naval assets available, MAGTF commanders are still dependent on Marine ground reconnaissance assets for amphibious reconnaissance of potential beach landing sites -- to include the detection of shallow-water mines. The Operational Effects of Mine Warfare - This paper demonstrates that naval mines are a threat to the operational commander and that there are actions he can take to reduce the operational effects of mine warfare. The first section demonstrates that mine warfare is a pertinent problem for the operational commander by examining three principle relationships. Sweeping Changes for Mine Warfare: Controlling the Mine Threat - This report proposes that the U.S. Navy deter and, if necessary, combat potential minelayers by pursuing a "pro-active" offensive mine warfare strategy. Central to this proposed strategy is the development, acquisition, and use of Remote Controlled (RECO) mines. It is argued that, given the historical problems the United States has had in the area of naval mine warfare, a strategy aimed at the aggressive deterrence of enemy mine laying be embraced so as to project forces ashore in future amphibious operations. Inadequate Mine Countermeasure Systems and Capabilities for Future Amphibious Operations - When a one-thousand-dollar mine can severely damage a one-billion-dollar ship...it is time to do something about it (Edney). The significance of mines to naval operations has been recognized in modern warfare. For example, during the Korean War the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Forrest P. Sherman observed before an amphibious assault on Wonsan: When you can't go where you want to, when you want to, you haven't got command of the sea. And command of the sea is a rock-bottom foundation for all our war plans. We've been very submarine-conscious and air-conscious. Now we're getting mine-conscious.

After v. 1, each volume's t.p. names a different panel at the beginning of its author statement.