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Minesweeping

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after two weeks but have the ship-counter mechanism set to ignore the first two trigger events, and still others in the same minefield (with the magnetic and pressure sensors enabled) may not become armed until three weeks have passed. Groups of mines within this mine-field may have different target signatures which may or may not overlap. The fuzes on influence mines allow many different permutations, which complicates the clearance process.
150:, that are streamed from the sweeping vessel thus keeping the sweep at a determined depth and position. Some large warships were routinely equipped with paravane sweeps near the bows in case they inadvertently sailed into minefields—the mine would be deflected towards the paravane by the wire instead of towards the ship by its wake. More recently, heavy-lift helicopters have dragged minesweeping sleds, as in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. 56: 176:
typical pressure displacement of such a vessel. As a result, a mine-sweeper must accurately guess and mimic the required target signature to trigger detonation. The task is complicated by the fact that an influence mine may have one or more of a hundred different potential target signatures programmed into it.
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When influence mines are laid in an ocean minefield, they may have various combinations of fuze settings configured. For example, some mines (with the acoustic sensor enabled) may become active within three hours of being laid, others (with the acoustic and magnetic sensors enabled) may become active
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Modern influence mines are designed to discriminate against false inputs and are much more difficult to sweep. They often contain inherent anti-sweeping mechanisms. For example, they may be programmed to respond to the unique noise of a particular ship-type, its associated magnetic signature and the
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If a contact sweep hits a mine, the wire of the sweep rubs against the mooring wire until it is cut. Sometimes "cutters", explosive devices to cut the mine's wire, are used to lessen the strain on the sweeping wire. Mines cut free are recorded and collected for research or shot with a deck gun.
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Mines with ship-counters, arming delays, and highly specific target signatures in mine fuses can falsely convince a belligerent that a particular area is clear of mines or has been swept effectively because a succession of vessels have already passed through safely.
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A sweep is either a contact sweep, a wire dragged through the water by one or two ships to cut the mooring wire of floating mines, or a distance sweep that mimics a ship to detonate the mines. The sweeps are dragged by
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using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that purpose. Minesweeping has been practiced since the advent of naval mining in 1855 during the
111:. Each run covers between 100 and 200 meters (330 and 660 ft), and the ships must move slowly in a straight line, making them vulnerable to enemy fire. This was exploited by the Turkish army in the 230:. The "Directional Wireless Installation" (DWI), a cover story for the true purpose of the magnetic loop, was used successfully on 10 May 1940, to sweep a path for the escape of the 187:) after a pre-set time. During the pre-set arming delay (which could be days or weeks) the mine would remain dormant and ignore any target stimulus, whether genuine or faked. 183:
has been triggered a pre-set number of times. To further complicate matters, influence mines may be programmed to arm themselves (or disarm automatically—known as
246:. Their use revealed the limitations of the technique, in that it only works effectively in very shallow water (such as canals and harbours). From about 1943, 406: 271:
to tow several types of mine hunting or mine sweeping gear through the water. It replaced the earlier, RH-53A and RH-53D variants of the
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The distance sweep mimics the sound and magnetism of a ship and is pulled behind the sweeper. It has floating coils and large underwater
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Another anti-sweeping mechanism is a ship-counter in the mine fuze. When enabled, this allows detonation only after the mine
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invented "mine protectors" to break a sweeping wire before it could cut the mine's mooring wire.
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instead of a second minesweeper. These are torpedo-shaped towed bodies, similar in shape to a
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Aircraft can also be used for minesweeping. During the Second World War, fifteen British
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batteries prevented the British and French from clearing a path through minefields.
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bombers Wellington DW.Mk I fitted with degaussing coils to trigger magnetic mines.
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tows a minesweeping sled while conducting simulated mine clearing operations.
247: 385:"Paravane - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary" 87: 82: 296: 243: 239: 78: 70:, 7 June 1944. Note her broken back, with smoke pouring from amidships. 67: 280: 203: 116: 55: 31: 219: 48: 459:
Slide 34 of 81. Hosted by Federation of American Scientists.
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of the United States Navy towing an MK105 mine sweeping sled
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tri-motor flying boats were also used for this purpose.
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to the UK. The DWI was used most successfully in the
449:. Surface Warfare Officers School Command, U.S. Navy 107:, either purpose-built military ships or converted 485:. Vol. 31 (12th ed.). pp. 949–995. 491: 81:, usually by a specially designed ship called a 407:"Britain's Vickers Wellington bomber, 'Wimpey'" 436: 434: 432: 411:World War II Vehicles, Tanks, and Airplanes 27:Practice of removing explosive naval mines 429: 279:, as well as the Mi-14BT variant of the 202: 138:Minesweepers protect themselves with an 54: 38: 440: 14: 492: 443:"Mine Counter-Counter Measures (MCCM)" 77:is the practice of removing explosive 472: 447:Mine Warfare Introduction: The Threat 267:helicopter is used primarily by the 476:"Minesweeping and Minelaying"  30:For the removal of land mines, see 24: 413:. Wwiivehicles.com. Archived from 25: 516: 466: 283:and the MCH-101 variant of the 222:were modified to carry a large 441:Garrold, Tim (December 1998). 399: 377: 352: 336:. Charles Lees. Archived from 322: 309: 198: 13: 1: 302: 7: 290: 273:Sikorsky CH-53 Sea Stallion 10: 521: 330:"Mine Sweeping Operations" 258:Blohm & Voss BV 138 MS 256:were similarly converted. 97: 66:after striking a mine off 29: 238:, particularly over the 482:Encyclopædia Britannica 473:Dewar, Alfred (1922). 277:Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King 212: 71: 52: 387:. Merriam-webster.com 236:Mediterranean Theatre 206: 129:Imperial Russian Navy 115:in 1915, when mobile 58: 42: 285:AgustaWestland AW101 228:electrical generator 417:on 18 November 2011 364:encyclopedia.mil.ru 317:Mine Warfare at Sea 166:RAF Coastal Command 113:Battle of Gallipoli 94:to snag the mines. 269:United States Navy 244:Alexandria Harbour 232:Dutch royal family 224:magnetic induction 217:Vickers Wellington 213: 185:self-sterilization 170:Vickers Wellington 72: 53: 360:"Минный защитник" 315:Howard S. Levie, 265:MH-53E Sea Dragon 16:(Redirected from 512: 486: 478: 460: 458: 456: 454: 438: 427: 426: 424: 422: 403: 397: 396: 394: 392: 381: 375: 374: 372: 370: 356: 350: 349: 347: 345: 326: 320: 313: 162:Second World War 21: 520: 519: 515: 514: 513: 511: 510: 509: 490: 489: 469: 464: 463: 452: 450: 439: 430: 420: 418: 405: 404: 400: 390: 388: 383: 382: 378: 368: 366: 358: 357: 353: 343: 341: 340:on 2 April 2009 328: 327: 323: 319:(1992), p. 119. 314: 310: 305: 293: 201: 125:First World War 100: 35: 28: 23: 22: 15: 12: 11: 5: 518: 508: 507: 502: 488: 487: 468: 467:External links 465: 462: 461: 428: 398: 376: 351: 321: 307: 306: 304: 301: 300: 299: 292: 289: 200: 197: 148:Harvey Torpedo 99: 96: 26: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 517: 506: 503: 501: 498: 497: 495: 484: 483: 477: 471: 470: 448: 444: 437: 435: 433: 416: 412: 408: 402: 386: 380: 365: 361: 355: 339: 335: 331: 325: 318: 312: 308: 298: 295: 294: 288: 286: 282: 278: 274: 270: 266: 261: 259: 255: 252: 251:Junkers Ju 52 249: 245: 241: 237: 233: 229: 225: 221: 218: 210: 205: 196: 192: 188: 186: 182: 177: 173: 171: 167: 163: 158: 156: 151: 149: 145: 141: 136: 134: 130: 126: 120: 118: 114: 110: 106: 95: 93: 89: 84: 80: 76: 69: 65: 64: 57: 50: 46: 41: 37: 33: 19: 18:Mine sweeping 500:Mine warfare 480: 451:. Retrieved 446: 419:. Retrieved 415:the original 410: 401: 389:. Retrieved 379: 367:. Retrieved 363: 354: 342:. Retrieved 338:the original 334:Minesweeping 333: 324: 316: 311: 262: 226:loop and an 214: 193: 189: 184: 178: 174: 159: 154: 152: 137: 133:Pyotr Kitkin 121: 105:minesweepers 101: 75:Minesweeping 74: 73: 62: 59:Minesweeper 36: 505:Mine action 453:31 December 421:31 December 391:31 December 344:31 December 199:By aircraft 160:During the 123:Before the 88:Crimean War 83:minesweeper 79:naval mines 494:Categories 303:References 297:Minehunter 254:transports 240:Suez Canal 68:Utah Beach 281:Mil Mi-14 61:USS  369:12 March 291:See also 144:paravane 131:officer 117:howitzer 109:trawlers 92:grapnels 32:demining 220:bombers 140:oropesa 98:By ship 248:German 209:MH-53E 127:, the 45:MH-53E 168:used 155:drums 49:HM-15 47:from 455:2011 423:2011 393:2011 371:2019 346:2011 263:The 242:and 181:fuze 63:Tide 207:An 142:or 43:An 496:: 479:. 445:. 431:^ 409:. 362:. 332:. 287:. 164:, 457:. 425:. 395:. 373:. 348:. 34:. 20:)

Index

Mine sweeping
demining

MH-53E
HM-15

USS Tide
Utah Beach
naval mines
minesweeper
Crimean War
grapnels
minesweepers
trawlers
Battle of Gallipoli
howitzer
First World War
Imperial Russian Navy
Pyotr Kitkin
oropesa
paravane
Harvey Torpedo
Second World War
RAF Coastal Command
Vickers Wellington
fuze

MH-53E
Vickers Wellington
bombers

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