A minesweeper is a warship specially designed for the search, detection and elimination of sea mines, and for navigating ships through enemy minefields. We will talk about him in the article.
Some terminology
By their principle of work, mine sweepers are divided into sea, base, raid and river. Trawls are still subdivided into acoustic, contact and electromagnetic. Acoustic are designed to detonate acoustic mines, simulating the sound of the passage of the ship. Contact trawls are the simplest in their design and are a chain with knives that cut mines holding cables, after which the surfaced charge is destroyed from the minesweeper from machine guns or small-caliber artillery. Electromagnetic create an electric field that simulates a passing ship, and are used against magnetic mines. In the photo of mine minesweepers, one can also see the installation of depth bombs, with the help of which the minesweeper is able to perform the functions of a submarine hunter.
The birth of minesweepers
With the emergence in the arsenals of fleets of the largest naval powers of a new type of weaponry - sea mines, the question arose of their search and neutralization. Mines have become the main means of defense of naval bases and disruption of enemy sea communications. The eternal question “shield-sword” was first successfully resolved in the Russian Navy. Minesweepers received baptism of fire in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War. The combat experience of Russian minesweepers was thoroughly studied in other countries, which resulted in a sharp increase in the number of minesweepers in active fleets in the interwar period.
The Second World War
The Second World War gave a sharp impetus to all types of weapons, including warships. Minesweepers became better protected and armed, could perform other tasks:
- to land troops;
- shell the coast;
- accompany transport convoys;
- evacuate the troops.
The most advanced were German mine minesweepers, whose crews received the “Mine Minesweeper” badge for their courage. After the end of World War II, the old minesweepers were still engaged in mine clearing of the seas for a long time, having ceded their fighting post to new vessels that used advanced shipbuilding experience.
Modernity
The basic concept of a modern minesweeper was formulated in the UK in the 1960s. The ship, equipped with a powerful acoustic radar, was engaged in the search for mines, and if they were found, it released an uninhabited underwater vehicle engaged in additional search and inspection of the detected object. He destroys mines with an anti-mine device: bottom - by applying a subversive charge, contact - by biting the anchor cable. This type of ship received in the world fleets the name of the minesweeper-seeker mines (TSCHIM).
From the 1970s and 1980s, almost all minesweepers in the world were THIN, either newly built or remade from old minesweepers. Trawls now perform a secondary function. With the widespread use of broadband mines installed at the very bottom, with an impressive target detection range, a torpedo or missile warhead, a modern minesweeper must have a deep-sea trawler to work at a small distance from the ground.
With the growth of the characteristics of commercial sonar stations, in particular, side-scan locators, it became possible to use them to search for and destroy mines, which dramatically increased the productivity of mine action forces. In ports and areas, near naval bases, an early inspection began, as a result of which all objects resembling mines were entered into the catalog. This allows you to immediately identify new objects in wartime, which, in the vast majority, will be mines. All this increases the effectiveness of mine action and allows you to guarantee a safe exit from ports and bases.
The development of mine action, which began in the West in the 60s of the last century, led to an increase in the effectiveness of these forces. It is also noteworthy that the fight against mines is increasingly moving away from "highly specialized" actions, becoming a whole complex of measures involving various forces and means.
During Operation Shock and Awe (military invasion of the US Army and allies in Iraq in 2003), Iraqi mine loaders disguised as merchant ships were captured by the Allied Special Operations Forces, more than 100 Iraqi mines were discovered and destroyed by divers and uninhabited underwater apparatuses. As a result of these actions, the Allies did not suffer losses from Iraqi mines, which allowed the American ground forces to achieve complete success.
