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shore and connected to the mines by insulated cables. By simply switching off the electricity in the firing station, such mines are rendered inert and entirely harmless. In the second class, the means of firing are contained in the mine itself, the source of power being a small electric battery, or being obtained from a See also:

PISTOL

pistol, See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring or suspended See also:

WEIGHT

weight. In all mines of this class the impulse which actuates the firing See also:

GEAR (connected with " garb," properly elegance, fashion, especially of dress, and with " gar," to cause to do, only found in Scottish and northern dialects; the root of the word is seen in the Old Tent. garwjan, to make ready)

gear is given by a See also:

SHIP

ship or other floating See also:

OBJECT

object bumping against the mine. When mechanical mines have once been set for firing they are thus dangerous to friend and foe alike. Safety arrangements are employed to prevent the firing apparatus working while the mine is being laid, and clockwork is sometimes added to render the mine inactive after a certain definite See also:

time or in See also:

case the mine breaks away from its mooring. Their See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal advantages, as compared with the electrically controlled mines, are cheapness and rapidity of laying.

" Controllable" mines are absolutely under the See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control of the operator on shore, their See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition is always accurately known, and if any break adrift not only is the fact at once known but the mines themselves are harmless. Another See also:

ADVANTAGE

advantage is that when fired by " observation " as described below, they are placed at depths which will be well below the bottom of any vessels passing through the mine See also:

field. They can thus be used in channels which have to be kept open for See also:

TRAFFIC

traffic during hostilities. Electrical mines take rather longer to prepare and See also:

lay out than the other class, as the electrical cables have to be laid and jointed, and they require rather more skill and training in the operators employed to lay and See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire the mines. Such mines represent the highest development of this form of warfare, and the details given below refer mainly to this class of mine.

End of Article: SUBMARINE MINES

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