THE MINE-SWEEPER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2406, 11 March 1915, Page 6

THE MINE-SWEEPER

ITS PERILOUS TASK

The occasional references in. the' newspapers to tile work being done by . the trawlers and drifters engaged in sweeping for submarine mines in the.. North Sea and elsewhere convey little' idea of the quiet heroism that is being displayed by the fishermen who have volunteered for this dangerous arid nerve-racking work. During the last, few weeks (says a writer in a recent issue of the "Manchester Guardian") I have talked with several men belonging to the crews of mine-sweepers; ■ and ec.me of them have admitted to mc that the strain of searching for' mines is almost unbearable': yet they steadily pursue their hazardous task of keeping open the regular trade, routes, . and whenever disaster overtakes them others ■unhesitatingly come forward to fill their places. ' 1 ■' . ■

The work is carried on continuously and systematically. ' Before the l dutbreak of the war the British Navy possessed not only several old second-class ciuisers which had been converted intio mine-layers, but also a number of obsolete vessels of the torpedo-gunboat-typo Which had been fitted up to act. either as mine-sweepers or directors of mine-sweeping operations. The Admiralty had also purchased, some ordinary fishing steam trawlers and provided them with sweeping gear,-while what is known as the "Trawlers Section" of ' the Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1911, and consisted at the commencement of hostilities, of. 142 "skippers" and 1136 men recruited'from the fishing .fleets. Soon after the declaration; of war the need for a considerable increase of this Trawlers Section became obvious; : and the call for volunteers from among | the North Sea fishermen was quickly, responded to, the entire crews of many vessels promptly offering their services. Looking for the "Crop," The presence of a liewly-sown minefield may be detected by tho appearance of a mine on the surface of,tho sea or by mines becoming' entangled with . a fishing boat's nets, but;'-unfortuuately, it often escapes .detection until soma, vessel enters it and is sunk-by a mine.' As soon as it is located a-flotilla of mine-sweepers, acting under*.bile direction of a gunboat; or a sweeper armed with a small gun, is- dispatched-to tho spot and sets to work at sweeping up the mines. - As a rulej'-six boats.work together in couples, the area covered by the first couple' being slightly encroached upon by the two behind it, and their area in turn being partly covered by the two remaining boats; .Thismethod of sweeping ensures that, every' mine within the entire area covered is picked up. The sweeping gear consists of a wire rope connecting each couple of sweepers and having a weight or. ."kite 1 ' to keep the -middle of-the rop> at the bottom of the sea. While sweeping is in progress there is always tho risk that the boats themselves mat come in contact with mines. Soveral sweepers have been sunk in.this, way, and many lives haveibeen lost owing to the men "being killed by the violence of the explosion or to tho small' boat carried on board being destroyed; .

The fact, that [a number "of mines were accidentally exploded by. the nets'of herring boats may have been suggested the Advantages v of adopting a new method of mine-sweeping. Anyhow, East Coast steam drifters—that is, fishing boats using drift nets —have been_ sent out to sweep for mines with .fishing- nets Instead of the ordinary trawling gear.' Half a dozen , "fleets" of nets attached to as many boats can be easily extended in such a way as to. sweep a wide expanse' of 'sea absolutely clean of mines. Sometimes only two-'or three mines aro found in a suspected area, but often •ivhat the fishermen call a- "nest" of them is met with. This was the experience of the skipper of a Lowestoft drifter engaged in sweeping near, the scene of one of'the earliest casualties caused by contact with a' submarine mine.' The Fright of His Life.

"We had been sweeping for • some time before we. were 'up against' something," he said, "and-I don't mind telling you that; when I found about a dozen mines, close to each other in a bight of my nets I had the fright.of my life. There they' were bobbing aiiout like a bun'oh of buffs (sheepskin net floats)'/ and I knew the chances were that if one of them touchod .another the whole bunch would go off and bl'.w us cleau out of the' water. There" was a gunb,oat with us directing operso I''signalled to herj and she warned' us to get clear. ,'And ' we cleared, I can tell you. But we hadn't got half so far away as . I'd have liked to have been before there was an explosion that- sent bits of net and dead fish' flying in all directions.- I could have sworn my boat was lifted three feet out of the water and dropped back into it again." When several mines are swept up together by a trawler or in fishing nets they often explode when one knocks against another. Should they fail to do this, a shot is fired into the midst of them. Most of the sweepers are engaged in clearing the trade routes -and the "beats" of our naval patrols,- but soine of them liavo been used to sweep the sea ahead of battleships .going into action.. Off the coast. 6f' Flanders .some of our fishermen have had the thrilling experience of having battleships continually firing over their heads while they were clearing -the way. for them.

Events move so rapidly now that the destruction of H.M.S. Speedy by a German mine is already almost forgotten except by : the men who formed her crew -and the forty or more Naval Heserve men who saw her sink". No reference has been made in any newspaper to the'pluck shown by 'some of the fishermen who Were acting under the direction of the commander of the, Speedy. > The departure of the the gunboat and her attendant flotilla of mine-sweepers for a certain mineiiifested area, the blowing up of the gunboat and the drifter Lindell, the rescue of the Speedy's crew, and their an-iva! in port on board the fishing boat Sussex County were matters of only a few hours. Probably there.are not manymen in tho Navy who, until a few months ago, have had actual experience of sweeping for other' than "dummy" mines, and:the .admission of a member pf the Speedy's crow that most of them were as "nervous as catB 1 ' is no discredit to them, for they went on with their work just as if there had been no danger. The banging of a cabin door was enough to make them "jump almost out of their skins " but directly the mine exploded . and' tlie gunboat was found to be sinking the general feeling on board seems to have been one of relief that the worst had happened. The commander, in his shirt sleeves, stood on the. bridge, smoking a cigarette while he issued nis orders, the crew lined up on deck as if they were on parade, and lifebelts wero served out to men who could not swim. The wireless instruments were rendered useless by the violenoe of the explosion, but the operator coolly went in search of the ship s and his own papers and tore up all his copies of the wireless messages ne had received. As soon 'as it was seen that the gunboat, was sinking boats were put off from the surrounding mine-sweepers, with the ex-, ception of tho drifter Sussex County, whoso skipper steered straight into, tho midst of an area believed to be strewn with mines, her crew expecting- e.very moment that she would meetfwith tho fate which had ju;t befallen the Speedy and the sweeper Lindell. Thanks to the pluck and promptitude of tho skipper of thg> Sussex County, every man but one of the gunboat's crew was' saved.