NAVAL MINE SWEEPERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17211, 18 August 1919, Page 6

NAVAL MINE SWEEPERS.

f WORK IN NORTH FINISHED. FIELD CLEAR' OF DANGER. VESSELS NOW AT AUCKLAND The mine sweepers Geranium, Mallow, and Marguerite arrived from the Northern " minefields yesterday morning. The Geranium and Mallow berthed at the Hobson Wharf, and the Marguerite berthed at the • Dock Wharf. The Geranium and Mallow went from. Wellington to the North Cape, and the Marguerite, which had been at Auckland f for docking, joined them there. The three vessels spent 10 days in thoroughly sweepl ing minefields for any stray Aines laid by 3 the raider Wolf, but did not find any. 3 This search ends the three vessels' minesweeping work in New Zealand, and alter a stay of about nine days at Auckland to give the crews liberty, they are to ' sail for Sydney via Wellington. l ( rom ' Sydney it is understood that they will jo 3 to sweep for mines off Gabo Island, and i that will complete their work with the . present crews. The vessels then will probably be handed over to the Australian 1 ' Government, and the crews will be sent 1 ! back to England. 1 The Geranium and Mallow were thrown r, open for inspection yesterday, and a large t number of people took the opportunity of j visiting them. The class to which the j mine sweepers in port belong is termed m ! 3 the navy, a '"sloop.'" They are called the . , "flower class," as they are all named after j f flowers. The "flower sloop" is solely a j i war product, and was unheard of as a j kind before the war. The ships in the " class were first built for mine sweeping ' k only, and were used mostly in the vicinf ity of naval bases and along the coasts. i 1 When the submarine menace became worse ? the sloops were sent oil convoy duty to j scout around the convoyed merchant steamers for prowling submarines. The mine sweepers average about 1200 5 tons, and are 252 feet long. They can 3 steam when necessary 17 knots. The ; Geranium is the only one of the three that has a balloon deck. When she was on convoy work she carried a balloon there. Like most of the war equipment, this has now been taken out of the vessel. I The balloon was attached by a cable to > a winch abaft the bridge, and when con- , voying during the day it was sent up with ( balloon officers on board. From the bail- ' loon the officers could see deep down under water and sight a submarine before ' those on- the vessels could. A telephone and wire was the means of communication 1 between the sloop and balloon. When a submarine was sighted the balloon officers 1 would guide the sloop to where the sub- | marine was waiting, and tell those on the * steamer its movements. When the sloop was ' sufficiently near to the submarine depth ' charges were either fired or dropped over- | board from the sloop, with the probable result that the submarine was destroyed. From England the mine sweepers now ' in port went to the Mediterranean in connection with their work, and then to i Singapore. From the latter base they cleared up a large minefield in the China sea before sailing for Australia. A fourth sloop, the Hydrangea, was left behind at Singapore. The vessels are comfortably , fitted out with roomy quarters. The Geranium's complement numbers 92, the Mallow's and the Marguerite's 84. The crews are, for the most part, the same as manned the vessels during the war. When demobilisation set in the vessels were so far from England that the crews volunteered to complete the work they had set out to do. GERMAN MINE SIGHTED. FLOATING NEAR PALLISER BAY. [BY TELEGRAPH. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.] "WELLINGTON, Sunday. j It was reported to-day that a German I mine had been seen floating in Waitangi j Bay, near Palliser Bay. Artillery details I have been sent out on the steamer Janie Seddon to investigate, and, if possible, destroy the mine. * ' j