GUARD AGAINST MINES
PARAVANE EQUIPMENT One of the many defensive steps against the danger of war at sea shown among shipping 011 the Auckland waterfront has been tho use of the paravane, a protection against mines, which has appeared on a few overseas vessels visiting tho port. One liner has a'largo paravane boom at her bow with a number of paravanes stacked in readiness 011 deck. The paravane is an ingenious apparatus for sweeping up submarine mines and rendering them harmless. In appearance it resembles a short, squat torpedo fitted with large fins and serrated steel jaws which cut through -the stout mooring cablo of a mine. When required the paravanes are rushed to the forecastle and made fast to tho boom, which is swung in front of the ship. Once in the water the paravanes dive and remain at a depth of many feet, while tho action of the fins causes them to stream out from the ship. If tho taut paravane wire makes contact with a mine cable the cable is deflected into the toothed jaws and instantly severed. When tho released mine comes to the surface it can be sunk by gunfire..
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23542, 30 December 1939, Page 6
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195GUARD AGAINST MINES New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23542, 30 December 1939, Page 6
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