THE NORTH SEA BARRAGE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 16500, 30 July 1919, Page 5

THE NORTH SEA BARRAGE.

SWEEPING UP 70,000 MINES. (By Archibald Hurd in London Daily Telegraph.) When 1 visited the Grand fleet oil (he ore of tho armistice, as a guest tor a week on board the battleship Parham, the flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur Levoson, 1 observed a good many .movements of which nothing cr.illd, of course, he said, f'rom lime to time divisions of tho Fleet movoii out from Kosyth into the North Sea and oilier ships were placed on ' ‘short notice” to leave on receipt of 3 signal to the effect that the enemy had come out in force Those ol tho Grand Fleet: Were directed to give proud ion to the mine-laying ships engaged in planting tho greatest' minetidr, ever conceived by man. having a length of 23!) miles, with an average breadth of over 25 miles. No mine Held of tins character has ever been laid before, for it was , design' d, nor against surface vessels, but again sub. n.i.linos, which, in order to evade the .surface patrol, might travel submerged to tile extent <u flOft. 50lt. Still, or more. The object was to create an eifeclive barrier so as to prevent them getting out on to tho trade routes. And for this purpose mines were being laid at various depths so as to create what was in oiled a grille, somewhat resembling that through which lady visitors were accustomed to watch the proceedings in the House of Ccniitiotts Tim laying of this unique minefield was being carried out when 1 was at Hosyth by British and American forces the- latter being responsible lor the larger part of the work. When the armistice came the naval authorities of the two countries found themselves ciiitrontod with tho difficult operation of dealing with the 70,0(1.) mines which bad already been placet! in position. HINES WEIGHING 140018. EACH. The task of clearing (he minefield could not lie undertaken during the winter months, when gales arc frequent and tile seas run high. But- the work will occupy the coming summer months, and it is" hoped tlnn, with good fortune. it may be completed by October. Unit prophecy, which may prove overoplimistie. conveys some impression oi the character of the operation which is aboitt to be attempted. No lower than 57.000 mines were planted by the Americans, and 13,000 by our own seamen, and these mines are not little things to be ha ■•idled with case: more over, their planting at various depths, some as much as SOU. below the surlace, will add considerably to the dillicnltics of sweeping them up. Each of these mines, with its anchor, weighs as much as 140011)., and contains no less than 3001 b. of T.N/1. 1 hrec hundred [rounds of T.N.T. was an unpleasant obsiaeie for a submarine to 1 Fargo into, and there were 70.000 such i i lines.

Tho decision lo create this Northern Barrage was one of the most momenl,i us taken during the war, and indicates Hie initiative and courage with w 1 ieh Lord Jellieoe. on becoming First .Sea ford, devoted himself lo the lass oi defeating the .submarine, for it was with that purpose that he reluctantly relinquished ihe command of the Grand f’le.-l. The, Allied cause was then in it,mi incut danger of being deleated By t piracy. Shortly after going to the Ad- i nil ally, as Borl Jellieoe lias, told ns. ( lie ordered in IJI7 no fewer than 100,- ( ;!() mines of a new and improved type; they were, afterwards used by Admiral Bii- Reginald Bacon, towards- the end of the year .in laying the mine barrage from Folkestown to Gris’ Nca, which proved to bo the grave ot so many submarines, and were also employed with good results in Heligoland Bight. Lamon, with the. assistance of the Americans. it was decided to make an attempt to close the northern exit from the North Sen as effectively as eventually tho southern exit was closed. This scheme was associated with navigational and other difficulties which were, not present in the. English_oli.nluel. for tho depths between Norway and tho Orkney Islands vary from 256, to 900 feet, rendering tho planting of mines at matter of great difficulty. But tho American seamen were no more dismayed by tho project than were the British seamen, and it was not only undertaken, but had boon practically completed at the time tho armistice was signed. • AMERICAN MINE-SWEEPING FLEET. It was afterwards agreed that each navy should pick up its own mines. This compact reflects the fine spirit with which tho Americans co-operated in naval work throughout the war, for. | w-hereas the British mine-layers bad , planted only 13.000 mines, us I have ■stated already, tho Americans wore confronted with tho problem of dealing with more than four times as many, with the added disadvantage of having ti do the work far distant from thenown naval base. But the agreement is being faithfully observed. The Navy Department at Washington has entrusted ibis task to Hear-Admiral Strauss, who will have under his orders 14 mine-sweepers, especially constructed for the duty. These vessels are single-screw, oil-burning craft of about 1000 tons displacement each, a complement of five officers anti 75 men. Tho efficiency of the vessel has already been proved on tho American coast, where they have been engaged in removing tho mines planted by enemy submarines. Now they are to 1)0 submitted to an even more severe lest. It is one thing to sow mines over an area of 7000 square miles, as was done by the British and American naval forces last summer, but _ it is quite another thing, after an interval ot a year, during which storms have i<igcu, to pick them'up again. When it was first suggested that tins great barrage should bo placed between Norway and the Orkneys, not a low persons condemned tho idea as impossible, but Lord Jellieoe and Admiral Sims were of quite another opinion, and they were right. It is recorded tha one American mine-layer, the Hqusatcnic,, planted no fewer than 670 mines, at ll)soc. interval, without-a break, and on a later occasion, after further experience, another layer, the Canonicus, placed in the wafer a Imc of BGO mines, stretching for a distance of 43 miles, ono mine being dropped in - allotted position every lo Eecol tho whole operation being completed in 3hrs. 35min. Admiral Sims, in bidding farewell to these American seamen on their return homo at the end of last year, was well justified m boasting that, “After wo came into the war wo designed a mine, built it, equipped ibo mine-layers sent them over to this side, and planted moie

mines in loss space of time than any nation in tho world over thought of doing before—one of tho finest stunts, the Na.vy has accomplished on this ed in congratulating these men on tho courage and persistence which they exhibited, foremost among them being .Rear-Admiral Clinton-Bakcr, who was in charge of tho British operations. THE OPERATION DESCRIBED. Ton American vessels were engaged in laying the mines, and a squadron, of 14 mine-sweeping vessels—really large tugs—is now assembling at a Scottish base to undertake the work of swooping the enormous area of water which the Americans rendered “unhealthy',’ for Gorman submarines. The .landsman can form little conception' of the Jong and arduous operation which now lies before these men, occupying at least June, July. August, and September. According to information which lias reached me from the United States, the sweepers will work in pains, Steering ■slowing over tho mined area.. They will tow a sweep of wire rope between them, one end secured to each vessel, and the “bight” will be kept at tne proper depth by buoys, so as to prevent it sinking too deep. Tho sweep will be as long as the power ot tile tugs will permit, possibly as much as two miles, Tho wire rope constituting the sweep is ■•. serrated.' 1 It is so twisted that certain wires project above it ; surface, and as if -is dragged mmiftst the mine mooring it cuts tho mooring in two. The released mine, on float ing to the surface, is either salved or sunk by arm fire. While the people on the two sides of the Atlantic will lie engaged in celebrating peace during the coming months. British and American seamen wTI be busy disuosing of the legacies o'" the war.' The Northern Barrage is not the only minefield with whieu British seamen have to deal, for we did a great deal of mining elsewhere. 'These, mines, some of one typo, and some of oiiiers. must be .swept up, since they are a danger to shipping. So, uncong -iiia'. as the task may be, now that the excitement, of war is gone, every mine which can he located has to be swept nn.