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River Underwater mine

D

deepsea

Member
Hello, is there someone that has info about underwater mines made specifically for rivers ?
I know there is the ww2 german FLASCHENEISMINE, anti man mine made with a glass bottle.
During the ww1 Austrian used similar mines north of Garda lake.
Someone found a 1870 big mine in a latvian river, but i think it was a sea mine used in the river.
Have you info about anti man or ship mine used specifically in rivers or lakes ?
Thanks
 

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There are quite a few others, german and allied. The floating river mines apparently were the most treacherous ones.
Bellifortis.
 
The Second World War saw extensive river operations, including effectivemining of the German canal system as well as the Yangtze andRangoon rivers. The British successfully mined inland waterways, in particular the Kiel andKoenigsberg Canals, and the Danube River.
Later, the United States conducted large-scale aerial-mining effortsin Vietnam, with mining of the Song Ca,Giang Song Ma, Kien, and Cua Sot Rivers in 1967
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a425762.pdf

1) The German Fluss Minen (FM) mine seriesconsisted of three types, FMA, FMB, and FMC.The FMB and FMC were completed and usedoperationally; the FMA was abandoned shortlyafter production was started.The FM mines were small moored contactmines intended primarily for use in shallowwaters of the Baltic and Black Seas and inrivers and estuaries. The FF11 was designedand developed In 1920, but was abandoned infavor of FMB. The FMB was completed in 1926;however, none were produced during World WarII, and only supplies on hand were laid. The FMC was developed and produced between 2;e76and 192E and only the supplies on hand atthe beginning of the war were laid operationally.The FY series was consider.d Ineffective,primarily because of the small explosivecharge and the ease with which :tcould oe swept. It was abandoned In favor oflater improved models...
see OP 1673A German Underwater Ordnance mines for further details

2) the British very successfully used in ww2 a 30lb floating river mine. I have details somewhere - I'll try to look and upload them.:))

3) the US Tenth Air Force closed the RangoonRiver for the duration of the war by using British mines from early 1943. FourteenthAir Force laid airlifted mines in China’s rivers, including theYangtze.
 
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British Floating River Mine 480 (30 lbs):

Water Bomb Mk I.jpg

German Flussminen details (from OP1673A):
The German Fluss Minen (FM) mine series consisted of three types, FMA, FMB, and FMC. The FMB and FMC were completed and used operatinally; the FMA was abandoned shortly after production was started.
The FM mines were small moored contact mines intended primariy for use in shallow waters of the Baltic and Black Seas and in rivers and estuaries. The FMA was designed and developed in 1920, but was abandoned in favor of FMB. The FMB was completed in 1926; however, none were produced during World War II, and only supplies on hand were laid. The FMC was developed and produced between 1926 and 1928, and only the supp-lies on hand at the beginning of the war were laid operationally. The FM series was con-sidered ineffective, primarily because of the small explosive charge and the ease with which it could be sweep. It was abandoned in favor of later improved models.
FMA Mine. The FMA was the first of the Fluss Minen series to be designed and devel-oped as a moored, contact, surface-laid mine for use in the estuaries of the Baltic. It consisted of hemispherical steel case approximately 22½ inches in diameter, with five chemical horns, a mooring buffer and wire cable mooring, and a charge of approximately 22 pounds of block-fitted hexanite. This mine was replaced by the FMB.
FMB Mine. The FMB was completed in approximately 1926. It was surface-laid, moored, contact, chemical-horn mine using a cylindrical preset-type anchor (Anker mit absteckbaren ankertau).
FMB Flussmine.jpg

FMC Mine. The FMC Mine was developed and completed between 1926 and 1928. It was a surface-laid, moored, contact, chemical-horn mine using the normal plummet-type anchor and containing a heavier charge than the FMB Mine.
Details. The FMB and FMC both used a wire cable mooring and a spring buffer; how-ever, only the FMC took depth by plummet. Mooring tension pulled out the arming spind-le, closed the mooring safety switch and the "A-E" switch, and tripped the booster-re-lease lever to arm the mines. The "A-E" switch in these mines served only to open or close a switch in the horn circuit. The FMB had two lifting eyes welded to the upper he-misphere. FMC had one lifting eye welded to the upper hemisphere and three anchor-se-curing lugs; one on the upper hemisphere and two on the lower hemisphere. There are two designations for the FMB mine; FMB and FMB (35). These differs only in the weight of explosive. 28 pounds and 44 pounds, respectively. The FMB and FMC differ from each other as follows:
FMB Mine
Diameter of mine case26 in.
Weight of charge28 lb. or 48 lb.
Number of horns5; one, in center of upper hemisphere; 4 equally spaced around upper hemisphere
Depth settingpreset
Minimum depth setting----
Mooring cable25 ft. long
½-in. diameter
50 ft. long
½-in. diameter
FMC Mine
Diameter of mine case30 in.
Weight of charge88 lb.
Number of hornssame as FMB
Depth setting1 ft. to 15 ft.
Minimum depth setting13 ft. plus length of depth-setting mechanism
Mooring cable160 ft. long - 7/16-in. diameter
475 ft. long - 5/16-in. diameter
The only self-disarming device is the mooring safety switch, which is designed to disarm the mine by opening the firing circuit upon release of mooring tension.
FMC FlussMine.jpg

and from a Russian site:
FMC river mine
FMC_gen500AMN.jpg FMC_GQ_500AMN.jpgFMB_FMC_mines_AMN.jpg

 
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The British '480' River Mine was known informally in British Service as the 'W Bomb' and was designed at what became MD1 (Winston Churchill's Toyshop). It is fairly well documented in Macrae's book on the Toyshop and Arthur Hogben's 'Bombs Gone'. The major contribution for the bomb's design came from Albert Midgley of the Midgley Harmer company although this is not obvious in Macrae's book.
 
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