Wouldn't This Puzzle the Enemy? 



A mine or torpedo that zig-zags 

 under water to find its prey 



AMINE which travels under water in 

 a zig-zag fashion, somewhat Hke a 

 drunken man on the sidewalk, and 

 which therefore makes a terrible nuisance 

 of itself, has been invented by a foreign 



officer, a noted 



authority on 

 mines and ex- 

 plosives who is 

 co-oper at i ng 

 with the U. S. 

 Government. 

 The mine con- 

 sists of two 

 parts fastened 

 together, but 

 separated by a 

 wall. One of 

 the chambers, 

 that in front, 

 contains the 

 explosive 

 charge and has 

 at its forward 



end the contact trigger which explodes the 

 charge when it hits the object for which it 

 is intended. The other compartment 

 contains the motor and a mechanism 

 which alternately drives first one then the 

 other of the two propellers, thereby giving 

 to the mine a zig-zag course, but tending 

 in the general direction of the objective 

 point, while crossing and recrossing the 

 medial line at oblique angles. It is the 

 theory of the inventor that by this zig-zag 



5e&cocK 

 / L&vir\chir\q tackle 



— -^=-^.=.^.=^ ^'"^^ mecharvism 



This piciai\, :3uovvs the zig-zag path which the new 

 submarine mine follows in its under-water course 



motion the chances of the mine's hitting 

 the objective are greatly increased. A 

 weighted keel maintains the mine in the 

 desired depth under the surface and also 

 prevents its rolling. As it may sometimes 



be desirable to 



drive the mine 

 at a differ- 

 ent depth, the 

 keel is remov- 

 able and may 

 be supplanted 

 by a heavier or 

 lighter keel or 

 fin, as the case 

 may require. 



Any kind of 

 explosive may 

 be used in this 

 mine, but the 

 inventor fa- 

 vors T. N. T., 

 wet gun-cotton 

 or dynamite, 

 additional use 

 which, when 



Contact 

 firit\gfir\ 



Weighted heel 



The front part of. the mine contains the explosive; 

 the rear part the propelling mechanism and control 



and also advocates the 



of mono-nitro-naphthalene 



the mine is exploded, gives off a dense 



black smoke, which will envelop the vessel 



struck and prevent signaling, repairs or 



rescue. 



As the presence of such a mine in the 

 water constitutes a constant danger to 

 shipping, provision is made to cause it to 

 sink after a predetermined period. A 

 timing mechanism opens a valve in the 

 rear end of the mine, allowing 

 the water to enter. The 

 weight of the water causes 

 the unexploded mine to sink 

 to the bottom, preventing 

 accidental discharge. 



To propel the mine, each 

 propeller may have its own 

 motor, and the motors work 

 alternately, or there may be 

 but a single motor, the power 

 of which is applied alternately 

 to the propellers by an oscillat- 

 ing gear or otherwise. The 

 invention permits of many 

 non-essential variations. 



5witcKfor 

 operating motor 

 alterr\ateli^ 



871 



