INVENTION AND EFFICIENCY OF SUBMARINE MINES. 79 



for the mines is proved by the fact that in spite of 

 the notorious weakness of the artillery defence of the 

 Kiel harbour during both Schleswig-Holstein wars no 

 Danish ship ventured into it. Although these first 

 submarine mines never came into action they none 

 the less accordingly played a very important part. 

 I may therefore with justice complain that later 

 military writers have completely ignored this first 

 harbour defence by the help of submarine mines, 

 carried out in view of the whole world and at the 

 time much talked about. Even German military writers 

 have subsequently ascribed the invention to Professor 

 Jacobi in St. Petersburg, although his experiments at 

 Kronstadt were carried out many years later, and he 

 himself never dreamt of disputing my claim to the 

 invention and its first employment in war. 



When after conclusion of peace the mines were 

 fished up and lifted, the powder in the caoutchouc 

 bags was found still dry as dust, despite the two years 

 soaking in sea -water. It is thus not doubtful that, 

 had occasion offered, the mines would have done 

 their duty. 



Soon after the just described explosion in Fried- 

 richsort the main body of the Prussian army under 

 Wrangel entered Schleswig-Holstein. A little later I 

 received a direct despatch from headquarters, in which. 

 I was commended for the harbour defence by submarine 

 mines and for the occupation of the marine battery 

 Friedrichsort. I was therein further apprised that a 

 company of one of the recently formed Schleswig- 



