REMOVAL OF THE NORTH SEA MINE BARRAGE 



111 



head that the Red Rose had reached 

 port on Christmas morning. The next 

 day the Red Fern anchored in St. An- 

 drews Bay, blown 200 miles from her 

 destination. 



So ended the first experiment on the 

 mine fields. Six mines out of 56,000 had 

 been destroyed — a negligible number, of 

 course ; but we had found what we had 

 set out to find — the mines were still 

 there, waiting for us now, as they had 

 waited for the enemy's submarines previ- 

 ously. 



To clear the whole barrage by means 

 of sail-boats was, of course, impossible. 

 From the outset Admiral Strauss realized 

 that rugged, powerful vessels, able to 

 keep the sea in practically all weather, 

 would be required to do this work. 

 Furthermore, the United States Navy at 

 last possessed an ample fleet of vessels 

 of this type, for almost every week one 

 of the new mine-sweepers was being com- 

 pleted and placed in commission. 



But here, again, we were confronted 

 with that ever-baffling problem : How 

 could we protect these vessels so that 

 they could cross the mine fields and 

 strike the mines without exploding them ? 



Sheathe them with wood? It would 

 take a year to fit out the necessary ships, 

 if it could be done at all. Paint them 

 heavily with tar or other non-conductor? 

 Not sufficient protection. 



THE MIRACULOUS HAPPENS 



It began to look as if the task were 

 impossible of accomplishment. Then the 

 miraculous happened. I can remember 

 it as if it were yesterday. A timid knock 

 at the Admiral's door and Ensign D. A. 

 Nichols (now lieutenant) hesitated and 

 came in. 



"I have a scheme, sir," he addressed 

 the Admiral, "for protecting ships against 

 the mines ; but it is so simple that I'm 

 almost ashamed to suggest it." 



It was simple, too, but one of those 

 simple things which require the mind of 

 a genius to discover. Fifteen minutes 

 later the necessary gear to test the scheme 

 was being assembled, and that same aft- 

 ernoon the tests were carried out — and 

 were successful ! 



Our greatest handicap was now re- 

 moved and we were free to use steel 



ships for sweeping the barrage as soon 

 as they could be fitted with the Electrical 

 Protective Device ! 



More exhaustive tests were carried 

 out — rigid to a detail — to find if there 

 were any points which had been over- 

 looked ; but every test proved even more 

 conclusively the effectiveness of the de- 

 vice. Specifications for its construction 

 were cabled to Washington and the actual 

 manufacture began a few days later. 



OUTFITTING THE MINE-SWEEPERS 



Our most pressing task now was to 

 get the new mine-sweepers, which were 

 still scattered among the various ports 

 on the Atlantic coast, equipped with this 

 device, fitted with sweep-gear, provis- 

 ioned for a long period away from home, 

 and then get them started for the North 

 Sea to begin actual work at the break of 

 spring. 



Admiral Strauss returned to the United 

 States to supervise this work, leaving 

 Captain R. C. Bulmer, U. S. N., in com- 

 mand of the mine-sweeping detachment 

 at Inverness, to make the necessary ar- 

 rangements preliminary to the arrival of 

 the mine-sweepers. 



A base for operations had to be se- 

 lected ; fuel and water facilities provided ; 

 suitable sweep-gear must be developed, 

 and, if possible, further experiments car- 

 ried out to gain some definite knowledge 

 of the behavior of the mines. 



It was March before the Patuxcnt's 

 rudder had been replaced, and while this 

 was being done both she and the Patap- 

 sco were equipped with home-made elec- 

 trical protective devices, so they might 

 cruise in safety through the fields of 

 mines. 



Newly developed kites, capable of at- 

 taining the great depth at which we were 

 required to sweep, were borrowed from 

 the British Admiralty, together with a 

 few lengths of serrated sweep-wire, so 

 called because of its peculiar lay, which 

 enables it to saw the mooring of a mine, 

 and the Patapsco and Patuxent set out 

 for the barrage to experiment with this 

 equipment, which was later to be used 

 by the vessels fitting out at home. 



The sweep was passed and sounding 

 tubes were slid down to the kites to 

 measure the depths at which they were 



