50 
SUBMARINES, MINES AND TORPEDOES 
(Illustrated by the Lantern). 
By THOMAS WHYMAN. January 25th, 1916. 
Mr. Whyman first spoke, in general terms, of the naval 
situation at present obtaining in the North Sea. The German 
navy is, so far, in hiding ; yet the very fact of its existence 
renders constant patrol work necessary and the hardy crews 
of the patrol boats are supported by the knowledge that 
behind them, at their beck and call, lie the vessels of the 
Grand Fleet. The dominant factor in the North Sea is the 
battleship even though it fires no shot and even if it does 
not emerge from its base. Undersea warfare has, however, 
become a matter of no mean importance and the weapons 
by which it is waged are the mine, the mine when aimed 
and propelled (i.e., the torpedo), and the submarine which 
carries the torpedo for use as occasion arises. 
Dealing first with mines, the lecturer said that during the 
present war mines had been scattered broadcast over Euro- 
pean seas, in spite of the fact that it had been agreed by the 
Hague Convention that such should not be used more than 
three miles out from any coast. Mines are of two kinds, 
anchored mines and floating mines ; and the lecturer by the 
aid of diagrams demonstrated how mines were anchored so 
as to remain stationary either at a prearranged distance 
from the sea-bottom or actually on the surface. To coun- 
teract the danger arising from their presence, vessels of the 
Steam Trawler Reserve patrol mine-infested waters locating 
the mines, sweeping them up and bringing them to the surface 
by the aid of huge steel hawsers used in the same manner 
as trawl nets. When thus captured, the mines are either 
perforated by rifle fire and thus rendered non-buoyant or 
they are carefully transferred to other areas in the hope 
that the enemy may be “ hoist with his own petard.” Other 
mines are of the freely floating type ; mines of this kind are 
so arranged that, after a certain period, unless previously 
detonated by contact, they will sink automatically. Such 
mines are most often used in estuaries or straits where cur- 
rents run strong ; they are set free in large quantities to float 
