German Naval Mines

German Kriegsmarine 1935-1945.
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rclayton
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German Naval Mines

Post by rclayton »

I suppose this is a translation request really, still if anyone can help here goes.
I've been attempting to translate a couple of pages from a book on German Minesweepers and although reference is often made to 'minen' another word 'Sprengbojen' is often used.
Now, is this just another name for a naval mine or is it a different piece of naval ordnance altogether ? I do know it translates as 'blowing up bouy'.

Also a passage from the book mentions a ship laden with 200 EMC, are these magnetic mines ?

Cheers, Ron C.
Peter K.
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German mines

Post by Peter K. »

Hello RON!

"Minen" and "Sprengbojen" were different devices!
The later, most common was the "Sprengboje D", were used to protect own mine fields from easily clearing.

The EMC (Einheitsmine C) was no magnetic, but a conventional anchor mine. It was the standard German mine!

BTW, the pages of which book are you translating?

Greetings from Austria
Peter K.
rclayton
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Post by rclayton »

Hello Peter,
Thank you very much your reply was most helpful.
I am translating some pages from a book called MINESCHIFFE 1939-1945 by Karl Kutzleben, Wilhelm Schroeder and Jochen Brenneke.

My particular interest is an incident on the night of the 31st August 1940 off the Dutch Coast near Texel when 2 British destroyers were sunk and a third badly damaged.
Apparently they had been sent to intercept what was thought to be a German invasion convoy and ran into a minefield.
I'm trying to find the Kriegsmarine ships involved in this action.

Once again thanks for the Information.

Ron C.
andrus
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Post by andrus »

btw, does someone have a list of mines and their characteristics + abbreviated names used by german navy during wwII ? i'm reading 'Kriegstagebuch der Seekriegsleitung' and its filled with cryptic abbreviations ;)
Peter K.
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Mines

Post by Peter K. »

Hello RON!

I am happy that I was of some help ...

BTW, I know the mentioned book - which I could highly recommend - and also the mentioned incident ... Unfortunately I am away from my sources for some dayd, so I have no more information by now!


Hello ANDRUS!

I am owning some quite good sources concerning German naval mines, but I am away from them for some days. But perhaps I could answer your questions without them - feel free to ask!

BTW, if you are owning the complete serie of the "Kriegstagebuch der Seekriegsleitung", you should have included a small booklet explaining all the used abbreviations!


Greetings from Austria
Peter K.
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Post by redcoat »

rclayton wrote:My particular interest is an incident on the night of the 31st August 1940 off the Dutch Coast near Texel when 2 British destroyers were sunk and a third badly damaged.
Apparently they had been sent to intercept what was thought to be a German invasion convoy and ran into a minefield.
I'm trying to find the Kriegsmarine ships involved in this action.
.
According to the source I have, they weren't looking for an invasion fleet they were on a minelaying mission.
"31st/1st September - Destroyers of the 20th Flotilla sail to lay mines off the Dutch coast, but run into a German field northwest of Texel. "ESK" quickly sinks, "IVANHOE" goes down next day, and "Express" is badly damaged."
Apart from the ships who layed the minefield, no other Kriegsmarine ships were involved.
if in doubt, PANIC !!!!
rclayton
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German Naval Mines

Post by rclayton »

Hello Redcoat.
Yes you are right about the minelaying. The Esk, Ivanhoe and Express were part of the 20th Minelaying Flotilla and along with the Icarus and the Intrepid were indeed engaged in laying an offensive minefield off the Dutch coast. The ships were being escorted by the Jupiter, Kelvin and Vortigern of the 5th Destroyer Flotilla.
Now, from the reading I've done on this event, during this operation the destroyers were ordered to intercept a small German naval force. Considering the time we are talking about any German force in the North Sea would have been viewed with suspicion. Also from the reading and research I've done apparently this German force had been located by aerial reconnaisance.
Apparently it was while enroute to intercept the enemy that three of the destroyers hit mines, the Express was badly damaged, the Esk sank within minutes and the Ivanhoe was also badly damaged. Naval records state that the Ivanhoe was mined at 00:51 on the morning of 1st Sept 1940 and sunk by gunfire from HMS kelvin at 17:00 the same day.
Now here's where I've found things to get a bit sketchy. Either on the same day, 1st Sept, or the next day, when the Express was being towed back to Hull, this force was joined by the Light Cruisers Aurora and Galatea.
I take your point that no German ships were involved in actually sinking the two destroyers, but it is a fact that they ran into the minefield after being directed to intercept enemy ships.
I was curious as to the Kreigsmarine ships that could have possibly been this 'small force' that aerial reconnaisance had originally located. Several souces have given me the names of three ships, Cobra, Tanneberg and Roland.These were also accompanied by Torpedo Boats. In fact it was probably these ships that laid the minefield the British destroyers ran into.
There was a great deal of minelaying going on from both sides in the North Sea, both defensive and offensive.
I was merely intrigued by the circumstances under which these destroyers suffered their fates.

Best wishes, Ron Clayton
andrus
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Re: Mines

Post by andrus »

ok, can you give some information about:

EMA, EMC, EMR/K, other members of 'Einheitsmine' family ?
KMA
LMA, LMB
TMB

BM1000 (used by planes)

DM-1, D-Gerät ?


and can you suggest some literature ?
possible book dealing with mines is 'Campbell Naval Weapons of WWII' ?
Peter K.
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details of German Naval mines, part 1

Post by Peter K. »

Hello ANDRUS!


EMA - Einheitsmine A
moored contact mine
introduced in 1912, but stocks still available in 1939
charge weight 150 kg Schießbaumwolle resp. 330 lb Hexanite

EMB - Einheitsmine B
moored contact mine
introduced in 1912, but stocks still available in 1939
charge weight 225 kg Schießbaumwolle resp. 485 lb Hexanite

EMC (I) resp. II- Einheitsmine C (I) resp. II
moored contact mine
The developpment of the original EMC was completed in 1924, but was improved in 1936. The old one was renamed in EMC I, the newer on in EMC II. Later there were also some subtyps of this mine available.
charge weight 250 kg resp. 550 to 660 lb Hexanite

EMD (I) resp. II- Einheitsmine D (I) resp. II
moored contact mine
The developpment of the original EMD was completed in 1924, but was improved in 1936. The old one was renamed in EMD I, the newer on in EMD II. Production was stopped early in the war!
charge weight 150 kg resp. 330 lb Hexanite

EME - Einheitsmine E
only experimentations, not operational

EMF - Einheitsmine F
moored influence mine
The developpment of the EMF was completed in 1931 and put into production in 1936. It was ready for operational use in 1939, but the magnetic unit M3 wasn´t before 1941.
charge weight 340 kg resp. 750 lb Hexanite

EMG - Einheitsmine G
moored contact mine - "Gezeitenmine"
operational use only until 1943
charge weight 660lb Hexanite

EMH - Einheitsmine H
moored acoustic mine, similar to EMC
The developpment wasn´t completed.

EMI - Einheitsmine I
moored magnetic induction mine
The developpment was stopped in 1940- no operational use.

... will be continued as soon as possible!


Greetings from Austria
Peter K.
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tigre
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Re: German Naval Mines

Post by tigre »

Hello to all :D; a little complement........................

German Sea mines. Experiences of a minelayer.

Image
Loading sea mines LMB/S ?? ..........................................


Image
The Mines stowed on board ..............................................

Sources: http://www.ebay.de/itm/2-x-Foto-Kriegsm ... 7675.l2557
http://www.ebay.de/itm/6-x-Foto-Kriegsm ... 1988656918

Cheers. Raul M 8).
Serás lo que debas ser o no serás nada. General José de San Martín.
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tigre
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Re: German Naval Mines

Post by tigre »

Hello to all :D; a little more........................

German Sea mines.

The Group of five German air mines (LM), which were dropped from the aircraft with a parachute over sea and land, consisted of large seaworthy bombs of types of LMA, LMB, LMC, LMD and LMF. There was not an LME."

The model LMB could be converted for launching from a ship LMB (S) - S for Schiff

Image
Securing the mines LMB/S on board a vorpostenboot ..................................

Sources: http://www.bocn.co.uk/vbforum/threads/8 ... Mine/page5
http://www.ebay.at/itm/Foto-Kriegsmarin ... 58d2ab56bf

Cheers. Raul M 8).
Serás lo que debas ser o no serás nada. General José de San Martín.
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tigre
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Re: German Naval Mines

Post by tigre »

Hello to all :D; a little more.........................

With humor.

Source: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hamburger-Illu ... 1195.m1851

What kind of sea mine is it? A German mine from WW1? Cheers. Raúl M 8).
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