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Water Kites (Otters) deploy the sweep wires and cutters down to the required depth and out to the Port &/or Starboard side of the ship. The length of the depressor wire and the length of the Float Pendant, determine the depth of the Sweep Wire. The Port & Starboard Sweep Wires are six strands of seven individual extruded stainless steel wires, wound around a seventh inner core strand of seven wires. One pair of individual wires in the six surrounding strands, is reverse wound to provide a "ROUGH" surface to assist in abraiding moored mine anchor cables. The Port and Starboard Sweep Wires outer strands are wound around the inner core in opposite directions so that the "COIL" of the winding will provide a "Hydro-Plane" effect which assists in keeping the Sweep Wire from sagging in the center between the Depressor and the Outboard Otter.
What a Moored Mine looks like before being placed in the water
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What a Moored Mine looks like in the water.
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When a Moored Mine is launched from the Minelayer, as it leaves the launching ramp, the bouyant Mine is released to float above the Anchor and the solid iron Plummet drops below the anchor. The Plummet cable length has been set to the depth that the Mine is to be floating below the surface of the water. The Anchor cable is on a reel that allows it to pay out until the plummet strikes bottom. When the Plummet hits bottom it releases tension from the Cable reel brake and locks the reel in place. The weight of the Anchor then pulls the Mine under water the distance of the Plummet cable. In this way, no matter the depth of the water (as long as it is less than the length of the Cable) the Mine will float the preset depth below the surface. Shallow Mines 6-12 feet deep) are intended to sink Minesweepers. Medium depth Mines (20 -60 feet) are intended to sink large ships. Deep Mines (80-200 feet) are intended to sink submarines. In the above graphic, the mine has an extension that floats above the mine, allowing it to cover both a shallow and a medium depth or a deep and a shallow depth.
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