GB125618A - Improvements in or relating to Submarine Mines. - Google Patents

Abstract

125,618. Vickers, Ltd., Elia, G. E., and North, T. K. Sept. 13, 1916. Mines, marine. - Relates to submarine mines provided with extensible arms which, on impact with a ship, rotate relatively to the mine, causing the mine to be released and to rise by its buoyancy while the tension in the mooring-cable first cocks and then releases a spring striker, firing the mine. According to the invention, a " driving " member 1, Fig. 1, carrying the arm 10 is mounted in a bearing 2 m the bottom of the mine 4, and is attached at one end to the rod 6 of a spring striker 54, and at the other end to the @oring- cable by means of a shackle 8. The driving- member 1 is locked to a ring 22 against rotation by keys 23, and against longitudinal motion by radial bolts 11, Fig. 3, which are confined within the ring 22 by rollers 16 in the surrounding casing. The ring 22 is itself mounted without longitudinal freedom in the surrounding casing, and is locked against rotation by pins 26 in engagement with radial slots 25 in yokes 21, which are pressed by springs 28 against rollers 18: the yokes are indented to fit the surfaces of the rollers, forming a spring grip which yields only to a strong force. The casing surrounding these parts comprises an upper part 32 brazed to the mine and a cup-shaped lower part 33 secured to the upper part by bolts 35, a flanged steel ring 36<1> and a leather washer 36 being interposed to make the casing watertight. A disk 45 is secured to the top of the lower part by screws and is formed with a boss 47 which screws into the striker casing 50. The joint between the driving-member 1 and its bearing 2 on the lower part of the casing is made water-tight by an extensible corrugated lead tube 38, which is clamped to the bearing 2 and to a boss 37 on the driving-member by wires 39, Fig. 6, threaded through a block 41 and tightened by nuts 44. When the driving-member 1 is rotated relatively to the mine on impact of the mine with a ship, the bolts 11 are released from the rollers 16 and are wedged aside by the driving-member 1 as the mine rises by its buoyancy. The rising mine then compresses the striker spring until radial bolts 57 are wedged into a recess 58, releasing the striker 54 from the rod 6 and thus firing the mine. The arm 10 is passed transversely through the driving- member 1 and is then locked thereto by a pin 60. The outer part of the arm 10 is extended by a spring 65 when released from a gripping-device 62, 63, Fig. 5, by the dissolution of a plug 67. A screw 66 is screwed in the jaw 63 over the plug 67 to ensure that the jaw 63 shall grip the arm 10 tightly against the cradle 62 irrespective of the size of the plug 67.