US1304549A

US1304549A - Means to protect submarine-mine fields

Info

Publication number: US1304549A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1919-05-27
Anticipated expiration: 1936-05-27

Description

F. I. DU PONT.

MEANS TO P T CT SUBMARINE MINE FIELDS, APPL} ION FILED APR.4.19XI.

147' 7 ORA E Y.

Pater Y Ma 191i).

FRANCIS I. DU FONT, 0F WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.

MEANS TO PROTECT SUBMARINE-MINE FIELDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 27, 1919.

Application filed April 4, 1917. Serial No. 159,647.

To all whom it may concem:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS I. DU PONT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wilmington, county of New Castle, and State of Delaware, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Means to Protect Submarine-Mine Fields, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to the subject of naval defense and has especially for its object the safeguarding of certain water fronts and marine highways in case of war. In such waters, mines and floating bombs are anchored at various points. These mines, though entirely invisible from the surface, are not submerged very deeply so as not to be beyond the depth of the smaller craft of the enemy.

It is well understood in general how these mines are constructed and planted. An effective means used by an enemy to clear a safe passage oversuch amine protected area is to run over it two light draft vessels, in

parallel lines, trailing a cable between them. The cable is allowed to sink deep enough to sweep against the anchor lines of the mines in its path, and in this way the mines are dragged away from their anchorages. A mine field may be thus partly or wholly destroyed The objefit of my invention is to provide means for nullifying this/action of the enemy and protecting the mines. My invention consists of cable-severing mechanism attached to the mine anchor line below the mine, or preferably to a separately anchored line contiguous to the mine, in such manner that the dragging cable of the minedestroyers will engage said cutting mechanism and be severed thereby before it has a chance to work any substantial damage to the mine field.

Embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view, partlyin elevation and partly in vertical section, of the shearing mechanism and the submerged anchored carrier therefor. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of 1. Fig. 3 is an elevation of a modification. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical section along the shears of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

the'mine field, and anchored in position by means of a cable I) connected with an anchor or weight (not shown) at the bottom of the body of water.

Secured in one side of the body a is one aw or blade 0 of a pair of shears. This jaw is preferably fixed and extends vertically. The other jaw d is pivoted, at its upper end, to the body a. This jaw also extends downward but diverges somewhat from the fixed jaw. The space between the cutting edges of the jaws is open at the bottom and closed at the top.

The pivoted jarw d has an inwardly disposed arm 6 which engages a piston or plunger f in a piston chamber g, the space beneath the piston acting as a container for explosive material. A spring-actuated firing pin 12, is restrained from operation by means of its engagement with one arm of a bell-crank lever z pivoted in a recess in the body a. The other arm of the bell-crank extends into the space between, or in line with the space between, the cutting jaws. To exclude the entrance of moisture to the powder charge, and also to protect the jaws of the shears from corrosion, a very thin copper sheathing j (indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1) incloses the/movable jaw, covers the projecting edge of the fixed jaw and incloses the space at the root of the jaws communicating with the explosive charge and its firing mechanism. This copper sheathing is readily severed when the jaws of the cutter close, but tends to hold them in open position until they are positively actuated.

The upper part of the body a is bulbous shaped, affording snflicient air space to float the mechanism, while the lower part is tapered downward, presenting an upwardly and outwardly extending inclined surface leases the firing pin it, which i nites the powder charge. The explosion orces the plunger f against the arm 6, thereby swinging the jaw d toward the jaw c and severing the dra ging cable.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, the dragging cable itself supplies the force required to operate the shears. The latter consist of two shearing jaws or blades m and n, one carried by the body 0 and the other by a holder p secured at its upper end to the body 0 and thence extending down alongside of, but diverging somewhat outwardly from, the wall of the body 0. Preferably both jaws are movable, and preferably, also, both jaws are arranged to slide upwardly, thus causing opposing points on the two jaws to approach each other. The sliding movement of the jaws is facilitated by caus ing the inner longitudinal edges of the jaws to travel in elongated recesses in contact with rollers 1' rotatable on the bottoms of a the recesses.

It is obvious that if a dragging cable, by its contact with the anchorage cable, is guided into-the space between any two jaws m and n, it will, by virtue of its own pulling force, draw the jaws upwardly and thgi'efore cause them to sever the dragging ca e. P

A plurality of shears m, n, are provided about the periphery of the body 0, as in the case of the pivoted shears before described, and also similar to that case shears m, n, are entirely covered and protected by thin copper shell 'iindicated at s to preclude corrosion. '1

Having now fullv described my invntion, what I desire to claim and protect by Letters Patent is v 1. Means to protect submarine mine fields comprising a submersible body, an anchorage cable to which the body is secured, and

cutting means positioned and adapted to sever any dragging'cable that engages the anchorage cable and is guided thereby relatively upward toward the cutting means.

2. Means to protect submarine mine fields comprising a body adapted for submergence beneath the surface of the water, an anchorage cable to which the body is secured, and

shears the jaws of whichv open downward in posltlon to engage any dragging cable that engages the anchorage cable and is guided thereby into the space between the jaws.

3. Means to protect submarine mine fields comprisinga body adapted for submergence beneath the surface of the water, an anchorage cable secured to the body, shears carried by the body the jaws of which open downward toward the anchorage cable whereby the dragging cable is guided upward between the jaws, and means controlled by the dragging cable to effect a relative approach of the jaws to sever the drivln cable.

4. Means to protect submarine mine fields comprisingabody adapted for submergence beneath the surface of the water, an anchorage cable secured to the body, shears carried by the body the jaws of which open downward toward the anchorage cable whereby the dragging cable is guided upward between the jaws, a container for an explosive charge, means operable by the dragging cable to means operable by the explosive charge to cause a relative approach of the jaws of the shears to sever the dragging cable.

5. Means to protect submarine mine fields comprising a body adapted for submergence beneath the surface of the water, shears, and a relatively thin and readily severable protective sheathing for the shears.

6. Means to protect submarine mine fields comprising a body adapted for submergence beneath the surface of the water, and a plurality of shears each of which is adapted to sever a-dragging cable, said shears being arranged along the outside of said body on different radii of the bodys vertical axis.

7. Means to protect submarine mine fields comprising a submersible body having a cone-shaped lower end. and a pair of shearing jaws one of which substantially alines with the "tapered side of the lower end of the body, while the other of which extends downward alongside the body and spaced from the other jaw, whereby a dragging explode the charge, and.

cable contacting with the lower end of the