Home The Museum History Firepower Mines

Mines

The mine is the weapon to which the enemy must come. It represents a cool, calculating kind of warfare, one of strategy & waiting. There are no immediate results.

In simple terms, mines are "just bins packed with explosive" designed to destroy ships by exploding beneath their hulls. Buoyant mines float, either moored or unmoored. Ground mines lie on the seabed. Limpet mines are fixed to particular targets. The most popular concept of a mine is the one with 'horns' floating menacingly in the water, to be detonated by enemy ships coming in to direct contact with them; but others are detonated by remote control, by timers or by sensors.

Previously repair and testing of mines had been done at HMS Vernon, an old wooden-walled frigate in Portchester Creek, and later at Portsmouth Gunwharf. But in 1918 a new purpose-built mining depot was opened at Frater, to the north of Priddy's Hard. This was under the command of the Royal Navy Engineer until 1935 when the Superintendent at Priddy's Hard took over. Here mines were repaired, filled and stored before being issued to minelayers and transport ships by lighters from Bedenham Pier, or to RAF bases by road and rail.

During the Second World War, British minelayers laid over 186,000 mines defensively, and over 77,000 offensively. At Frater work went on round the clock 12-hour shifts. A 41-year era ended in 1959 when the depot there ceased dealing with mines and began work on torpedoes.

 
Designed by Starfish