CHAPTER XIII

MINE-SWEEPING¹ FLEETS

For clearing away the mines dropped by an enemy special vessels² are employed. Each vessel³ is fitted on both sides with a curious contrivance known as the “picking-up gear.” This apparatus⁴ is lowered into the water, and “picks up” any mines which may lie in the path of an on-coming fleet. When a mine-field is discovered by either destroyers or seaplanes these vessels are immediately dispatched to destroy it; and they are aided, in the case of the British Navy, by a large flotilla of steam trawlers. Many of these auxiliary⁵ vessels are not fitted with the picking-up gear, but go to work in pairs. Two vessels, connected together by a long wire rope weighted in 180the centre to keep it submerged, range themselves on each side of a mine-field, and by steaming ahead in a parallel line sweep up the mines floating between them. This process can be carried on simultaneously⁶ by a large number of trawlers, covering a very wide area of sea. In the meantime the attached destroyers and seaplanes can be searching for new fields. It often happens during sweeping operations that mines are brought into contact with each other and violent explosions occur. Sometimes the vessels engaged in this hazardous⁷ work will themselves strike one of the mines, but it is more often the searching flotillas which meet with sudden disaster in this way. Fully⁸ equipped mine-sweepers usually precede a fleet of battleships and big cruisers through dangerous and narrow seas, within the likely zone of hostile mines.

The British Mine-Sweeping Fleet comprises the following vessels:—Circe (810 tons), Jason (810 tons), Speedy (810 181tons), Leda (810 tons), Gossamer⁹ (735 tons), Seagull (735 tons), Skipjack (735 tons), and Speedwell (735 tons).

These eight vessels are obsolete¹⁰ torpedo-gunboats which have been specially¹¹ fitted out for the work of mine-sweeping. There is also a large flotilla of steam fishing trawlers engaged. Some of these vessels were purchased by the Admiralty before the war, and were also equipped for mine-sweeping; but many others were, by special arrangement, handed over to the Navy on the outbreak of war. The whole of the mine-sweeping fleet is manned by a special section of the Royal Naval¹² Reserve, known as the “Trawler Section,” which consists of about 142 skippers and 1,136 men. This is, of course, in addition to the several thousand naval sailors employed on the regular mine-sweepers, named above, and also to those employed on the large number of additional small steamers taken over for this work by the Admiralty at the commencement of hostilities¹³. It is 182estimated that the task of keeping the North Sea clear of mines during the first four weeks of the Great War required over 100 vessels and 5,000 sailors, in addition to the usual destroyer and submarine patrols with their crews, and also to the seaplanes with their pilots and observers.

Almost any steamship¹⁴ can be quickly converted into an effective mine-sweeper, and for this reason it is impossible to give here more than the very briefest information concerning the vessels employed in these operations by the other Naval Powers at war. Russia had fifteen special mine-sweeping vessels building when war broke out; but, doubtless, many small merchant ships have since been used for this purpose. France employed a number of mine-sweepers in the Adriatic; and Japan used some in clearing the approaches to Tsing-tau. Germany and Austria, of course, did not need many vessels of this kind, as the Allied¹⁵ Navies laid 183comparatively few mines and German oversea commerce ceased to exist almost as soon as war was declared. It was in the North Sea, during the first phase of the naval war, that the value of a big British mine-sweeping fleet made itself so wonderfully apparent.

1 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

2 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

4 apparatus   

n.装置，器械；器具，设备

参考例句：

• The school's audio apparatus includes films and records.学校的视听设备包括放映机和录音机。
• They had a very refined apparatus.他们有一套非常精良的设备。

5 auxiliary   

adj.辅助的，备用的

参考例句：

• I work in an auxiliary unit.我在一家附属单位工作。
• The hospital has an auxiliary power system in case of blackout.这家医院装有备用发电系统以防灯火管制。

6 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

7 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 gossamer   

n.薄纱，游丝

参考例句：

• The prince helped the princess,who was still in her delightful gossamer gown.王子搀扶着仍穿著那套美丽薄纱晚礼服的公主。
• Gossamer is floating in calm air.空中飘浮着游丝。

10 obsolete   

adj.已废弃的，过时的

参考例句：

• These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了，在市场上卖不了高价。
• They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。

11 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

12 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

13 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

14 steamship   

n.汽船，轮船

参考例句：

• The return may be made on the same steamship.可乘同一艘汽船当天回来。
• It was so foggy that the steamship almost ran down a small boat leaving the port.雾很大，汽艇差点把一只正在离港的小船撞沉。

15 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。