Название: U.S. Navy Minecraft A History and Directory from World War I to Today
Автор: Ken W. Sayers
Издательство: McFarland & Company
Год: 2023
Страниц: 499
Язык: английский
Формат: epub
Размер: 34.2 MB

In modern naval warfare, offensive and defensive mine operations and the ships that perform them often take a back seat to the more glamorous carrier strike groups, strategic deterrence patrols and anti-submarine operations. Despite their relatively small size and numbers, minecraft have enormous strategic and tactical value. With more than 200 photos, this book details the histories and specifications of more than 2,200 vessels that have served as minelayers and minesweepers, from World War I to today. Rare examples include the U.S. Navy's only purpose-built mine-laying submarine, and the remarkable 36-foot "mini minesweeper."

Many decades ago, a ­Redwing-class wooden hull coastal minesweeper (MSC) was moored at a pier a short walk from the pier where my ship was berthed. Every once in a while I would look over at the sweeper and sometimes wonder, for example, what those two white ­torpedo-like objects were back on the fantail. But other than that, I am embarrassed to say that I gave that vessel very little thought from one day to the next, and more or less ignored her during the several months we were neighbors.

Looking back at it now, I wish that I had gone over to the minesweeper, chatted with some of her crew, to find out what operations she performed, what the purpose was of the unusual equipment she had on the main deck, and what life was like for her officers and men. But I hadn’t. And I’m not alone.

Mine warfare vessels are not exactly ­top-of-mind for most of us. Civilians generally think about mine craft not at all. Those vessels receive scant attention even in naval ship reference books, typically placed behind and listed after submarines, aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers, destroyers, littoral combat ships, frigates, command ships, amphibious warfare ships, landing craft and vehicles, and patrol and special warfare craft. This is not to fault the civilians and the editors of ship reference books. It is merely a reflection of how people perceive the ordinary, the usual, and the everyday routine. Newspapers don’t print “dog bites man” stories but they do publish “man bites dog” articles.

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