Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal . A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral .
75-657: Vice Admiral Henry George DeWolf CBE , DSO , DSC , CD (26 June 1903 – 18 December 2000) was a Canadian naval officer who was famous as the first commander of HMCS Haida during the Second World War . DeWolf entered the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) in 1918 at age 15 when he attended the Royal Naval College of Canada (RNCC) at Esquimalt, British Columbia . DeWolf graduated from RNCC in 1921 and
150-399: A staff car ; the car will normally bear a flag, dark blue with three gold maple leaves arranged one over two. A vice-admiral generally holds only the most senior command or administrative appointments, barring only Chief of Defence Staff , which is held by a full admiral or general . Appointments held by vice-admirals may include: Charles III holds the honorary rank of vice admiral in
225-505: A Canadian vice-admiral is as follows: Two rows of gold oak leaves are located on the black visor of the white service cap. From 1968 to June 2010, the navy blue service dress tunic featured only a wide gold braid around the cuff with three gold maple leaves, beneath crossed sword and baton, all surmounted by a St. Edward's Crown located on cloth shoulder straps. Vice-admirals are addressed by rank and name; thereafter by subordinates as "Sir" or "Ma'am". Vice-admirals are normally entitled to
300-536: A NATO OF-8 rank. In the ancien régime Navy, between 1669 and 1791. The office of "Vice-Admiral of France" ( Vice-amiral de France ) was the highest rank, the supreme office of "Admiral of France" being purely ceremonial. Distinct offices were : In the Philippines , the rank vice admiral is the highest-ranking official of the Philippine Navy . He is recognized as the flag officer in-command of
375-595: A blast upon tipping. Several mine-laying ships were destroyed when their cargo exploded. Beginning around the start of the 20th century, submarine mines played a major role in the defense of U.S. harbours against enemy attacks as part of the Endicott and Taft Programs . The mines employed were controlled mines, anchored to the bottoms of the harbours, and detonated under control from large mine casemates onshore. During World War I , mines were used extensively to defend coasts, coastal shipping, ports and naval bases around
450-626: A fearless and skilful tactician and became known to his crew as "Hard-Over-Harry" for bold manoeuvres off the coast of France. DeWolf earned the Distinguished Service Order for rescuing survivors of HMCS Athabaskan within range of enemy coastal guns on the French coast. DeWolf left Haida and was recalled to Ottawa , where he was promoted to captain in September 1944, becoming Assistant Chief of Naval Staff. During
525-401: A harbour by hand. They can be inexpensive: some variants can cost as little as US $ 2,000, though more sophisticated mines can cost millions of dollars, be equipped with several kinds of sensors, and deliver a warhead by rocket or torpedo . Their flexibility and cost-effectiveness make mines attractive to the less powerful belligerent in asymmetric warfare . The cost of producing and laying
600-915: A mine is usually between 0.5% and 10% of the cost of removing it, and it can take up to 200 times as long to clear a minefield as to lay it. Parts of some World War II naval minefields still exist because they are too extensive and expensive to clear. Some 1940s-era mines may remain dangerous for many years. Mines have been employed as offensive or defensive weapons in rivers, lakes, estuaries, seas, and oceans, but they can also be used as tools of psychological warfare . Offensive mines are placed in enemy waters, outside harbours, and across important shipping routes to sink both merchant and military vessels. Defensive minefields safeguard key stretches of coast from enemy ships and submarines, forcing them into more easily defended areas, or keeping them away from sensitive ones. Shipowners are reluctant to send their ships through known minefields. Port authorities may attempt to clear
675-524: A mined area, but those without effective minesweeping equipment may cease using the area. Transit of a mined area will be attempted only when strategic interests outweigh potential losses. The decision-makers' perception of the minefield is a critical factor. Minefields designed for psychological effect are usually placed on trade routes to stop ships from reaching an enemy nation. They are often spread thinly, to create an impression of minefields existing across large areas. A single mine inserted strategically on
750-682: A reputation as "the Fightingest Ship in the Canadian Navy", and was responsible for sinking 14 enemy ships in just over a year, earning numerous accolades. Haida and DeWolf saw service with convoys to Murmansk as well as operations to secure the English Channel in preparation for Operation Overlord . Most of his more famous battles took place at night in the English Channel, when DeWolf secured his reputation as
825-463: A resource-intensive and time-consuming minesweeping effort, accept the casualties of challenging the minefield, or use the unmined waters where the greatest concentration of enemy firepower will be encountered. Although international law requires signatory nations to declare mined areas, precise locations remain secret, and non-complying parties might not disclose minelaying. While mines threaten only those who choose to traverse waters that may be mined,
SECTION 10
#1732772770822900-695: A safe distance. The submarine H. L. Hunley used one to sink USS Housatonic on 17 February 1864. A Harvey torpedo was a type of floating mine towed alongside a ship and was briefly in service in the Royal Navy in the 1870s. Other "torpedoes" were attached to ships or propelled themselves. One such weapon called the Whitehead torpedo after its inventor, caused the word "torpedo" to apply to self-propelled underwater missiles as well as to static devices. These mobile devices were also known as "fish torpedoes". The American Civil War of 1861–1865 also saw
975-577: A shipping route can stop maritime movements for days while the entire area is swept. A mine's capability to sink ships makes it a credible threat, but minefields work more on the mind than on ships. International law , specifically the Eighth Hague Convention of 1907 , requires nations to declare when they mine an area, to make it easier for civil shipping to avoid the mines. The warnings do not have to be specific; for example, during World War II, Britain declared simply that it had mined
1050-722: A sloop mined by the Peruvians. A similar fate occurred with the gunboat schooner Covadonga in front of the port of Chancay , on 13 September 1880, which having captured and checked a beautiful boat, it exploded when hoisting it on its side. During the Battle of Tamsui (1884), in the Keelung Campaign of the Sino-French War , Chinese forces in Taiwan under Liu Mingchuan took measures to reinforce Tamsui against
1125-625: A time when the Chilean squadron was blockading the Peruvian ports, formed a brigade of torpedo boats under the command of the frigate captain Leopoldo Sánchez Calderón and the Peruvian engineer Manuel Cuadros , who perfected the naval torpedo or mine system to be electrically activated when the cargo weight was lifted. This is how, on 3 July 1880, in front of the port of Callao , the gunned transport Loa flies when capturing
1200-509: A variable number of ships to pass unharmed before detonating. This made them a great deal harder to sweep. Mining campaigns could have devastating consequences. The U.S. effort against Japan, for instance, closed major ports, such as Hiroshima , for days, and by the end of the Pacific War had cut the amount of freight passing through Kobe – Yokohama by 90%. When the war ended, more than 25,000 U.S.-laid mines were still in place, and
1275-688: Is just one example of a ship that was struck by a magnetic mine during this time. On 21 November 1939, a mine broke her keel, which damaged her engine and boiler rooms, as well as injuring 46 men, one later died from his injuries. She was towed to Rosyth for repairs. Incidents like this resulted in many of the boats that sailed to Dunkirk being degaussed in a marathon four-day effort by degaussing stations. The Allies and Germany deployed acoustic mines in World War II, against which even wooden- hulled ships (in particular minesweepers ) remained vulnerable. Japan developed sonic generators to sweep these;
1350-460: Is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that purpose. There are also mines that release a homing torpedo rather than explode themselves. Mines can be laid in many ways: by purpose-built minelayers , refitted ships, submarines, or aircraft —and even by dropping them into
1425-540: The Petropavlovsk struck them near Port Arthur , sending the holed vessel to the bottom and killing the fleet commander, Admiral Stepan Makarov , and most of his crew in the process. The toll inflicted by mines was not confined to the Russians, however. The Japanese Navy lost two battleships, four cruisers, two destroyers and a torpedo-boat to offensively laid mines during the war. Most famously, on 15 May 1904,
1500-607: The Battle-class trawler HMCS Festubert at Halifax. In May 1931, he married Gwendolen Gilbert of Somerset, Bermuda , whom he had met while serving aboard HMCS Patriot , which had spent a winter training there several years earlier. In 1932, DeWolf was posted to the destroyer HMCS Vancouver and then in 1933 to the destroyer HMCS Skeena . In July 1935, he was promoted to lieutenant commander and posted to National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) in Ottawa . He
1575-621: The Fall of France in late May and early June 1940. St. Laurent returned to convoy duty in the North Atlantic, and the following month, in July 1940, DeWolf's ship rescued 859 German and Italian prisoners of war , survivors of Arandora , which had been torpedoed by a U-boat , U-47 . DeWolf was promoted to commander in 1940. He and his ship were mentioned in despatches twice during his service on St. Laurent . Years later, he recalled
SECTION 20
#17327727708221650-535: The Gulf of Finland during the Crimean War of 1853–1856. The mining of Vulcan led to the world's first minesweeping operation. During the next 72 hours, 33 mines were swept. The Jacobi mine was designed by German-born, Russian engineer Jacobi, in 1853. The mine was tied to the sea bottom by an anchor. A cable connected it to a galvanic cell which powered it from the shore, the power of its explosive charge
1725-596: The Korean War , mines laid by North Korean forces caused 70% of the casualties suffered by U.S. naval vessels and caused 4 sinkings. During the Iran–Iraq War from 1980 to 1988, the belligerents mined several areas of the Persian Gulf and nearby waters. On 24 July 1987, the supertanker SS Bridgeton was mined by Iran near Farsi Island. On 14 April 1988, USS Samuel B. Roberts struck an Iranian mine in
1800-795: The Royal Australian Navy , the rank of vice admiral is held by the Chief of Navy and, when the positions are held by navy officers, by the Vice Chief of the Defence Force , the Chief of Joint Operations , and/or the Chief of Capability Development Group . Vice admiral is the equivalent of air marshal in the Royal Australian Air Force and lieutenant general in the Australian Army . In
1875-514: The Royal Canadian Navy , the rank of vice-admiral (VAdm) ( vice-amiral or Vam in French ) is equivalent to lieutenant-general of the Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force . A vice-admiral is a flag officer , the naval equivalent of a general officer . A vice-admiral is senior to a rear-admiral and major general , and junior to an admiral and general . The rank insignia of
1950-475: The British. In 1855, 301 more Jacobi mines were laid around Krostadt and Lisy Nos . British ships did not dare to approach them. In the 19th century, mines were called torpedoes , a name probably conferred by Robert Fulton after the torpedo fish , which gives powerful electric shocks . A spar torpedo was a mine attached to a long pole and detonated when the ship carrying it rammed another one and withdrew
2025-912: The Canadian ambassador from 1952 to 1956. DeWolf was promoted to vice admiral in January 1956 and served as Chief of the Naval Staff before retiring from the RCN on 31 July 1960. DeWolf and his wife retired to her home in Bermuda, although they spent their summers in Ottawa, his last RCN posting. DeWolf was an active golfer and fisherman and he was active in the Royal Canadian Navy Benevolent Fund , which raises money for retired sailors down on their luck. On 23 September 1992,
2100-620: The Coast ", a now obsolete office dealing with naval administration in each of the maritime counties. While the rank of vice admiral is used in most of NATO countries, it is ranked differently depending on the country. Naval mine A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines . Similar to anti-personnel and other land mines , and unlike purpose launched naval depth charges , they are deposited and left to wait until, depending on their fuzing , they are triggered by
2175-489: The English Channel, North Sea and French coast. Naval mines were first invented by Chinese innovators of Imperial China and were described in thorough detail by the early Ming dynasty artillery officer Jiao Yu , in his 14th-century military treatise known as the Huolongjing . Chinese records tell of naval explosives in the 16th century, used to fight against Japanese pirates ( wokou ). This kind of naval mine
2250-648: The French; they planted nine torpedo mines in the river and blocked the entrance. During the Boxer Rebellion , Imperial Chinese forces deployed a command-detonated mine field at the mouth of the Hai River before the Dagu forts , to prevent the western Allied forces from sending ships to attack. The next major use of mines was during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Two mines blew up when
2325-666: The Navy proved unable to sweep them all, limiting efforts to critical areas. After sweeping for almost a year, in May 1946, the Navy abandoned the effort with 13,000 mines still unswept. Over the next thirty years, more than 500 minesweepers (of a variety of types) were damaged or sunk clearing them. The U.S. began adding delay counters to their magnetic mines in June 1945. Since World War II , mines have damaged 14 United States Navy ships, whereas air and missile attacks have damaged four. During
Harry DeWolf - Misplaced Pages Continue
2400-549: The North Sea, the British East Coast, Straits of Dover, and Heligoland Bight is estimated at 190,000 and the total number during the whole of WWI was 235,000 sea mines. Clearing the barrage after the war took 82 ships and five months, working around the clock. It was also during World War I, that the British hospital ship , HMHS Britannic , became the largest vessel ever sunk by a naval mine . The Britannic
2475-695: The Royal Canadian Navy. In France , vice-amiral is the most senior of the ranks in the French Navy ; higher ranks, vice-amiral d'escadre and amiral , are permanent functions, styles and positions (in French rangs et appellations ) given to a vice-amiral -ranking officer. The vice-amiral rank used to be an OF-8 rank in NATO charts, but nowadays, it is more an OF-7 rank. The rank of vice-amiral d'escadre (literally, " squadron vice-admiral ", with more precision, "fleet vice-admiral") equals
2550-721: The Russian minelayer Amur planted a 50-mine minefield off Port Arthur and succeeded in sinking the Japanese battleships Hatsuse and Yashima . Following the end of the Russo-Japanese War, several nations attempted to have mines banned as weapons of war at the Hague Peace Conference (1907) . Many early mines were fragile and dangerous to handle, as they contained glass containers filled with nitroglycerin or mechanical devices that activated
2625-658: The Town of Bedford named a 1.4-hectare (3.5-acre) waterfront park on the Bedford Basin after DeWolf. The minutes of 28 November 2000 meeting of the Halifax Regional Council reveal that DeWolf had contributed $ 100,000 to the municipality, presumably as thanks for naming the prominent Admiral Harry DeWolf Park after him. He died in Ottawa on 18 December 2000 at the age of 97 and was buried at sea from HMCS Ville de Québec . On 18 September 2014, it
2700-467: The U.S. coast. Initially, contact mines (requiring a ship to physically strike a mine to detonate it) were employed, usually tethered at the end of a cable just below the surface of the water. Contact mines usually blew a hole in ships' hulls. By the beginning of World War II, most nations had developed mines that could be dropped from aircraft, some of which floated on the surface, making it possible to lay them in enemy harbours. The use of dredging and nets
2775-402: The approach of or contact with any vessel. Naval mines can be used offensively, to hamper enemy shipping movements or lock vessels into a harbour ; or defensively, to create "safe" zones protecting friendly sea lanes, harbours, and naval assets. Mines allow the minelaying force commander to concentrate warships or defensive assets in mine-free areas giving the adversary three choices: undertake
2850-509: The central Persian Gulf shipping lane , wounding 10 sailors. In the summer of 1984, magnetic sea mines damaged at least 19 ships in the Red Sea . The U.S. concluded Libya was probably responsible for the minelaying. In response the U.S., Britain, France, and three other nations launched Operation Intense Look , a minesweeping operation in the Red Sea involving more than 46 ships. On
2925-684: The coasts of these countries. London P&I Club issued a warning to freight ships in the area, advising them to "maintain lookouts for mines and pay careful attention to local navigation warnings". Ukrainian forces have mined "from the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea which banks the critical city of Odesa." Naval mines may be classified into three major groups; contact, remote and influence mines. The earliest mines were usually of this type. They are still used today, as they are extremely low cost compared to any other anti-ship weapon and are effective, both as
3000-647: The decade following 1868, Major Henry Larcom Abbot carried out a lengthy set of experiments to design and test moored mines that could be exploded on contact or be detonated at will as enemy shipping passed near them. This initial development of mines in the United States took place under the purview of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , which trained officers and men in their use at the Engineer School of Application at Willets Point, New York (later named Fort Totten ). In 1901 underwater minefields became
3075-589: The disadvantage of "sweeping" only a small strip. A better solution was found in the "Double-L Sweep" using electrical cables dragged behind ships that passed large pulses of current through the seawater. This created a large magnetic field and swept the entire area between the two ships. The older methods continued to be used in smaller areas. The Suez Canal continued to be swept by aircraft, for instance. While these methods were useful for clearing mines from local ports, they were of little or no use for enemy-controlled areas. These were typically visited by warships, and
Harry DeWolf - Misplaced Pages Continue
3150-531: The explosion. Ships that had successfully run the gantlet of the Atlantic crossing were sometimes destroyed entering freshly cleared British harbours. More shipping was being lost than could be replaced, and Churchill ordered the intact recovery of one of these new mines to be of the highest priority. The British experienced a stroke of luck in November 1939, when a German mine was dropped from an aircraft onto
3225-572: The failed "floating petard". Weapons of this type were apparently tried by the English at the Siege of La Rochelle in 1627. American David Bushnell developed the first American naval mine, for use against the British in the American War of Independence . It was a watertight keg filled with gunpowder that was floated toward the enemy, detonated by a sparking mechanism if it struck a ship. It
3300-507: The first to be so fitted were the carrier HMS Ark Royal and the liners RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth . It was a photo of one of these liners in New York harbour, showing the degaussing coil, which revealed to German Naval Intelligence the fact that the British were using degaussing methods to combat their magnetic mines. This was felt to be impractical for smaller warships and merchant vessels, mainly because
3375-418: The following incident, which took place while in command of St. Laurent : The mechanism of a live, armed torpedo was being painted by a sailor, who first lifted the safety catch to paint underneath it, and then lifted the firing handle to paint under that. The torpedo fired, naturally, and ran wild on deck," he said. "It slammed into the deck house, bounced off and kept changing around. Everybody, including me,
3450-545: The force were several fireships , carrying 40 barrels of gunpowder and rigged to explode by a clockwork mechanism. In 1812, Russian engineer Pavel Shilling exploded an underwater mine using an electrical circuit . In 1842 Samuel Colt used an electric detonator to destroy a moving vessel to demonstrate an underwater mine of his own design to the United States Navy and President John Tyler . However, opposition from former president John Quincy Adams , scuttled
3525-543: The fuze of the naval mine. Although this is the rotating steel wheel's first use in naval mines, Jiao Yu described their use for land mines in the 14th century. The first plan for a sea mine in the West was by Ralph Rabbards, who presented his design to Queen Elizabeth I of England in 1574. The Dutch inventor Cornelius Drebbel was employed in the Office of Ordnance by King Charles I of England to make weapons, including
3600-475: The gear was not ready by war's end. The primary method Japan used was small air-delivered bombs. This was profligate and ineffectual; used against acoustic mines at Penang , 200 bombs were needed to detonate just 13 mines. The Germans developed a pressure-activated mine and planned to deploy it as well, but they saved it for later use when it became clear the British had defeated the magnetic system. The U.S. also deployed these, adding "counters" which would allow
3675-748: The globe. The Germans laid mines in shipping lanes to sink merchant and naval vessels serving Britain. The Allies targeted the German U-boats in the Strait of Dover and the Hebrides. In an attempt to seal up the northern exits of the North Sea, the Allies developed the North Sea Mine Barrage . During a period of five months from June 1918, almost 70,000 mines were laid spanning the North Sea's northern exits. The total number of mines laid in
3750-504: The insistence of Admiral Fyodor Litke . The Nobel mines were bought from Swedish industrialist Immanuel Nobel who had entered into collusion with the Russian head of navy Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov . Despite their high cost (100 Russian rubles ) the Nobel mines proved to be faulty, exploding while being laid, failing to explode or detaching from their wires, and drifting uncontrollably, at least 70 of them were subsequently disarmed by
3825-564: The iron deck. We finally managed to release the air cock (the torpedo was driven by compressed air). We still had a live torpedo. When we got to port (in the United Kingdom) we hoisted it on the wall and left it there. I reported to headquarters, but I don't know what became of the torpedo. (The warhead was eventually placed in a North Sea naval mine field.) DeWolf took command of HMCS Haida in August 1943. Under DeWolf, Haida earned
SECTION 50
#17327727708223900-404: The majority of the fleet then underwent a massive degaussing process, where their hulls had a slight "south" bias induced into them which offset the concentration-effect almost to zero. Initially, major warships and large troopships had a copper degaussing coil fitted around the perimeter of the hull, energized by the ship's electrical system whenever in suspected magnetic-mined waters. Some of
3975-458: The mine and rushed it to the labs at HMS Vernon, where scientists discovered that the mine had a magnetic arming mechanism. A large ferrous object passing through the Earth's magnetic field will concentrate the field through it, due to its magnetic permeability; the mine's detector was designed to trigger as a ship passed over when the Earth's magnetic field was concentrated in the ship and away from
4050-502: The mine. The mine detected this loss of the magnetic field which caused it to detonate. The mechanism had an adjustable sensitivity, calibrated in milligauss . From this data, known methods were used to clear these mines. Early methods included the use of large electromagnets dragged behind ships or below low-flying aircraft (a number of older bombers like the Vickers Wellington were used for this). Both of these methods had
4125-439: The mudflats off Shoeburyness during low tide. Additionally, the land belonged to the army and a base with men and workshops was at hand. Experts were dispatched from HMS Vernon to investigate the mine. The Royal Navy knew that mines could use magnetic sensors, Britain having developed magnetic mines in World War I, so everyone removed all metal, including their buttons, and made tools of non-magnetic brass . They disarmed
4200-401: The navy, an equivalent post to the Chief of Naval Operations in the U.S. Navy. Before World War II, the vice admiral was the highest rank in the Polish Navy. Józef Unrug was one of the only two officers to achieve the rank. The other was Jerzy Świrski . Poland had only one sovereign sea port, Port of Gdynia , and was slowly building a small modern navy that was to be ready by 1950. The navy
4275-457: The orders of the Reagan administration , the CIA mined Nicaragua 's Sandino port in 1984 in support of the Contras . A Soviet tanker was among the ships damaged by these mines. In 1986, in the case of Nicaragua v. United States , the International Court of Justice ruled that this mining was a violation of international law. During the Gulf War , Iraqi naval mines severely damaged USS Princeton and USS Tripoli . When
4350-711: The possibility of activating a mine is a powerful disincentive to shipping. In the absence of effective measures to limit each mine's lifespan, the hazard to shipping can remain long after the war in which the mines were laid is over. Unless detonated by a parallel time fuze at the end of their useful life, naval mines need to be found and dismantled after the end of hostilities; an often prolonged, costly, and hazardous task. Modern mines containing high explosives detonated by complex electronic fuze mechanisms are much more effective than early gunpowder mines requiring physical ignition. Mines may be placed by aircraft, ships, submarines, or individual swimmers and boatmen. Minesweeping
4425-424: The postwar years, DeWolf commanded the aircraft carriers HMCS Warrior and HMCS Magnificent between January 1947 and September 1948, before being promoted to rear admiral. He served as Flag Officer Pacific Coast at Esquimalt from 1948 to 1950, then was recalled to NDHQ where he served as Vice Chief of Naval Staff from 1950 to 1952, then was posted to Washington, D.C. as principal military advisor to
4500-521: The project as "not fair and honest warfare". In 1854, during the unsuccessful attempt of the Anglo-French (101 warships) fleet to seize the Kronstadt fortress, British steamships HMS Merlin (9 June 1855, the first successful mining in Western history), HMS Vulture and HMS Firefly suffered damage due to the underwater explosions of Russian naval mines. Russian naval specialists set more than 1,500 naval mines, or infernal machines , designed by Moritz von Jacobi and by Immanuel Nobel , in
4575-405: The responsibility of the US Army's Artillery Corps, and in 1907 this was a founding responsibility of the United States Army Coast Artillery Corps . The Imperial Russian Navy , a pioneer in mine warfare, successfully deployed mines against the Ottoman Navy during both the Crimean War and the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878) . During the War of the Pacific (1879-1883), the Peruvian Navy , at
SECTION 60
#17327727708224650-440: The ships lacked the generating capacity to energise such a coil. It was found that "wiping" a current-carrying cable up and down a ship's hull temporarily canceled the ships' magnetic signature sufficiently to nullify the threat. This started in late 1939, and by 1940 merchant vessels and the smaller British warships were largely immune for a few months at a time until they once again built up a field. The cruiser HMS Belfast
4725-409: The successful use of mines. The first ship sunk by a mine, USS Cairo , foundered in 1862 in the Yazoo River . Rear Admiral David Farragut 's famous/apocryphal command during the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, " Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead! " refers to a minefield laid at Mobile , Alabama. After 1865 the United States adopted the mine as its primary weapon for coastal defense . In
4800-494: The war concluded, eight countries conducted clearance operations. Houthi forces in the Yemeni Civil War have made frequent use of naval mines, laying over 150 in the Red Sea throughout the conflict. In the first month of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine , Ukraine accused Russia of deliberately employing drifting mines in the Black Sea area. Around the same time, Turkish and Romanian military diving teams were involved in defusing operations, when stray mines were spotted near
4875-409: Was the sister ship of the RMS Titanic , and the RMS Olympic . During World War II , the U-boat fleet, which dominated much of the battle of the Atlantic, was small at the beginning of the war and much of the early action by German forces involved mining convoy routes and ports around Britain. German submarines also operated in the Mediterranean Sea , in the Caribbean Sea , and along
4950-536: Was announced that the planned new class of Canadian warships built specifically for the Arctic, and the lead ship of the class, the Harry DeWolf -class offshore patrol vessel , would be named after him. DeWolf's personal awards and decorations include the following: [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Vice-Admiral#Canada In
5025-402: Was effective against this type of mine, but this consumed valuable time and resources and required harbours to be closed. Later, some ships survived mine blasts, limping into port with buckled plates and broken backs. This appeared to be due to a new type of mine, detecting ships by their proximity to the mine (an influence mine) and detonating at a distance, causing damage with the shock wave of
5100-415: Was equal to 14 kg (31 lb) of black powder . In the summer of 1853, the production of the mine was approved by the Committee for Mines of the Ministry of War of the Russian Empire . In 1854, 60 Jacobi mines were laid in the vicinity of the Forts Pavel and Alexander ( Kronstadt ), to deter the British Baltic Fleet from attacking them. It gradually phased out its direct competitor the Nobel mine on
5175-459: Was further disguised by wearing dark clothes and a black cap. His task was to approach the French ship, hook the torpedo to the anchor cable and, having activated the device by removing a pin, remove the paddles and escape before the torpedo detonated. Also to be deployed were large numbers of casks filled with gunpowder, ballast and combustible balls. They would float in on the tide and on washing up against an enemy's hull, explode. Also included in
5250-420: Was loaded in a wooden box, sealed with putty . General Qi Jiguang made several timed, drifting explosives, to harass Japanese pirate ships. The Tiangong Kaiwu ( The Exploitation of the Works of Nature ) treatise, written by Song Yingxing in 1637, describes naval mines with a ripcord pulled by hidden ambushers located on the nearby shore who rotated a steel wheel flint mechanism to produce sparks and ignite
5325-419: Was made Assistant Director of Intelligence and Plans. DeWolf returned to Canada in 1939 and was appointed commanding officer of the destroyer HMCS St. Laurent . St. Laurent was posted to convoy duty out of Halifax . St. Laurent under DeWolf reportedly fired the RCN's first shots of the war as they helped rescue British and French troops escaping from continental Europe during Operation Dynamo after
5400-506: Was not a priority for obvious reasons. At present, it is a "two-star" rank. The stars are not used; however, the stars were used in between 1952 and 1956 and are still used in the vice admiral's pennant. In the Royal Navy the rank of vice-admiral should be distinguished from the office of " Vice-Admiral of the United Kingdom ", which is an Admiralty position usually held by a retired "full" admiral , and that of " Vice-Admiral of
5475-406: Was scared. The decks cleared pretty rapidly. Since we thought we were all going up any second, Petty Officer Ridge and myself decided to try and tame the torpedo. We got astride it. It was as slippery as a greased pig and we thought its propeller might cut our feet off. We rode and guided it over the rail and stuck one leg over the rail to hold it steady. The propeller was making a tremendous racket on
5550-436: Was sent on an exchange with the Royal Navy to serve on board the battleship HMS Resolution . He was promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1924 and took a six-month course in gunnery, torpedoes and navigation at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich . Returning to Canada in the summer of 1925, he was posted to one of the RCN's two destroyers , HMCS Patriot . In early 1930, Lieutenant DeWolf received his first command,
5625-469: Was used on the Delaware River as a drift mine, destroying a small boat near its intended target, a British warship. The 1804 Raid on Boulogne made extensive use of explosive devices designed by inventor Robert Fulton . The 'torpedo-catamaran' was a coffer-like device balanced on two wooden floats and steered by a man with a paddle. Weighted with lead so as to ride low in the water, the operator
#821178