Battleship killed by a bottle

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12 December 1862, during the war between the United States and the Confederate States of America, on a minefield set up by the Confederates on the Yazoo River, exploded and sank the unionista battleship “First” stories the ship that died from this new and, as it turned out, very effective weapons.

Unfortunately, Nobel mines, first used by Russians against English fleet eight years earlier, in the Crimean War, they were too weak (only four kilograms of black powder) to lead to the destruction of the ship. None of the British steam frigates that had come up against them sank, escaping with relatively minor injuries.

And the Confederate mine contained five gallons (about 19 liters) of gunpowder in a large glass bottle, and that was enough to sink the river wheel armadillo with a displacement of 512 tons. Previously, "Kairo" managed to distinguish himself in the Battle of Memphis, having sustained artillery shells on steel sides, but he was defenseless against an explosion under a wooden bottom. On the screen saver - undermining "Kairo" in the image of a modern American artist.



Scheme weapons and booking "Kairo". Green is marked with armor protection of vertical steel plates with a thickness of 64 mm on a wooden base. Blue - railroad rails laid close to each other and also attached to a wooden backing.



I have already quoted the photograph of Cairo in a note describing the Battle of Memphis, and now let there be a color drawing in which he is depicted at the time of the onboard volley.



On the left is the anchor mine that destroyed the Kairo. The letter "A" in the picture marked a rope, the tension of which regulated the depth of the mine, "B" - a wooden float, "C" - a bottle braided with a rod with electric powder and an electric detonator, "D" - a cable to the blasting machine. On the right, Confederate Southern States Navy engineers (colonel, lieutenant, and sergeant) engaged in mine productions.

At the end of the last century, the remains of "Kairo" were raised, partially restored and put on display. Below - photos of this unique monument of the era.





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15 comments
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  1. +13
    19 December 2015 08: 00
    None of the British steam frigates that had come up against them sank, escaping with relatively small injuries.... But the effect was positive ... the British did not dare to go further .. Thank you for the curious episode of the US Civil War .. If I am not mistaken, this is one of the successful episodes ..
    1. +2
      19 December 2015 08: 21
      Quote: parusnik
      None of the British steam frigates that had come up against them sank, escaping with relatively small injuries ...

      The first, almost successful experience in using the most terrible weapons. Thanks to the author for an interesting note.
    2. +3
      19 December 2015 10: 43
      Quote: parusnik
      Thank you for the curious episode of the US Civil War .. If I am not mistaken, this is one of the successful episodes ..
      So the whole war there was very interesting in this regard. In addition to mines, the first successful use of the Hunley submarine against a US corvette (sunk), the first battleships and armored trains, and machine guns.
    3. 0
      20 December 2015 12: 56
      He would be even more positive if Nobel did not regret gunpowder for the Russians. lol
      Was he at least not soaked as quartermaster in Tsushima in Russian shells?
  2. +4
    19 December 2015 09: 34

    For me, so if the southerners had won, there would be no one to arrange the current sanctions against Russia.
  3. +10
    19 December 2015 09: 36
    Well, in fairness, it should be borne in mind that the Jacobi mines were completely autonomous weapons and the Confederate mines required manual closure.
  4. +1
    19 December 2015 09: 43
    Informative. I would love to know about modern "thinking" mines.
  5. +7
    19 December 2015 10: 03
    Unfortunately, the Nobel mines, first used by the Russians against the English fleet eight years earlier, in the Crimean War, turned out to be too weak (only four kilograms of black powder) to destroy the ship. None of the English steamer frigates thrown at them went to the bottom, with relatively minor injuries.

    This is a separate topic.
    And it’s not so simple.

    Since 1834, Russia has been most seriously engaged in mine weapons.
    At the initial stage, the works of B.S. Allegedly.
    His mintz exploded and were deadly to ships ...
    His mines and impressed the British in the Crimean War ...

    But at Kronstadt, a mine exploded in front of a steamship ...
    And he diving into the hole from the explosion and getting hit by the water that fell back, ... was "shell-shocked" to such an extent. that more than the British did not go to these places ...

    Sveaborg had an "anecdote" at all.
    The mines had electric fuses and were triggered by a circuit with two miners.
    The miners had to be located in different places and as soon as the ship appeared on the bearing, the fuse circuit was closed. Two bearings provided space.
    Simply. but not exactly .... Here is an Englishman at Kronstadt and survived.
    And in Sveaborg there was a mess. When the postostat was not around, power supplies were disconnected from the minefields. As I understand it, the position of the levers was not followed ...
    And when the British approached - the fence was connected to the galvanic cells ...
    leverage is not checked ...
    All mines exploded at once, the British looked at it from afar ...
    It is believed that this fact helped the Russian fleet to defend Sveaborg.
    It did not occur to the British that "in order to warn the British in fear" the Russians would blow up all the mines in the strait ...

    Jacobi mines were made in wooden double-barrel barrels - one inside the second, and were reliable.
    Long experiments at the training ground in Krasnoye Selo found that there was no sense to pour out more than 30 kg of gunpowder - the detonator did not allow it - pieces of the gunpowder gunpowder scattered even before being burned. They were then collected at the landfill.

    And Nobel’s mines - more than two-thirds purchased by the Russian Navy, are practically a complete marriage.
    this RUNNER, posing as a "Russian" patriot, grabbed the order and bungled a patent for a mine in an iron case.
    That is, a double wooden barrel was replaced with a hammered iron barrel.
    But the technology was not worked out - he was in a hurry, and had no experience in this matter.
    As a result, the mines got wet and the gunpowder did not burn ...
    Nobel earned great money.
    1. 0
      19 December 2015 13: 15
      Interesting article.
      Only on Nobel did you roll in vain.
      He honestly did what he could. They themselves wrote that in wooden barrels a large charge of gunpowder did not have time to burn. So the shell must be steel. What then came.
      Quarters and suppliers always make good money in war.
  6. 0
    19 December 2015 13: 08
    An interesting article - thanks to the author.
    Everything was once for the first time - a digging stick, a stone ax, a sword and a crossbow, a gun, an automatic rifle, a tank, a virgin core / head.
    Throughout the history of its existence, mankind has been constantly busy inventing and perfecting the murder tools of its own kind - first for food, now for material wealth.
    Along the way, we are now approaching what Einstein predicted - after the 3rd World War, people will again fight with a stone ax.
  7. +1
    19 December 2015 14: 28
    Have you noticed that "Cairo" is so similar in shape to "Zumvolt"? The same pyramidal structure
    1. 0
      21 December 2015 04: 06
      Yes, not the design, just the inclined sides help to ricochet the projectile and redirect the radar wave
  8. 0
    19 December 2015 19: 46
    Quote: Taoist
    Well, in fairness, it should be borne in mind that the Jacobi mines were completely autonomous weapons and the Confederate mines required manual closure.

    The mines of Jacobi had an external current source, where the contactor on the fuse was autonomous.
    1. +1
      20 December 2015 12: 07
      Jacobi developed two types of mines. With galvanic and pyrotechnic fuses. The galvanic ones had an external power source, while the pyrotechnic ones were completely autonomous. A little later, fully autonomous galvanic impact mines appeared. The very famous "horns" - the lead cap of which contained an ampoule with acid, when the cap collapsed, the acid flooded a galvanic cell and an explosion occurred. Also completely autonomous.
      Another question is that for a long time our minefields were divided into "serfs" (with power supply from external sources), which made it possible to activate and deactivate them by turning the switch. And "autonomous" - which were activated constantly.
  9. 0
    19 December 2015 20: 10
    Quote: Sergey S.
    And in Sveaborg there was a mess. When the postostat was not around, power supplies were disconnected from the minefields. As I understand it, the position of the levers was not followed ...
    And when the British approached - the fence was connected to the galvanic cells ...
    leverage is not checked ...
    All mines exploded at once, the British looked at it from afar ...

    Well, yes, according to your comment (without going into details) all Russian fools.
  10. 0
    21 December 2015 13: 08
    such mines were quite imperfect and prone to water (especially marine). During the assault on Mobile in 1864, the distraught Admiral Farragut ordered that he tie himself to the top of the mast and lead his fleet directly to the Confederate minefield. And luck smiled at him - the mines were damp at the cost of losing only two ships to him managed to break into the harbor to achieve the surrender of forts and ultimately the surrender of Mobile. That's how losers and madmen become national heroes. and sometimes presidents (W. Grant)
  11. 0
    23 December 2015 11: 15
    Very interesting article. It is a pity that the southerners lost.

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