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| Page revised: Sat 05-Aug-2006 |
Submarine Mining (1863 - 1905) |
| In 1870 the Royal Navy abandoned the use of sail power and introduced steam propulsion. This meant that booms and chains became useless for the defence of harbours and a new form of defence was required. The solution was to put in place coastal artillery, submarine mines and defence lights. The latter two solutions fell squarely on the shoulders of the Royal Engineers. A joint Naval and Military committee which had been examining submarine explosives since 1863 recommended that the Royal Engineers, who had been experimenting with underwater charges since General Pasley's day, should be responsible for their design, construction and operation. |
| This work which had begun in the Thames estuary
in the 1830s, was extended to removing the wreck of the Royal
George which had been fouling the Spithead anchorage since
it sank in 1782. Underwater mining and diving continued for
30 years in conjunction with the Royal Navy, and the Sappers
became so expert at these skills that eventually they were teaching
the Navy how to use the diving bell. The first submarine mining company was formed in 1871 and a permanent RE stores organisation, on which the vastly greater one today is modelled, was set up to supply all the electrical and other stores which were needed. By 1886 eight submarine mining companies had been formed with the Royal Engineers responsible for the of design and firing the mines, and the operation of the Defence Electric Lights, while the Royal Navy provided the men and the vessels needed for the laying of minefields. |
 Submarine mines c1900's |
 Brennan Tropedo (1890) with side hatch removed. The only surviving example of the weapon is on display at the Museum. |
Militia companies of the Royal Engineers with their
own equipment and vessels were later formed along the South Coast
to replace the Navy. In due course volunteer companies strengthened
by a regular coastal battalion were added for the defence of the commercial
ports of the United Kingdom. Expansion continued so that by 1905 there
were nearly 6000 regulars and volunteers in the Submarine Mining service
in ports all over the world. One of their weapons was the Brennan Torpedo, the first underwater guided missile that was controlled from Royal Engineer direction stations ashore. |
| The torpedo, which was in
service from 1890-1905, was invented by Louis Brennan, an Irish-Australian
who made his home in Gillingham, Kent, to work on the torpedo. He is said to have driven a very hard bargain with the War Office, receiving £110,00 for his services. This was paid in instalments which Brennan insisted on receiving in the form of gold bullion which he personnally collected by horse and cart. The torpedo was a land based device carrying a warhead of 200 pounds of guncotton. It was propelled by an ingenious system of wires wound on two drums in its body and was launched down rails into the sea. |
 Louis Brennan inventor of the Brennan Torpedo |
| By 1905 the Joint Naval and Military Committee which had been responsible for the first Submarine Mining Company had been replaced by the Committee of Imperial Defence. This high level Committee decided that all underwater defences should be taken over by the Royal Navy. The Submarine Mining Companies of the Royal Engineers were disbanded and equipment, vessels and installations handed over to the Royal Navy, except the Defence Electric Lights which remained the responsibility of the Royal Engineers. |
Source:
Links to further reading:
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Royal Engineers Museum main site
