THE FIRST MINE: BUSHNELL’S KEG

In 1776, American David Bushnell, who is also recognized as the inventor of America’s first submarine, invented the first known underwater sea mine.  Bushnell's mine was a simple watertight wooden keg, loaded with gunpowder, which hung from a float.  At that time, it was called a torpedo. In 1777, under orders from General George Washington, a number of these “torpedoes” were set adrift by Bushnell in an attempt to destroy a fleet of British warships anchored in the Delaware River near the city of Philadelphia.  That early attempt failed to achieve its goal, but the naval mine has since gained a well‑deserved reputation as one of the Navy's least costly, yet most effective offensive and defensive weapons. Naval mines have served effectively through the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean and Southeast Asian Conflicts, and the Gulf War.

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On the cover: An unidentified moored contact mine rides the surface. This mine is representative of the Mine Mk 6, which has been declared obsolete as an active U.S. Naval weapon for many years now. This type of mine remains as the image most individuals readily identify with sea mines due to countless old war movies shown both in theatres and on television. Because a substantial number of the world’s Navies still actively deploy moored mines, the Mine Mk 6 endures in the U.S. Naval mines arsenal as an important mine countermeasures training tool. This mine is illustrated and described in detail under Current Mine Inventory.

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