THE PARAVANE.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 November 1919, Page 10

THE PARAVANE.

WAR LNVENTION WHICH SAVED £-200,000,000. THE REMEDY FOR MINES. HOW IT WORKED. NO CASE OF FAILURE ON RECORD. _. . London, Sept. 10. ine British Association, which concluded its meetings at Bournemouth yesterday, listened to some very interesting descriptions of war inventions, m particular of the paravane, on which a paper was read to T Section by Mr Robert F. McKay. By this contrivance |t is estimated that two hundred million pounds was saved to the Allies. _ Mr. McKay said that the paravane, the invention of Acting Commander C D Barney, C.M.G., R.N., was one or. the most remarkable and useful inventions ol the war, which, to mention but one great tactical success, made possible the successful attack on the Austrian fleet at Durazzo by enabling the Italian fleet to pass uninjured through minefields, l'rom all the records available, said Mr McKay, the Allies were indebted to the invention for saving ships and cargoes to the approximate value of £200,000 000, in addition to the very large number of lives on the vessels protected. Paravanes were used for three special purposes—protector types, to protect war vessels and merchant ships against moored mines; the same types to cut up hostile minefields; and explosive types to combat the submarine menace The protector type used on merchant ships went by the "hush" name of "Otters." Although the special feature of the protector installation is the Paravane or Otter, the vessel is relally protected lrom moored mines by the wires which tow the paravanes. Two paravanes are towed, one on either side of the vessel, from a point as far forward and as low down as possible. The wires must move in a horizontal plane, slightly below the line of the keel of the vessel. The outer end of the wire is kept in position by the paravane, which, must therefore keep at a constant depth slightly in excess of the draught of the ship and at as great a distance as possible. Whilst the paravanes are being towed the tow-mg-wires form a wedge-shaped protective element advancing before the ship, the distance from paravane to paravane being about 200 feet.

CUTTING THE WIRES. . The action of the protective gear is simple. The paravane towing-wires foul the mooring-wire of any mine which might strike the vessel, but misses any mine which is too deeply anchored. The speed of the vessel causes the mine and ds sinker to be deflected down the "wedge" and away from the vessel, until the mine mooring-wire reaches the paravane. On the head of the paravane, and forming part of the towing-bracket, are jaws which carry some specially designed stationary cutter-blades. The mine mooring-wires, passing into these cutters, arc speedily severed. The sinker drops to the bottom of the sea, whilst the mine floats to the surface, well clear of the ship, where it can be seen and be destroyed by rifle fire. Ahout ISO British warships were fitted with this device, and by report received I'y lite Admiralty it is known that at least fifty-two mines were cut thus. There could not be a doubt about the success of the gear, and the action of thfl_ British Admiralty in universally fitting paravanes to suitable craft was fully justified. Assuming- that the value of the warship tonnage is placed at the very low average 'figure of £IOO per ton, the value of the warships saved was' more than £50,000.000. Rut this, of course, was not the only faciei ia estimating the yalus e£ tte

Paravane. Other important factors •which attest the success of this invention were the extreme difficulty of replacing these ships in wartime because of the scarcity of material and lauor, and the moral effect on the nation if these serious naval losses had occurred. Allied warships were likewise protected, and their successes must be added io the British total. 2fO CASE OP FAILURE The efficacy of the Otter gear could be proved very simply. In the early days of the German activity in minelaying, as many as eighteen Allied merchantmen were, sunk per month by mines alone. At a later date, when the mining activity was much more intense, the Allied losses dropped to a maximum of three or four per month, and these were in every case ships not fitted with the protector gear. There was, as a matter of fact, no case on record of a merchant ship being hit by a mine when towing the Otter protection.' Striking tributes to the success of the Otter were sent by captains to MessrsVickers, Ltd., the makers. "The last minefield I passed through in daylight," states one letter, "the Otters cut adrift three enemy moored mines in fifteen minutes. In the dangerous areas the Otters are more than ever necessary. The very hard steel-cutting teeth in the jaws of the Otters show little or no sign after cutting mine wires." DESTROYED SUBMARINES. The explosive part of the paravane, used to combat the submarine menace, was equally successful. In considering the results obtained by this weapon it must be remembered that the paravanes were not operating against the submarine on the surface, when it was most vulnerable, but were attacking it under water, where it is very difficult to locate and destroy. The success of the paravane was therefore not fn relation to the total number of submarines known to have been sunk, but in the fact that it achieved success when abovewater methods of attack could not be attempted. It was impossible to give any exact results obtained by the device. Out of fifty-three attacks made some success was registered on twenty-one occasions. In five of these there was incontestable yroof that the submarine was sunk, but it would never be known in how many other cases the explosive paravane may have been the means of inflicting such damage upon the submarine as to prevent them return in? to their base. The utmost credit must be given to the inventor, Commander Burnev, not only for his originality of conception, but also for the indomitable energy he displayed in developing the details and in overcoming the many initial practical difficulties. It had been recently stated in an American publication that in the early days of the experimental work the Admiralty became convinced that the device was unworkable, and ordered all further work on it to cease. Commander Burnev and his friends, however, were convinced, of the potentialities of the rcheme, and, without despairing, swent the immediate difficulties away, with the result that the paravane became one of the greatest Allied assets in protecting the fleet and in combating the menace which hung over the world.