MAGNETIC MINES

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20986, 13 December 1939, Page 14

MAGNETIC MINES

MENACE QUICKLY OVERCOME WIRELESS EXPERT'S OPINION ‘United Press Assn.—Filer Te;. Onpvrlirni) SYDNEY, Dec. 13 That the menace of magnetic mines is really a phase of hostilities v/hich will be quickly overcome is the opinion of Mr F. G. Izon, well known in shipping circles as a wireless expert. The magnetic mine, he explains, is operated by the influence of the iron in the hull of a ship upon a magnetic needle in the mine. When the needle is moved by magnetic attraction it explodes the mine. Assuming the range of attraction between the ship and the needle to be 20ft, Mr Izon asserts that, if the magnetic attraction of the ship was stepped up considerably, its influence on the needle would operate at a much greater distance, causing the mine to explode earlier, and at a safe distance. Mr Izon proposes that a few obselete tramps be fitted with paravanes on port and starboard, and electrically connected with a ship in which a dynamo would operate through a transformer to step the current up to between 30,000 and 50,000 volts. This voltage wquld be distributed into the water through the paravanes. With three of these ships working ahead of a convoy, he thinks the strong electric current would be sufficient to explode magnetic mines at a distance great enough to render the explosion ineffective.