The difference between a minehunter and a minesweeper

in today's episode we're going to talk about the difference between a mine hunter and a mine sweeper to be precise let's take a look at what is to be called mine hunter and mine sweeper a mine hunter is a ship that searches for detects and destroys individual naval mines minesweepers on the other hand clean mined regions in their entirety without detecting any mines beforehand minesweepers are ships that are designed to sweep different types of mines today we would like to scrutinize several distinctions of mine hunter and mine sweeper in terms of their historical use how they are functioning and their role at the present time let's begin this topic with the history of minesweeper use the primary recognition of the naval mine exploration dates to the ming dynasty however the record appears many decades later during the crimean war in england prior to the commencement of world war one the government recognized that the development of sea mines posed a threat to the nation's shipping and began to make provisions to prevent the threat the real threat at the time according to sir arthur wilson was a blockade helped by minds not invasion the fishing fleet's trawlers and their trawl gear were recognized as having a natural connection with mine clearance and trawlers were utilized to keep the english channel free of mines at this point the trawler section of the royal navy reserves became the predecessor of mine sweeping units with special designs ships and equipment to follow the flower class mine sweeping sloop that was the first dedicated purpose-built minesweeper to debut during world war one on the other hand following world war one the united states recognized the dangers of naval mines and made initiatives to minimize the potential harm they may pose during warfare as a result the uss lapwing am1 the first u.s navy minesweeper was built in 1917 and commissioned in 1918 meanwhile the mine hunter started in the early 1980s they were the largest warships ever assembled out of glass reinforced plastic the history of the ship is much more focused on its development such as the development of the hunt class this is part of 13 mine countermeasure vessels of the royal navy the capabilities of the remaining ships of the hunt class have been significantly improved by the installation of sonar type 2193 and the nautis 3 command system it is essential to note that the 2021 defense white paper announced that all the hunt class vessels would be retired from royal navy service in the 2020s since the development will be focused on the automated systems anyway are you curious on how these vessels operated keep watching this video [Music] as mine hunters are frequently called upon to work in enclosed bodies of water such as shipping channels or harbors mine hunters are typically small shallow draft vessels this ship employs an imaging sonar to recognize and identify objects prior to dispatching divers or remotely operated vehicles to inspect and destroy the threats which is frequently accomplished with small charges detonated remotely mine hunters are also designed to eliminate their own auditory and magnetic signatures which are two typical types of mind triggers because they will often be working in close vicinity to minds they are generally sound proofed by installing machinery on shock absorbers or by employing low magnetic electric motors with a silent electrical drive and they normally have a wood fiberglass or non-ferrous metal hull to reduce magnetic signature they've been induced whereas the mine sweepers are ships that are designed to sweep the waters for different types of mines these ships are equipped with tools necessary to successfully blow enemy mines ensuring a safe passage for trade and warships minesweepers include sweeps which seem to be mechanical or electrical devices that can deactivate mines the modern minesweeper is built to lower the chance of detonating mines the few remaining of modern minesweepers are equipped with innovative equipment to minimize the chance of mines detonating they are soundproofed in order to decrease their auditory signature which can cause mines to explode to minimize their magnetic signature which also detonates sea mines they're mostly made of wood and glass reinforced plastic now let's take a look at one of the examples of these vessels the osprey class or a series of coastal mine hunters designed to find classify and destroy moored and bottom naval mines from vital waterways they apply sonar and video systems cable cutters and a mine detonating device that can be released and detonated by remote control the osprey class is identified as the world's second largest mine hunters while the minesweeper types are identified as the admirable class which carried a wide range of weapons such as machine guns artillery and anti-submarine depth charges the admirable class had the most numerous ships starting with the uss admirable am136 which was built in 1942 through 1945 another 230 steel hulled 185 footers were completed there were also 30 high-speed minesweepers dms converted destroyers of world war 1 vintage some of them were used for training purposes it is important to mention that one of the notable vessels uss hazard am 240 escorted convoys from san francisco to pearl harbor then out to the south pacific prior to the u.s assault of okinawa in 1945 the ship participated in mine sweeping and anti-submarine operations well for the last point it is intriguing to know that they are still needed at the present time it is important to know that minesweepers can be just as essentially needed after a war is ended hundreds of minesweepers were used to clear the tens of thousands of mines that remained floating in the world sea lanes after world war ii whereas the usage of marine mines has decreased dramatically during the two world wars however it would be unfair to disregard them with speculations of massive arsenals controlled by china and russia as well as claims of nuclear-armed minds and development a modern fleet of mine hunters remains vital moreover no one knows how many mines remain out there in the oceans it is estimated that there are maybe as many as a quarter of a million mines left over from world war ii some of which are still active and pose a threat to shipping even the two world wars in the baltic alone could be as high as 80 000 mines since 1945 mines have sunk or even damaged more u.s navy vessels than all other kinds of weapons combined and there is strong evidence that a number of nations including china and russia view them as a vital element in their naval warfare doctrine for this reason the existence of mine hunters and mine sweepers are to be paramount to protect the oceans the armed force personnel and to have a safe passage we've already come to an end and we can identify that a mine hunter actively identifies and neutralizes individual minds whereas a mine sweeper doesn't really mind in most of the cases are often used as complementary to mine hunters depending on the operation and the environment for instance a mine sweeper is better suited to clearing wide open water areas of mines both of these ships are accordingly called mine countermeasure vessels mcmv the term applied to a vessel that combines both roles the example to be specific is the hms wilton that was identified as the first such ship also the first warship to be assembled from fiberglass between 1980 and 1989 the royal navy of the united kingdom commissioned 13 hunt class minesweepers and mine hunters eight of the ships are still in service with the royal navy and are undergoing significant improvements thanks for watching and see you next time [Music]

Channel: Military TV

Views: 169,060

Keywords: difference minehunter & minesweeper, minehunter vs minesweeper, minehunter, minesweeper, minehunter ship, minesweeper ship, navy, minesweepers, minesweeper vs minehunter, difference minesweeper & minehunter, mines, sea mines, mine-sweeping units, mine countermeasure, mine countermeasure ship

Id: 31NtXjE81qY

Length: 9min 0sec (540 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 25 2022