One of the most interesting papers read at the British
Associa- tion last week was that in which Mr. McKay described Commander Burney's •wonderful invention of the paravane, which protected ships from mines and could be used to attack submarines. The paravane is a torpedo-shaped body carrying near its head a large steel plane, set vertically and at a. slight angle. When a ship towed a pair of these paravanes from her bows, the pressure of the water kept the steel towing-ropes taut. If the ropes caught the mooring of a mine, they deflected the mine away from the ship and guided the mooring-wire down to the paravane head, where it was severed by a cutter. The mine then rose to the surface and could be destroyed. Many ships of war and thousands of merchant ships had thus been saved from destruction. No ship fitted with paravanes had been hit by a mine. The paravane as a weapon of offence was filled with high explosives and towed from the stern• at a great depth. When it struck the lurking U-boat, the charge was fired by electricity. This method of sweeping for submarines was naturally found to be more efficient than that of dropping' depth charges more or less at random. It would be difficult to overestimate the value to the Navy and to the Merchant Service of this brilliant invention.
Previous page
