Beach obstacle mines - how many still worked/how long would they work after exposure to salt water?

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CSEverett
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Beach obstacle mines - how many still worked/how long would they work after exposure to salt water?

#1

Post by CSEverett » 03 Mar 2023, 03:17

Unlike naval mines, the Teller mines widely used on beach obstacles are very much not designed for continued exposure to salt water. By the time of the Normandy landings, it seems that some of them certainly still worked properly, and many did not (Although they still had a good explosive change if something else were to set if off.) While plenty of sources mention that "many" of them no longer worked, only once source I could find gave the information of "the number that would still detonate was uncertain."
To make that statement, I'd assume very rough estimates of how many still worked as designed, such as "roughly around half," "probably somewhere between one third and two thirds," and "less then a quarter," have been made in other sources, probably in very few sources that don't particularly agree. To turn the question on its head, the question of "how long would a Teller mine repeatedly immersed in salt water be expected to probably work?" probably contains much of the answer to that, assuming that freshly installed mines would be more likely to work then ones that had been exposed longer. I don't know if at some point somebody decided to test it at some point to issue guidance, which seems unlikely, or some engineer looked at a constructed mine and detonator, and drawings and materials specified and did some math, which seems more likely (and probably could still be done today, perhaps even more easily then at the time - there's a research paper), or whether a unit or three gained some amount of practical experience on the subject, which is certainly plausible. For what it's worth, a study on clearing Atlantic Wall mines written this century states that Teller mines (which I'm pretty sure made of most of the ones on beach obstacles) do seem to have a more water-resistant detonator then other types. But I'm unable to find any of those sources.

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OpanaPointer
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Re: Beach obstacle mines - how many still worked/how long would they work after exposure to salt water?

#2

Post by OpanaPointer » 03 Mar 2023, 03:42

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CSEverett
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Re: Beach obstacle mines - how many still worked/how long would they work after exposure to salt water?

#3

Post by CSEverett » 03 Mar 2023, 04:19

OpanaPointer wrote:
03 Mar 2023, 03:42
Some information here: https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/Germany/HB/index.html
Turns out tellermine detonators waterproofed with rubber seals. Seems the seal would need to rot away or the metal corrode for the detonator itself to be damaged. That's about all I could find in it through.

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Re: Beach obstacle mines - how many still worked/how long would they work after exposure to salt water?

#4

Post by OpanaPointer » 03 Mar 2023, 13:53

I digitized that one back in the '90s, so my memory of what's in it is ... not fresh.
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CSEverett
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Re: Beach obstacle mines - how many still worked/how long would they work after exposure to salt water?

#5

Post by CSEverett » 04 Mar 2023, 18:53

OpanaPointer wrote:
03 Mar 2023, 13:53
I digitized that one back in the '90s, so my memory of what's in it is ... not fresh.
Even of what I was looking for wasn't in there, I have to salute you for putting the time and effort in to digitize it. It benefits everybody going forward. People who do this don't get the recognition they deserve. Hats of to you.

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Re: Beach obstacle mines - how many still worked/how long would they work after exposure to salt water?

#6

Post by OpanaPointer » 04 Mar 2023, 19:52

Pat Clancy deserves the honors for starting Hyperwar. I was just a humble hewer of wood and carrier of water. Ten years on and I still miss our arguments, I mean discussions.
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