Printer Friendly
The Free Dictionary
990,773,714 visitors served.
?
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

minesweeper

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.

minesweeper

Naval vessel used to clear submarine mines from an expanse of water. In naval warfare, they are used to clear mines from sea-lanes to protect merchant shipping as well as to clear paths for warships to engage in battle or amphibious warfare. The earliest examples used sweeping wires with sawlike projections to cut the cables anchoring submarine mines and allow them to rise to the surface, where they would be destroyed by gunfire. The wide use of magnetic mines (set off by the magnetic field of steel ships) in the Korean War led to wood-hulled minesweepers.


?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
Richard, who served as a cook on an aircraft carrier and a minesweeper, went off to Vietnam a few years later.
He served in the Navy on Baltic Fleet minesweepers and on North Fleet diesel-driven submarines.
The same engines were used in the Canadian minesweepers in World War I, and proved very powerful and reliable.
 
Encyclopedia browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Encyclopedia
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2008 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.