Naval Minewarfare: Politics To Practicalities

Description: Naval mines are pernicious weapons of debated legality and fearsome reputation. Since World War II over 18,400 of these ingenious devices have been deployed during 24 naval mining events, seriously damaging or sinking over 100 ships including 44 warships. Despite this sustained drumbeat of use both in attack and in defence, there were no modern books that examine this `Weapon That Waits'. Naval Minewarfare: Politics to Practicalities is a comprehensive guide to modern naval minewarfare. From explaining the basic tenets of both naval mining and naval mine countermeasures, then examining the modern history of naval mining, through to the legal, political and statecraft factors that should underpin any decisions to employ naval mines, this detailed analysis provides a contemporary view of how this weapon is used as part of a military or insurgent campaign. Focussing on both the psychological warhead in every mine as well as naval mining's lethal effects, it contains a wealth of invaluable information and explanation all carefully scripted to enlighten military historians and inform international strategists. The inclusion of an Annex of mitigations against mining specifically designed for use by civilian ships, their owners and also port authorities makes this an outstanding primary reference for politicians through to practitioners of both military and civilian elements of conflicts that involve naval mines.



Contents: Contents. Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. Naval Mines. 2. Naval Mine Countermeasures. 3. Naval Mining Events Through History. 4. The Legality of Naval Minewarfare. 5. The Strategy and Doctrine of the Minewarfare Battle. 6. The Statecraft of Naval Minewarfare. 7. Naval Minewarfare - Measures of Effect. 8. Conclusions. Annex A - Mitigating the Effects of Naval Mining: Considerations for Ship Owners, Civilian Mariners and Port Authorities.. Annex B - Twenty-Four Naval Mining Events Since World War II and Alignment with Key Articles of The Hague Convention No. VIII of 1907. Annex C - Categorised Lists of Naval Mining Events Since World War II. Annex D - Pictorial of Naval Mining Events Since World War II. Bibliography. Index.



Author Biography: Captain Chris O'Flaherty joined the Royal Navy in 1987. Deploying for much of his early career in the navy's smallest ships, he served as a diving and underwater bomb disposal officer in three different classes of minehunter and sweeper. After serving in Frigates and aircraft carriers in both the North Atlantic and the Middle East, and later commanding the Fleet Diving Squadron, in 2017 he was elected as the Royal Navy's Hudson Fellow at St Antony's College, University of Oxford. Having completing his fellowship studying `Naval Mines as an Instrument of Statecraft', he is presently serving as Captain of the Royal Navy's Maritime Warfare Centre.