Ebook: Controlled Mines. A History of Their Use by the United States

Merriam Press Monograph No. M-50, Bennington, VT, 1988. 42 pgs. The first submarine mines, or the torpedo as it was called, is a litany of American names - Benjamin Franklin, Robert Fulton, Moses Shaw, and Samuel Colt. But it was not until the 19th century that electrically-fired mines were developed. This book traces their history from the days of wooden sailing ships to the 20th century, when the Coast Artillery Corps was the main proponent of their use.