Attempts to render the mine harmless by discharging it
prematurely with the aid of rifle and machine-gun fire would, of
course, be made by the crew of the airship, but the trawling mine
would prove a very difficult target to strike. If such a missile
were used against an airship of the proportions of a Zeppelin the
mine would inevitably be trawled across the vessel sooner or
later. Once the airship had been fouled, the aviator would
merely have to drive ahead, dragging the wire and its charge
across the gas-bag until at last one of the contact levers of the
mine was moved by being dragged against some part of the vessel,
when the mine would be exploded. In such operations the aviator
would run a certain risk, as he would be more or less above the
airship, and to a certain degree within the zone of the ultimate
explosion. But there is no doubt that he would succeed in his
"fishing" exploit within a very short time.
This ingenious scheme has already been tested upon a small scale
and has been found effective, the trawling bomb being drawn
across its target and fired by contact within a few minutes.
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