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Sharon
 
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Default Repost: Patriots on usenet


"Don White" wrote in message
...

"Sharon" wrote in message
senet.com...
snip
He worked on Minesweepers while in the Navy
(from my understanding they're wooden ships -- according to my mother

they
were constructed that way, in case they received a blast -- the entire

ship
wouldn't be damaged). The Navy has a saying "Wooden Ships, Iron Men".

snip

** As I understand it...the minesweepers used wooden hulls to guard

against
magnetic mines.


Thanks for that information. I didn't know about the magnetic aspect --
triggering an explosion.
I'll have to read up on that.

I'd sure like to see one of these minesweepers. The closest thing we've got
around here is the Battleship Memorial NC in Wilmington.

My dad spent his life in ships -- I did only on the occasion of going
fishing inland and safely along the coast (on occasions when Dad had time.)


We had quite a fleet of the old mine sweepers here in
Halifax in the '60s. ( Royal Canadian Navy)
4 or 5 years ago a new fleet of mine sweepers/costal patrol boats were

built
but this time out of steel.

That old saying of wooden ships/iron men came from the days of sailing
ships.