Mines Away! The Significance of U.S. Army Air Forces Minelaying in World War II

In World War II/s Pacific Theater, the U.S. Army Air Forces (AAF) devoted a small percentage of its long-range capability to aerial minelaying against Japanese warships and commerce. Sea mines--explosive underwater devices that damaged, sank, or deterred ships--were weapons that had difficulty gaining the same acceptance as guns, bombs, and torpedoes. Yet, with time, a small number of aerial mining advocates influenced wartime commanders to ensure the growth of minelaying doctrine, equipment development, and combat experience. Ultimately, aerial minelaying became one of the most successful AAF maritime missions of the war and signalled an important role in sea control for the future U.S. Air Force. The history of mine warfare spanned more than two hundred years, but as an offensive strategy matured only in the twentieth century, hastened by submarine and aircraft delivery. In World War II, the Luftwaffe was first to lay mines from the air and first to field many of the weapon's innovations. The Royal Air Force mounted a significant minelaylng effort in Europe and helped the United States advance its mining in the Pacific. Though slow to start, aerial minelaying in Japan's "Outer Zone" by the air forces of Britain, Australia, and the United States accomplished a worthwhile attrition of Japanese shipping. Finally, in 1945, "Operation Starvation," the aerial mining of Japan's home islands by AAF B-29s, made a dramatic contribution to the blockade of Japan and mines sunk more ships than allied submarines in the war/s final months.