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Old December 2nd, 2007, 10:17 AM
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Default Re: Fairey swordfish

Sorry Chuck but that is not what your post said.
Quote:
So we can see that using this mine as a bomb presents us with a problem, it doesnt have a contact trigger, so its not going to go off until a ship goes past.
Now you and I know that using such a mine as a bomb represents a flight of pure fantasy but what about the rest of your gaming community?
(emphasis added)
As I remember air dropped mines are parachuted in so they don't disintegrate when they hit the water's surface from altitude. Once they land, the anti-lift trigger arms (in the German case it is in part a 17 second timer). If the mine is at a depth less than that set in the anti-lift trigger at the prescribed time after impact, the mine detonates. No contact fuse required on a land drop because the mine will never sink below sea level.
So it is entirely feasible that the Swordfish could use such a mine as a bomb - again I do not claim one ever did.
I respect your concern that a player might use the mine armed Swordfish but I give it no more weight than the player who might field a battalion of Brandenburgers, or 20 Sturmtigers or any number of Maus. There are no Olympic medals given out for playing SP nor are there any cash prizes for playing PBEM so if your opponent sends over flights of mine-carrying Swordfish, either politely ask him to historically justify his purchase or suck it up knowing you can have the points equivalent in fantasy German kit on your side of the board.
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