Editing Naval mine (section)

==== Mine running ====
[[File:SeehundeTroika.jpg|thumb|[[Ensdorf class minesweeper|Seehund]] ROVs of the [[German Navy]] used for minesweeping]]

A more drastic method is simply to run a ship through the minefield, letting other ships safely follow the same path. An early example of this was [[David Farragut|Farragut]]<nowiki>'s</nowiki> [[Battle of Mobile Bay|actions at Mobile Bay]] during the [[American Civil War]]. However, as mine warfare became more developed this method became uneconomical.
This method was revived by the German [[Imperial German Navy]] during [[World War I]]. Left with a surfeit of idle ships due to the [[Blockade of Germany (1914–1919)|Allied blockade]], the Germans introduced a ship known as ''[[Sperrbrecher]]'' ("block breaker"). The type was also used during [[World War II]]. Typically an old cargo ship, loaded with cargo that made her less vulnerable to sinking (wood for example), the ''Sperrbrecher'' was run ahead of the ship to be protected, detonating any mines that might be in their path. The use of ''Sperrbrecher'' obviated the need to continuous and painstaking sweeping, but the cost was high. Over half the 100 or so ships used as ''Sperrbrecher'' in WWII were sunk during the war. Alternatively, a shallow draught vessel can be steamed through the minefield at high speed to generate a pressure wave sufficient to trigger mines, with the minesweeper moving fast enough to be sufficiently clear of the pressure wave so that triggered mines do not destroy the ship itself. These techniques are the only way to sweep pressure mines that is publicly known to be employed. The technique can be simply countered by use of a ship-counter, set to allow a certain number of passes before the mine is actually triggered. Modern doctrine calls for ground mines to be hunted rather than swept. A new system is being introduced for sweeping pressure mines, however counters are going to remain a problem.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.navysbir.com/n07_s/navst07-030.htm |title=Influence Sweeping of Pressure Mines |publisher=U.S. Navy Small Business Innovation Research |date=2007-03-21 |access-date=2011-12-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308200055/https://www.navysbir.com/n07_s/navst07-030.htm |archive-date=2012-03-08 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.janes.com/articles/Janes-Underwater-Warfare-Systems/Pressure-sweep-Sweden.html |title=Pressure sweep (Sweden) |work=Jane's Underwater Warfare Systems |publisher=Janes.com |date=2011-09-08 |access-date=2011-12-31}}</ref>

An updated form of this method is the use of small unmanned [[Remotely operated vehicle|ROV]]s (such as the [[Ensdorf class minesweeper|''Seehund'']] drone) that simulate the acoustic and magnetic signatures of larger ships and are built to survive exploding mines. Repeated sweeps would be required in case one or more of the mines had its "ship counter" facility enabled i.e. were programmed to ignore the first 2, 3, or even 6 target activations.