Editing Naval mine (section)

=== Early 20th century ===
During the [[Boxer Rebellion]], Imperial Chinese forces deployed a command-detonated<!--described as "electric", this makes sense--> mine field at the mouth of the [[Hai River]] before the [[Battle of Dagu Forts (1900)|Dagu forts]], to prevent the western [[Eight-Nation Alliance|Allied forces]] from sending ships to attack.<ref>{{cite book |last=MacCloskey |first=Monro |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UHbxAAAAMAAJ&q=electric+mines |title=Reilly's Battery: a story of the Boxer Rebellion |year=1969 |publisher=R. Rosen Press |page=95 |isbn=9780823901456 |access-date=19 February 2011}}(Original from the University of Wisconsin – Madison)</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Slocum |first1=Stephan L'H. |last2=Reichmann |first2=Carl |last3=Chaffee |first3=Adna Romanza |url=https://archive.org/details/reportsonmilita02divigoog |quote=15 June, it was learned that the mouth of the river was protected by electric mines, that the forts at Taku were. |title=Reports on military operations in South Africa and China |year=1901 |publisher=[[United States Government Printing Office|GPO]] |location=Adjutant-General's Office, Military Information Division, Washington, D.C., United States |page=[https://archive.org/details/reportsonmilita02divigoog/page/n584 533] |access-date=19 February 2011}}(Issue 143 of Document (United States. War Dept.))(Original from the New York Public Library)</ref>

The next major use of mines was during the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904–1905. Two mines blew up when the {{ship|Russian battleship|Petropavlovsk|1894|2}} struck them near [[Port Arthur naval base|Port Arthur]], sending the holed vessel to the bottom and killing the fleet commander, Admiral [[Stepan Makarov]], and most of his crew in the process. The toll inflicted by mines was not confined to the Russians, however. The [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Japanese Navy]] lost two battleships, four cruisers, two destroyers and a torpedo-boat to offensively laid mines during the war. Most famously, on 15 May 1904, the Russian [[minelayer]] [[Amur-class minelayer (1898)|''Amur'']] planted a 50-mine minefield off [[Lüshunkou District|Port Arthur]] and succeeded in sinking the Japanese battleships {{ship|Japanese battleship|Hatsuse||2}} and {{ship|Japanese battleship|Yashima||2}}.

Following the end of the Russo-Japanese War, several nations attempted to have mines banned as weapons of war at the [[Hague Peace Conference (1907)]].<ref name= Kowner/>

Many early mines were fragile and dangerous to handle, as they contained glass containers filled with [[nitroglycerin]] or mechanical devices that activated a blast upon tipping. Several mine-laying ships were destroyed when their cargo exploded.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldwideinvention.com/articles/details/312/naval-mine-contained-explosive-device-placed-in-water-to-destroy-ships-or-submarines.html |title=Naval mine - contained explosive device placed in water to destroy ships or submarines |date=Nov 24, 2009 |website=World Wide Inventions |access-date=2012-08-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103144718/http://www.worldwideinvention.com/articles/details/312/Naval-mine-contained-explosive-device-placed-in-water-to-destroy-ships-or-submarines.html |archive-date=2013-11-03 }}</ref>

Beginning around the start of the 20th century, submarine mines played a major role in the defense of U.S. harbours against enemy attacks as part of the [[Board of Fortifications|Endicott and Taft Programs]]. The mines employed were controlled mines, anchored to the bottoms of the harbours, and detonated under control from large mine [[casemate]]s onshore.

[[File:Women testing a mine with air presssure (15146368860).jpg|thumb|British war workers using air pressure to test naval mines during World War&nbsp;I]]
During [[World War I]], mines were used extensively to defend coasts, coastal shipping, ports and naval bases around the globe. The Germans laid mines in shipping lanes to sink merchant and naval vessels serving Britain. The Allies targeted the German U-boats in the Strait of Dover and the Hebrides. In an attempt to seal up the northern exits of the North Sea, the Allies developed the [[North Sea Mine Barrage]]. During a period of five months from June 1918, almost 70,000 mines were laid spanning the North Sea's northern exits. The total number of mines laid in the North Sea, the British East Coast, Straits of Dover, and Heligoland Bight is estimated at 190,000 and the total number during the whole of WWI was 235,000 sea mines.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seaclimate.com/5/pdf/5_14.pdf|title=Climate Change & Naval War—A Scientific Assessment 2005—Trafford on demand publishing, Canada/UK|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908115540/https://www.seaclimate.com/5/pdf/5_14.pdf|archive-date=2008-09-08|access-date=10 October 2009}}</ref> Clearing the barrage after the war took 82 ships and five months, working around the clock.<ref>Gilbert, p. 4.</ref> It was also during World War I, that the British [[hospital ship]], {{HMHS|Britannic}}, became the largest vessel ever sunk by a naval mine{{citation needed|date=January 2022}}. The ''Britannic'' was [[Olympic-class ocean liner|the sister ship]] of the [[Titanic|RMS ''Titanic'']], and the {{RMS|Olympic}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.markchirnside.co.uk/MARK_CHIRNSIDE_INTERVIEW_JANUARY_2005.htm |title=Mark Chirnside's Reception Room: Olympic, Titanic & Britannic: Olympic Interview, January 2005 |publisher=Markchirnside.co.uk |access-date=16 January 2022 |archive-date=29 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129150626/http://www.markchirnside.co.uk/MARK_CHIRNSIDE_INTERVIEW_JANUARY_2005.htm |url-status=live }}{{Self-published source|date=January 2022}}</ref>