4 ms·

Did a Solar Storm Detonate Deep Sea Mines During the Vietnam War?

39 points by leephillips 7y ago

taneq 7y ago
Curious if it set off mines underwater but had no effect on the planes flying above the area. You’d think they would at least have noticed some unusual radio interference. (My partner just pointed out that it was probably Bruce the Shark that’s set them off. :P )
- saagarjha 7y ago
  The planes were probably too small and far away to set off the detectors.
  - senectus1 7y ago
    also the output is an order of magnitude lower than a decent solar storm from that raging ball of hate that we circle...
  - morder 7y ago
    I think then statement was "wouldn't the planes have detected the solar storm" vs "wouldn't the planes have set them off"
jfim 7y ago
> In the United States, sparks burst out of telegraph equipment, sometimes starting fires. > Should such an event happen today—when our lives our so intricately linked to technology—the results could be catastrophic, causing mass power losses and disruptions to GPS and satellite communications. I wonder what would be affected if this was to happen today. Would it only be power distribution, or telecoms as well?
- knowaveragejoe 7y ago
  Aren't electronics today more sturdy from am EM perspective than their counterparts in the 60s and 70s? Not that a strong solar flare couldn't cause problems regardless.
  - Arubis 7y ago
    If they're specced to be (military, aerospace), sure. But the move from vacuum tubes to transistors, for all its incredible advantages, made everything a lot more EM vulnerable.
  - Piskvorrr 7y ago
    Quite the contrary: as silicon processes shrink, electronics become more vulnerable.
coconut_crab 7y ago
Vietnam formed a task force called GK1 to research how to safely detonate those mines during the war. According to them the mines at Hòn La were detonated due to lightning stroke nearby. Source: all 11 members of GK1 were from my university. I still remember the first day at school and they were talking about how they provided engineering effort for the war (bazooka clone, sea mines clearance, 2nd Mig pilot to downed a B52 etc..) but I'm sure some of them are just propaganda.
trhway 7y ago
to avoid such mines ships are de-magnetized. I never though heard of "over-pulse-magnetizing/etc." of de-mining ships (or even say low&slow flying planes) as a way to trigger those mines from a safe distance - a de-mining approach that the solar flare triggered explosions suggest.
- philcrump 7y ago
  Towing a magnetic field generator behind a boat or aircraft is a common minesweeping technique. The generator is usually mounted on a floating 'sled' to maximise depth capability, but aircraft-mounted degaussing coils were used in minesweeping by the British in WWII. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minesweeping https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minesweeping

39 points by leephillips 7y ago

Curious if it set off mines underwater but had no effect on the planes flying above the area. You’d think they would at least have noticed some unusual radio interference. (My partner just pointed out that it was probably Bruce the Shark that’s set them off. :P )

saagarjha 7y ago
The planes were probably too small and far away to set off the detectors.
- senectus1 7y ago
  also the output is an order of magnitude lower than a decent solar storm from that raging ball of hate that we circle...
- morder 7y ago
  I think then statement was "wouldn't the planes have detected the solar storm" vs "wouldn't the planes have set them off"

jfim 7y ago

> In the United States, sparks burst out of telegraph equipment, sometimes starting fires. > Should such an event happen today—when our lives our so intricately linked to technology—the results could be catastrophic, causing mass power losses and disruptions to GPS and satellite communications. I wonder what would be affected if this was to happen today. Would it only be power distribution, or telecoms as well?

knowaveragejoe 7y ago
Aren't electronics today more sturdy from am EM perspective than their counterparts in the 60s and 70s? Not that a strong solar flare couldn't cause problems regardless.
- Arubis 7y ago
  If they're specced to be (military, aerospace), sure. But the move from vacuum tubes to transistors, for all its incredible advantages, made everything a lot more EM vulnerable.
- Piskvorrr 7y ago
  Quite the contrary: as silicon processes shrink, electronics become more vulnerable.

coconut_crab 7y ago

Vietnam formed a task force called GK1 to research how to safely detonate those mines during the war. According to them the mines at Hòn La were detonated due to lightning stroke nearby. Source: all 11 members of GK1 were from my university. I still remember the first day at school and they were talking about how they provided engineering effort for the war (bazooka clone, sea mines clearance, 2nd Mig pilot to downed a B52 etc..) but I'm sure some of them are just propaganda.

trhway 7y ago

to avoid such mines ships are de-magnetized. I never though heard of "over-pulse-magnetizing/etc." of de-mining ships (or even say low&slow flying planes) as a way to trigger those mines from a safe distance - a de-mining approach that the solar flare triggered explosions suggest.

philcrump 7y ago
Towing a magnetic field generator behind a boat or aircraft is a common minesweeping technique. The generator is usually mounted on a floating 'sled' to maximise depth capability, but aircraft-mounted degaussing coils were used in minesweeping by the British in WWII. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minesweeping https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minesweeping