The KB anchored mine (КБ) is a contact anti-ship mine, the development of which began in 1931 based on a design developed by the designer A.A. It was developed by A.A. Piatnitzky, whose design was developed on the basis of an A.M. A.T. design developed by A.A. Piatnitzky. The mine, with a combat charge of 250 kg and a 170 m long anchor, was equipped with five thycadal impact galvanic fuses ensuring the mine would explode on contact with the vessel. This concept was developed and refined by the CKB-36 design bureau and in 1940 the KB mine was adopted into armament. Based on combat experience, in 1941 the mine was fitted with a special valve that ensured the mine would sink if it broke away from the anchor, increasing the safety of navigation in areas adjacent to minefields. The mine's safety system prevented the mine from being activated during transportation or when laid on the frozen surface (the mine activated automatically after the ice melted and the mine sank below the surface). The mine is mined from a vessel.
Tactical and technical data:
- Mine body diameter: 878 mm
- Length: 2160 mm
- Height: 1240 mm
- Width: 930 mm
- Weight: 900 kg (without anchor)
- Combat charge weight: 230-250 kg
- Max. 4.6 m
- Max. 9.2 m/s (18 knots)
- Anchor rope length: 146 m (10 mm steel rope) or 263 m (8 mm steel rope)
- Mine to anchor distance: 10-145 m / 10-260 m
KB mines were actively used during the Great Patriotic War. In 1944, a KB mine equipped with a non-contact acoustic KRAB fuze, referred to as the KB-KRAB, was adopted into armament. KB mines were also used abroad, by the DPRK during the Korean War, and by Egypt in the 1967 minelaying of the Suez Canal. In the People's Republic of China, the KB mine was produced as the Mao-1 (anchor length 140 m) and Mao-2 (anchor length 260 m).
Tactical and technical data:
- Mine body diameter: 878 mm
- Length: 2160 mm
- Height: 1240 mm
- Width: 930 mm
- Weight: 900 kg (without anchor)
- Combat charge weight: 230-250 kg
- Max. 4.6 m
- Max. 9.2 m/s (18 knots)
- Anchor rope length: 146 m (10 mm steel rope) or 263 m (8 mm steel rope)
- Mine to anchor distance: 10-145 m / 10-260 m
KB mines were actively used during the Great Patriotic War. In 1944, a KB mine equipped with a non-contact acoustic KRAB fuze, referred to as the KB-KRAB, was adopted into armament. KB mines were also used abroad, by the DPRK during the Korean War, and by Egypt in the 1967 minelaying of the Suez Canal. In the People's Republic of China, the KB mine was produced as the Mao-1 (anchor length 140 m) and Mao-2 (anchor length 260 m).
