Jumping wire
Cable stretched between the bow and stern of a submarine
A jumping wire is a wire cable stretched between the bow and stern of a submarine, via the conning tower or periscope standards.
Its purpose is to allow the submarine to pass under nets and other marine defences, without the obstruction snagging on the vessel's superstructure, the wire causing the net to ride up and over the top of the submarine.
Jumping wires have fallen out of use since the end of World War II, as the wire tends to vibrate at high underwater speeds creating noise that may be detected by an enemy using passive sonar, as well as causing hydrodynamic drag.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Jumping wire”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- German UC-1 class submarine.jpg by Post-Work: User:W.wolny, Public domain
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