Paravane (weapon)

A paravane is a towed, winged, hydrofoiled underwater object, sometimes called a water kite, that is pulled through the water so that its wings generate lift and carry it sideways relative to the tow line at speeds one to several times that of the towing vessel. The military version was developed between 1914 and 1916 by Commander C. Vivian Usborne and Lieutenant C. Dennistoun Burney, with funding from Bristol Aeroplane Company founder Sir George White, for use in anti-submarine and anti-mine warfare during the First World War. Paravanes were towed from a ship bow to cut the mooring cables of naval mines, causing them to float to the surface where they could be destroyed by gunfire, and were also adapted for other roles including marine exploration and scientific data collection. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/