The low cost and large volume of mines produced would supplement the small naval forces of the Confederacy and make it possible to defend against the superior fleet of the Union navy.
The ‘Singer’ was a manually laid moored contact mine; it was set off when struck by an object with sufficient force to trigger the automatic fuse.
[4] The automatic fuse consisted of a heavy metal cap that would be released by the force of a ship impacting it.
While being handled and during the planting of the mine a safety pin prevented the spring from accidentally triggering the fulminating charge.
When deployed in salt water sea growth would eventually develop on the spring mechanism, effectively preventing it from striking the fulminating charge within the mine.