Ethiopian Navy

[Kaiser Kirk]

1. Geography does matter. 

2. Diplomacy may be a factor, remember a huge chunk of trade comes through the Suez canal.  How you choose to mine could effect the "European" players view of things as their merchants are damaged or sink. Historically where mines could be moored the sea was relatively shallow, like the red sea. If they weren't moored they could randomly damage shipping.

3. How you use them is up to you.

4. Functionally, it's a matter of assigning miscellaneous weight to the role.
I think I need to try to find some reading matter on early 20th century minesweeping to be able to answer why they didn't combine the laying and sweeping roles historically. Usually when something is obvious and they didn't do it...there was some reason...but not always.

[Desertfox]

I think the biggest reason was that minesweepers and minelayers tend to be very different sizes. Minesweepers are usually small, cheap, and more disposable with limited space for mines, while minelayers need a lot of space for mines and you don't want them near an active minefield. You can always put minesweeping gear on a minelayer and use it as such while empty but its more costly, conversely you can put mines on a minesweeper but it would only be a few. I can see a use for a small number of mines on minesweepers, where they can be used to maintain defensive minefields around a port, so you only need a handful of mines.   

One of the reasons I don't mix the two, is that I can build minesweepers to merchant standards, while minelayers have to be built to military standards and are therefore much more expensive.

[AnchorSteam]

I think the biggest reason was that minesweepers and minelayers tend to be very different sizes. Minesweepers are usually small, cheap, and more disposable with limited space for mines, while minelayers need a lot of space for mines and you don't want them near an active minefield. You can always put minesweeping gear on a minelayer and use it as such while empty but its more costly, conversely you can put mines on a minesweeper but it would only be a few. I can see a use for a small number of mines on minesweepers, where they can be used to maintain defensive minefields around a port, so you only need a handful of mines.   

One of the reasons I don't mix the two, is that I can build minesweepers to merchant standards, while minelayers have to be built to military standards and are therefore much more expensive.

Very good points!
And having a rack of mines on a small ship that could easily hit a mine itself could be bad for morale', eh?  :o


And on 2nd thought, I don't think I really need anyone to design a pre-1897 mine sweeper, especially if the function never comes up in practice.