Royal Navy bomb disposal experts return after detonating the device.
Posted on 02/15/2018 3:23:19 AM PST by beaversmom
An unexploded World War II bomb that forced a London airport to close was detonated at sea by the Royal Navy on Wednesday.
The 500-kilogram, 1.5-metre-long tapered-end shell was blown up with high-grade military detonators off the coast of Essex, where the bomb was transported earlier this week.
The explosion took place around midday. The navy released video footage of its bomb disposal experts blowing up the device with high-grade military detonators.
The device was first discovered buried in dense silt on Sunday near London City Airport's runway, located by the River Thames.
The airport closed Sunday night and all of Monday so Royal Navy bomb disposal experts could remove the device.
Divers removed the ordnance with a lifting bag on Monday, dragged it down the Thames overnight and took it to Shoeburyness, a coastal town 60 kilometres east of the bomb's original location.
The area where London City Airport stands used to be an industrial center, and it came under heavy bombardment from German planes during the war.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
What are high-grade military detonators? Are there low grade ones?
Don’t ask me! I’m a dope. :)
Pretty big boom. My guess is the bomb was live, amazing after over 75 years it hadn’t rusted out. Maybe the silt protected it ?
500 kilos of TNT must have caused a major fish kill. The price of Dover sole will be going up. :o)
“500 kilos of TNT must have caused a major fish kill. “
I’m surprised they got through all the British EPA, Dept. of the Interior, and Dept. of Transportation paperwork so quickly. They didn’t even have a public forum to discuss it.
You forgot their equivalent of OSHA. It's amazing how quickly things get done when there's a large bomb threatening to blow up a city center.
All those poor fish! /s
(Five Million Years to Earth)
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