Royal Navy clearance divers dispose of 70-year old German bomb

70-years later, unexploded munitions from the Second World War still remain a problem to be dealt with. Fortunately, Royal Navy clearance divers have the necessary EOD skills to deal with these historic hazards.

Southern Diving Unit blows up World War 2 bomb in north Cornwall

A Royal Navy ordnance disposal team safely detonated a WW2 bomb in the South West today.

The team of four from the Southern Diving Unit 1 at HM Naval Base Devonport, Plymouth, blew up the air-dropped bomb in-situ in a controlled explosion where it was found by contractors for SW Water laying a mains in a field at St Eval Kart Circuit near Wadebridge, north Cornwall yesterday.

The unexploded German 50g, two-ft-long device was still live and had to be rendered safe through working on the fuse. An exclusion zone (including a no-fly-area because of the adjacent Newquay Airport) was enforced over night by police. Roads were closed and horses in the field were also removed for their safety.

The incident also involved staff from the water company and a local authority. Preparation for the operation began with the building of a protective earthwork with 6.5 tonnes of sandbags in two rings round the bomb in order to prevent damage to property and people from the bomb if it went off unexpectedly and when detonated in the controlled explosion.

Petty Officer Diver Sid Lawrence said: “This was a very well run operation with several organisations including the water company, builders on the site who discovered the bomb and emergency services, local authorities and the guys who put up the protective works. This made our job a lot more straight forward and ensured the safety of the public.

“This was a live bomb which caused a major hazard. However, after the delicate work needed to disarm the bomb we decided to detonate it on the same site and that went smoothly.’’

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/News-and-Events/Latest-News/2013/August/07/130807-SW-bomb-SDU1

Australian minehunter to clear up US bombs dumped near Great Barrier Reef

An update to the PR disaster that resulted from USMC aircraft dropping of inert/unarmed ordnance near the Great Barrier Reef.

These will be removed by a mine hunter… possibly one tasked from the US 7th Fleet… assuming Congress doesn’t force their decommissioning… or one tasked by the Royal Australian Navy.

Report: Mine Hunter to Recover U.S. Bombs Dropped Near Great Barrier Reef

HMAS Diamantina sails into Rabaul Harbour in Papua New Guinea in 2011. Royal Australian Navy Photo

A mine hunting ship will be deployed to find four bombs dropped by two U.S. Marine AV-8B Harriers last week in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in Australia, according to local press reports published on Tuesday.

The vessel would either come from U.S. 7th Fleet’s homeport in Japan or Australia’s Fleet Base East in Sydney, according to the report.

It is unclear is the mine ship will be a U.S. Navy Avenger class mine countermeasure ship or an Australian vessel.

Navy officials at the Pentagon did not have any additional details on the operation and could not confirm the report from the Perth Now news service.

“Dive teams have been sent to the area to try and locate the weapons, but Navy sources said it would require specialist underwater detection equipment to identify the bombs,” reported Perth Now.

The mine sweeper to find the two BDU-45 practice bombs and two unarmed GBU-12 Paveway II bombs.

“The Harriers had intended to drop the ordnance in Townshend Island Range but controllers reported the area was not clear of hazards. Due to low fuel and inability to land with the amount of ordnance they were carrying, the on scene commander determined it was necessary to designate an emergency jettison area for the ordnance,” according to a statement from U.S. 7th Fleet issued on July 20.

“The selected emergency jettison area was in a deep channel away from the reef to minimize the possibility of reef damage,” according to a statement from U.S.

“It is approximately 50 to 60 meters deep and does not pose a hazard to shipping or navigation.”

The Harriers were flying in support of the Talisman Saber 2013, a joint exercise conducted between the U.S. and Australia.

http://news.usni.org/2013/07/24/report-mine-hunter-to-recover-u-s-bombs-dropped-near-great-barrier-reef