alt Hacker NewsThe art of defusing a second world war bomb
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And the mother of all unexploded WW2 ordance is the SS Richard Montgomery.
1.4kt of explosive sat in the Thames Eastury, 35 miles down river from central London, that nobody knows how to get rid of.
"it was determined that if the wreck of Richard Montgomery exploded, it would throw a 300 metres (980 feet)-wide column of water and debris nearly 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) into the air and generate a wave 5 metres (16 feet) high. Almost every window in Sheerness (population circa 20,000) would be broken and buildings would be damaged by the blast."
My aunt lives in Hamm, Germany. It used to be a massive rail road hub and allies bombed the f* out it. The old church sitting middle of the town still carries the scars of bombing. Few years ago, during the renovation of the shopping mall, construction crew found unexploded American 500 lbs bomb in the ground. City had to evacuate a lot of people. Throughout years, there were multiple other incidents with UXO in Hamm, that I can recall. I still wonder how the 500 pound bomb been sitting in the ground so many years, right in the center of the town, right by the shopping mall and no one noticed.
It’s worth tracking down a UK miniseries called “Danger UXB” that was made in the early eighties. Not sure how accurate the actual on screen dry ice and cut the red wire stuff was but as a character study of the men involved and the danger they were constantly in it was compelling viewing. Heartbreaking too. One of my favourite TV shows
I read this article yesterday and it’s the latest in a long line of really enjoyable real world stories from The Guardian lately. In a world where it seems harder and harder to get people to engage with long-form content rather than just clickbait, it’s nice to see some organisations still publishing good quality articles.
I've seen one of those little robots before. My friend found what looked like a hand grenade while breaking up concrete/brick work in a house renovation. We called the police and fortunately we live right near to a Royal Engineers base with a bomb disposal team. They came out in their van and brought out the robot to have a look then picked it up and took it back with them in the van.
France has a much worse disposal problem. They're still cleaning up unexploded WWI artillery shells. That's been going on steadily for a century, and there are still large keep-out zones. Estimated completion in another century.
They said the last person to be killed by a WW2 bomb probably hasn't been born yet.
Yes, that’s pretty normal here. After the war ended, a lot of it was disposed of by the public, and there’s still much more waiting to be recovered from rivers and ponds. Before anything can be built, it must be verified that there is no longer any ammunition in the ground. That’s why construction projects here sometimes take longer. But this profession has a future. And you can only make a mistake once.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Having to analyze 80 year old bombing records during new constructions adds to the long list of downsides of wars
Wonderful article. Reminds me of my experience scuba diving in Croatia. My group and I were doing a seabed waste-collection dive, and part of it was an obligatory training on ordnance. The sea there has had a fair few wars and conflicts.
I remember being astounded by how the water "amplifies" the explosions - so while a hand grenade blast is very dangerous on the surface, under the sea it becomes far more horrific prospect, due to the water transferring the blast more efficiently. Nerve wracking stuff, when you're thinking about diving down there - imagining that a bomb dozens of meters away could pulverize you.
Still pretty rare, thankfully. I applaud the diver bomb disposal squads - some of the most dangerous work there is.