psymon Posted May 16, 2006 Posted May 16, 2006 Just seen something on the TV. I hear a Navy minesweeper found a unexploded bomb of approx 2m in length in the sea near liverpool.Seriously how dangerous do you think this device could have been? After 60 or so years at the bottom of the ocean, dont you think that it would be rather inert? I dont have any idea if it would or not but do you think its going a bit too far when they start to evacuate people from miles around in case it goes off? When I lived in Russia I was helping a family plant potatoes and I found a 9mm bullet. I was told it was from when the Nazis invaded that village.The Russian uncle came over and hit it with a rock, he then tipped out the powder and tried to light it. Of course nothing happened. Let me know your thoughts...
weknowpyro Posted May 16, 2006 Posted May 16, 2006 I would also think it was inert but i expect it depends wht type of explosive is inside it. But i doubt it was that dangerous in belgium they find i think its 15 shells a day from ww1 and they have to detonate 300 each day. Well at least you know if you join the belgian bomb squad you have something to do.
Kilo_G Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 I'd say, most likely, if it was from WWII that the bomb was full of PETN or TNT, or PETN as the detonator and TNT as the bulk explosive (at higher speeds/force PETN is somewhat impact sensitive). If it exploded under water it probably wouldn't do much. The reason they evacuate people for a mile or two is because while highly unlikely a bomb of that size IS capable of throwing shrapnel and or debris for that distance and today being what it is with lawsuits they don't want to take the chance. If conditions were right, I'd say it is very possible for the HE(s) inside the bomb to still be capable of detonating. As far as that bullet you found goes, in WWI/WWII bullets were not as advanced as they are today. Most bullets nowadays have sealed projectiles and primers, unlike in WWII, even still I doubt a modern bullet would be capable of sitting in the dirt for ~60 years and still have it's powder be good. What a modern bullet would be able to do is withstand being wet/damp for a prolonged period of time and still fire, this wouldn't be the case most ammo from WWII. So what I'm saying is that bullet that fell on the ground in WWII probably wasn't good after it sat through the first good rain storm that came it's way.
_Po_ Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 I'd say the evacuation was more to do with the water - divers in particular. Water carries shock waves a lot further and a lot faster than open air (due to density). And considering it's at the "bottom of the ocean" I think it'd be pretty risky pulling it up. I assume they'd pull it up before they try to dismantle the detonator, anyway. That's if they do that, I'm not really keeping up to date with my bomb squad techniques...
psymon Posted May 17, 2006 Author Posted May 17, 2006 Apparently the Navy tied a buoy onto it. Then after a few hours they towed it 6 miles out to sea away from underwater pipes and cables. They then at around 8pm detonated it while in the water. I just thought that all chemicals would have a use by date. After this time they would start to deteriorate and would become inert after say 10 years or so. However occasionally bombs are dug up or found and they make a massive deal about it - evacuating people for 10 miles around and being careful with the device like it could go off at any time. Even though the dud has fallen from the sky, hit the ground and buried itself like 10 feet below the soil. I am not a member of the bomb squad but in someone’s honest opinion don’t they think this is just going a bit too far?
maximusg Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 Well... All i can say is it looks like they went the "Better safe than sorry" route. It's not like 'dud' munitions have never detonated unexpectedly before. I bet they could have feed a third world country with all the fish they stunned too...
psymon Posted May 17, 2006 Author Posted May 17, 2006 Yeah, I was thinking about that too. When an underwater explosion goes off doesnt it rupture the fishes swim bladder and kills them? I have heard of people tossing explosives into water to fish the easy way - but I hear it does make the fish taste rather nasty.Also in the thames Estuary there is a half sunken ship called the montgomery. I hear that sunk during WWII and is still filled with tonnes of explosives. I often hear people saying that if the explosives went off then it would wipe out most of the seaside town. Again I am rather skeptical of this...
murderskill Posted May 17, 2006 Posted May 17, 2006 Well you would have to think how big was the explosion? If people were to go fishing i would think it would rupture their internal organs letting loos all the nasty stuff u dont want to be loose.. bowels ect. And it is also dangerous to go fishing with explosives as well because there were 2 guys around here who did the same and they ent over top of the explosive with their boat putting a huge hole in it.. boat sank 1 survived the other drowned
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