Navy begins defusing biggest World War Two bomb ever found in Poland

[webfact]

Navy begins defusing biggest World War Two bomb ever found in Poland

 

Navy divers from the 12th Minesweeper Squadron of the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla take part in a five-day operation to defuse the largest unexploded World War Two Tallboy bomb ever found in Poland in Swinoujscie, Poland, October 12, 2020. Agencja Gazeta/Cezary Aszkielowicz via REUTERS

 

WARSAW (Reuters) - Navy divers on Monday began a five-day operation to defuse the largest unexploded World War Two bomb ever found in Poland, forcing more than 750 people to evacuate their homes.

 

Dubbed the "earthquake" bomb, the Tallboy bomb was used by Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) and weighs nearly 5,400 kg, including 2,400 kg of explosive, the Navy said on its Facebook account.

 

The bomb was found in the Piast Canal which connects the Baltic Sea with the Oder River, and was dropped by the RAF in 1945 in an attack on the German cruiser Lutzow.

 

The site is near the town of Swinoujscie in northwest Poland where a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal was opened in 2016.

 

"There will be no deliveries while the bomb is being neutralised," a spokeswoman at site operator Gaz-System said, adding the timing of the defusing of the bomb had been agreed between the firm, the Navy and local authorities.

 

"We dug up the moving part of the bomb, the middle part the bomb was left, as planned, so that the debris around it would keep the bomb in a fixed place, so that it would not move and the fuses would not be triggered," Michal Jodloski from the 12th Minesweeper Squadron of the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla told private broadcaster TVN 24.

 

On Monday 751 people had to be evacuated from the area, local media reported.

 

"We are leaving for this week. We are afraid. The children should go to school and they would have to go past it every day, so there is a bit of fear," a local resident named Radoslaw told TVN24.

 

(Writing by Alan Charlish; editing by Jason Neely)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-10-13

 

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[steven100]

I hope the guy with the wire cutters and tweezers underwater had a few vodka's last night to steady the nerves ... 

[ezzra]

is it going to be like in the movies the hero with the wire cutters sweating which wire to to cut the red or the green, the red or the green while the timer is ticking, or maybe it's the black wire.....

[jabis]

Dropping a bomb that has such payload, designed to penetrate about 5 meters of (reinforced)concrete before detonation, doesn't make a lot of sense to drop on a ship, as it would just go thru the hull - well except maybe the Tirpitz ????

[Somtamnication]

Mcgyver time!

[Tug]

Let’s hope it’s done safely with no injury’s or loss of life good luck brave Poland

[Matzzon]

1 hour ago, jabis said:

Dropping a bomb that has such payload, designed to penetrate about 5 meters of (reinforced)concrete before detonation, doesn't make a lot of sense to drop on a ship, as it would just go thru the hull - well except maybe the Tirpitz ????

You seem to have no clue what you are talking about. Tallboy and Grandslam was made by the same guy and used by RAF during the second world war. This is not a bomb you use on ships. It´s a nasty piece that goes into the ground before it explodes and create an earthquake effect.

 

[Tug]

1 hour ago, jabis said:

Dropping a bomb that has such payload, designed to penetrate about 5 meters of (reinforced)concrete before detonation, doesn't make a lot of sense to drop on a ship, as it would just go thru the hull - well except maybe the Tirpitz ????

It wouldn’t have to penetrate the ship itself just explode near by the pressure wave would do the damage nasty business let’s hope it’s never repeated 

[Emdog]

There was a great Brit series on in the 1970's "Danger UXB" set during WW2 about the teams that would have to defuse those packages. Would often have segments about training teams regarding latest bombs Jerry was dropping. Novel program in that even lead actors would get blown up.... unlike say "new guy" on Star Trek, etc,

[ballpoint]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Navy divers from the 12th Minesweeper Squadron of the 8th Coastal Defense Flotilla take part in a five-day operation to defuse the largest unexploded World War Two Tallboy bomb ever found in Poland

Just how many unexploded World War Two Tallboy bombs have been found in Poland?  And, given they were all the same size, how could this be the largest of them?  (Pedant rant over).

[ballpoint]

35 minutes ago, Emdog said:

There was a great Brit series on in the 1970's "Danger UXB" set during WW2 about the teams that would have to defuse those packages. Would often have segments about training teams regarding latest bombs Jerry was dropping. Novel program in that even lead actors would get blown up.... unlike say "new guy" on Star Trek, etc,

Agreed.  Well worth watching.

[MaxYakov]

Tallboy Bomb [wiki link].

 

Designed as an 'earthquake' or 'seismic' bomb' to reach high terminal velocity on a high altitude drop - around 750 mph (nearly the speed of sound). Extremely strong casing so it could penetrate to a depth of 24 meters and through 16 feet of concrete. Apparently it was slightly too slow to give a startling sonic boom. Good Luck to the ordnance disposal team on this one.

 

 

 

Edited October 13, 2020 by MaxYakov

[PETERTHEEATER]

9 hours ago, jabis said:

Dropping a bomb that has such payload, designed to penetrate about 5 meters of (reinforced)concrete before detonation, doesn't make a lot of sense to drop on a ship, as it would just go thru the hull - well except maybe the Tirpitz ????

The 12000 pound Tallboy bomb was dropped with the intention of detonating underwater after a near miss when the ship's hull would be ruptured. There were three pistol/detonator installed each with a 30 second delay to provide redundancy. That this one, out of seventeen bombs dropped in that raid, failed to detonate implies that it was inadvertently dropped 'safe'

 

[Jai Dee]

A flame post has been removed.

[Scot123]

9 hours ago, jabis said:

Dropping a bomb that has such payload, designed to penetrate about 5 meters of (reinforced)concrete before detonation, doesn't make a lot of sense to drop on a ship, as it would just go thru the hull - well except maybe the Tirpitz ????

It is the shock of the explosion that sinks the ship. The bomb is not ment to hit the ship. And yes it works.

[ExpatOilWorker]

44 minutes ago, Jai Dee said:

A flame post has been removed.

Dangerous near a bomb this size!

[3NUMBAS]

9 hours ago, ballpoint said:

Agreed.  Well worth watching.

been repeated many times on channel 81,,judy geeson still looks good in her 70s

[SpaceKadet]

7 hours ago, MaxYakov said:

Tallboy Bomb [wiki link].

 

Designed as an 'earthquake' or 'seismic' bomb' to reach high terminal velocity on a high altitude drop - around 750 mph (nearly the speed of sound). Extremely strong casing so it could penetrate to a depth of 24 meters and through 16 feet of concrete. Apparently it was slightly too slow to give a startling sonic boom. Good Luck to the ordnance disposal team on this one.

 

 

 

I just love it! Using metric and imperial measures for length in the same sentence. No wonder American Rockets explode, and Mars landers crash. 55555

[notmyself]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54522203

[Scott]

Post and reply violating Fair Use Policy removed.

 

[evadgib]

Archive footage (c/w commentary by Mr Cholmondley-Warner ????)

 

 

[MaxYakov]

6 hours ago, SpaceKadet said:

14 hours ago, MaxYakov said:

Tallboy Bomb [wiki link].

 

Designed as an 'earthquake' or 'seismic' bomb' to reach high terminal velocity on a high altitude drop - around 750 mph (nearly the speed of sound). Extremely strong casing so it could penetrate to a depth of 24 meters and through 16 feet of concrete. Apparently it was slightly too slow to give a startling sonic boom. Good Luck to the ordnance disposal team on this one.

 

 

 

I just love it! Using metric and imperial measures for length in the same sentence. No wonder American Rockets explode, and Mars landers crash. 55555

I did it to support 'diversity in metrics' ????. The truth is I was too lazy to convert the 24 meters and wondered at the time if anyone suffering from OCD would notice (I did). Good thing TVF is not 'rocket science', huh?

[webfact]

UPDATE:

 

Biggest World War Two bomb found in Poland explodes while being defused

https://forum.thaivisa.com/topic/1187313-biggest-world-war-two-bomb-found-in-poland-explodes-while-being-defused/

 

[steven100]

oh dear   !!  maybe he cut the wrong wire