City bomb disposal team blasts war mine into sky
Navy divers created a 200-metre plume of water when they dealt with a Second World War mine.
Southern Diving Unit Two from Horsea Island, Portsmouth, destroyed the two-metre-long air-dropped bomb in the Channel.
On Thursday, the Belgian fishing boat Marretje Aaltje was inspected by the Portsmouth-based fishery protection vessel HMS Mersey, and later reported picking up the bomb in its nets.
At midnight the explosive - which weighed between 800kg and 1,000kg - was towed by the fishing boat to an area 25 miles north east of Ramsgate.
The Portsmouth divers inspected the mine, which was in 20 metres of water, and at 12pm the mine was safely detonated.
The Southern Diving Unit carries out tasks around-the- clock to deal with explosives found between Hampshire and Lincolnshire.
The ordnance is reported via the police and can vary from old emergency flares to military mines, grenades and bombs, often from the Second World War.
Navy divers also serve with their army bomb disposal colleagues in Afghanistan, where they are involved in the vital work of dealing with deadly improvised explosive devices (IEDs) threatening coalition troops, Afghan forces and Afghan civilians.
Four navy divers from Horsea Island have recently returned for a six-month spell in Helmand Province, and have been replaced by four others.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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