A GERMAN wartime bomb found close to Dover harbour was today safely dispatched to eternity by naval divers.
The 250kg Luftwaffe bomb was brought to the surface by a dredger on Sunday near the entrance to the port of Dover.
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A member of the RN bomb disposal team prepares his kit for a dive
A GERMAN wartime bomb found close to Dover harbour was today safely dispatched to eternity by naval divers.
The 250kg Luftwaffe bomb was brought to the surface by a dredger on Sunday near the entrance to the port of Dover.
It was taken three miles out to sea off Deal and a four-man bomb disposal team from Portsmouth – led by PO(D) Dave May - lowered the metre-long bomb back to the seabed. They waited for the safest tidal window and carried out a controlled explosion at 8.45am today.
Local coastguard put a one-mile cordon in place during the operation, but no major shipping movements in the area were affected.
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A Stuka releases its stick of five bombs – including an SC250, like the one found off Dover, in the centre
Lt Dan Herridge, in overall charge of the bomb disposal team, said the explosion was carried out at a depth of 15 metres and caused a 50ft–high plume.
“We don’t come across this size of bomb that often. This one was in poor condition and we could not tell if the fuses were in tact or not, so the safest option was to take it out away from the busy shipping lanes and dispose of it as soon as we could.”
The SC250 bomb – containing around 125kg of high-explosive – was typically carried by Ju87 dive bombers; the Stukas attacked the port of Dover and shipping passing through the Channel, as well as the radar station just to the east of the station during the Battle of Britain.
