Tuesday, April 16, 2024
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WWII mine blown up by navy

The device was tied up off the coast of Port Seton (picture by Kim Traynor)

NAVY divers have blown up a World War 2 mine that was dredged up by a fishing boat.

Explosive experts detonated the device at around 12.45pm, just of the coast of Port Seton.

A coastguard spokesman said mine had been found by a fishing crew at around 3am and had been tied up more than a mile off shore.

He said: “The device was blown up by the navy bomb squad at around 12.45pm. It was picked up by a fishing boat at around 3 or 4 am and they brought it one and a half miles of shore and buoyed it off.

He added that the mine could have been devoid of charge given it’s condition.

“It may not have had any explosives in it as it was rusty and encrusted,” he said.

The bomb is believed to have been a Mk XVII floating mine. The World War II device could have up to 500lbs of explosive inside and was designed to float in water up to 900 metres deep.

 

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