[ad_1]
A five-ton cartridge, called the Tallboy or Earthquake Bomb, was launched by the British Royal Air Force in 1945 during an attack on a Nazi warship.
The bomb was discovered last year while cleaning the bottom near the port city of Swinoujscie, in northwestern Poland, which once belonged to Germany.
“It just came to our notice then. Nobody has had to neutralize Tallboy, who has been kept in such good condition underwater, Grzegorz Lewandowski, spokesman for the Eighth Coastal Defense Fleet of the Polish Navy in Swinoujscie, told AFP.
Approximately 750 locals are being evacuated within a 2.5 km radius around the bomb. In addition, an operation that will last up to five days will stop traffic on nearby waterways within a radius of 16 km.
“Preparations will be made for the first two or three days. Our divers will dive into the water around the pump at the bottom of the channel at a depth of 12 meters. Only their nose sticks out,” Lewandowski said.
“It’s a very difficult job … The bomb can detonate even with the weakest vibration,” he added, noting that controlled blasting is not being considered as it could destroy a bridge 500 meters away.
Instead, divers in the fleet will use the deflagration method: burning the cartridge without causing it to detonate. The combustion process will be started by drilling a hole in the projectile with a remote control device.
The bomb is six meters long and contains 2.4 tons of explosives, equivalent to 3.6 tons of trotile.
[ad_2]
