German Sea Mine Found Off Isle of Wight Set for Controlled Detonation
A giant German sea mine was hauled up by a fishing boat near The Needles off the Isle of Wight early Saturday. The 7-foot long wartime ordnance was snagged in the nets of the fishing vessel Cara Lee As just after 8am, sparking a major bomb scare.
Royal Navy Bomb Squad Scrambles to Scene
Royal Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) experts from portsmouth/" title="Portsmouth" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked">Portsmouth rushed to the site to secure the device. The Needles Coastguard Rescue Team also joined in to keep the public safe. A strict two-mile exclusion zone was quickly imposed around the area.
“From pictures and information from the EOD, we understand this to be an old German wartime sea mine,” said UK Coastguard Duty Controller Piers Stanbury.
Detonation Postponed as Mine Is Returned to Sea Bed
The controlled explosion had been planned between 3:30pm and 4:30pm today. However, an update from the UK Coastguard confirmed the mine has now been safely lowered back to the seabed, with EOD specialists set to return at a later date to finish the job.
Cara Lee As Has History With Live Ordnance
This isn’t the first time the Cara Lee As has stumbled across deadly WWII relics. In 2013, the same vessel reported catching a live German parachute mine in its nets off Weymouth Bay, Dorset.
Experts safely removed and lowered that explosive back to the seabed too. Parachute mines were dropped by German Luftwaffe bombers over land during WWII, targeting British cities and strategic locations.
Despite modern efforts, disarming these decades-old sea mines remains a tricky and dangerous task for today’s bomb disposal teams.
