Sheppy, England In less than two weeks time, 26 munition items have reportedly washed ashore along the shoreline in Leysdown. The first of the 26 munitions was discovered by local resident who took a picture of the item with his cell phone (see below) which also provided the GPS coordinates of the munition. The resident provided this information to the police who responded along with the Coastguard.
London, United Kingdom Plans to build a new airport located on an artificial island in the Thames estuary along the North Kent Coast are being threatened by a 67-year old munitions cache aboard a sunken WWII era American Liberty ship.
The SS Richard Montgomery packed with approximately 7,000 tons of munitions ran aground on a sandbar on August 20, 1944. Shortly after the grounding, intensive efforts were commenced to unload the vessel in an attempt to save the cargo and re-float the ship. However, the salvage effort was abandoned after a few weeks with a portion of its cargo intact when the hull cracked and vessel completely flooded.
After the initial salvage effort was abandoned, an exclusion zone was setup with the area marked with warning signs and buoys. For over 67 years, the shipwreck with its masts clearly visible above the water during all states of tide has been sitting close to the Medway Approach Channel.
East Neuk, Scotland A fishing trawler fishing in the waters in the Forth estuary reportedly pulled up a large munition in their nets. The crew decided to release the munition out of the net allowing it to sink the bottom. The crew marked the area with a buoy and called the Coastguard to report the find. The Coastguard responded with technical support from a Royal Navy EOD team from Faslane. However, due to rough seas, the buoy had washed away before EOD to locate the munition.
Essex, United Kingdom A dredging vessel working 8 miles off the coast brought up a large sea mine. The captain of the dredger called the Coast Guard who responded with technical support from a Royal Navy EOD team. The EOD team evacuated all non-essential personnel from the ship and setup a 1-mile exclusion zone around the ship.
Port Orange, Florida A recreational fisherman aboard "Miss Hazel" fishing 3-miles off Ponce Inlet in the Atlantic Ocean pulled up a mortar round. The man kept the munition on-board the boat until he returned to the marina. After docking the boat into a slip, the man called the police. The Ponce Inlet police responded and cordoned off the area around the boat.
The Volusia County Bomb Squad was called in to investigate the find. The bomb squad identified the mortar as an inert training round. The bomb squad removed the mortar for proper disposal and the all clear was given.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
