If you live in the East Wight, the earth may have felt as though it moved for you this morning.
Royal Navy bomb disposal experts have today (Friday) destroyed a 1,500lb German mine off Bembridge that was discovered in The Solent.
According to the Forces TV Website, the bomb disposal team had towed the air-dropped device overnight – after it was discovered during preparations for some imminent dredging – to open waters about 1.5km off Bembridge.
Second mine in three years
Petty Officer (Diver) Richard Ellis, in charge of a six-man team of bomb disposal officers from Portsmouth-based Southern Diving Unit 2, said,
“These mines were laid in their thousands during WWII but are rarely encountered these days – it’s only the second one we have dealt with in three years. The other one was in the mouth of the Thames.
“The mine is in quite good condition, and they were engineered to a very high standard which is probably why it has stayed safe all these years.”
Click on images to see larger versions
Reader felt the ‘shock’
OnTheWight was alerted to the operation after a reader got in touch saying she’d felt a ‘large shock’ going through her home in Elmfield this morning.
We put a call out on social media and a reader got in touch with a link to the Forces TV Website, who had more info.
Recordings
Sandy Clarke from Vectis Weather reported,
“2.1 Magnitude earthquake – Morton Road, Brading. Recorded 2 Hours ago with a depth of 2km.”
Graham from Carisbrooke Castle Museum checked their seismometer which reported a pronounced spike at just past 11am.
So if you heard a loud boom earlier and were wondering what it was, that’s why!
Article edit
2.40: Video added
Image: derpoly under CC BY 2.0
Images: © Royal Navy
