250kg UXB Found During Portsmouth Harbour Dredging Works

A suspected 250kg German Unexploded Bomb (UXB) has been found in Portsmouth Harbour, the latest in a series of such discoveries during dredging works to support the arrival of the new Queen Elizabeth aircraft carriers.

As with the recent finds (which included both German UXBs and torpedoes), cross-Channel ferry services were suspended and roads closed whilst Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel from the Royal Navy assessed the state of the bomb. It will be towed out into the Solent for a controlled detonation.

Given the military history of Portsmouth harbour – long used as a Naval base and heavily-bombed during WWII – precautions have been put in place throughout the dredging works, including the use of ROVs and specialist EOD divers on call.

It is unlikely that this discovery will be the last!

See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-39049048