WWII Parachute Mine Found off Cornish Coast

A 1,000kg German WWII parachute mine has been destroyed in a controlled explosion by a Royal Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team after being found in the sea off Falmouth by local divers.

The explosion was not the spectacular event expected by interested onlookers, however, water ingress having rendered the mine a dud.

Designed for naval use, parachute mines were ultimately deployed both onshore and offshore by the Luftwaffe during WWII. Dropped on land, the mines caused massive, widespread blast damage, engineered to explode shortly before impacting the ground.

As they were not designed to penetrate the earth, such mines are today typically only found offshore, or in lakes and reservoirs…a good job given their explosive content!

See: http://www.forces.net/news/biggest-ww2-bomb-found-uk-was-dud