Divers removed five depth bombs from the Mielensk Channel

Yesterday, divers removed five World War II-era depth charges from the bottom of the channel connecting the ports of Świnoujście and Szczecin. The situation posed a real threat to vessels sailing the canal on a daily basis, which is why water traffic on this section was completely suspended for the duration of the operation. A further seven bombs are scheduled for removal next week.

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“The operation was complicated. There is quite a strong current in the place where the bombs were resting. Its speed reaches up to 2 metres per second. In addition, the visibility there is close to zero” – explains the commanding officer of the operation, Lt. Mar. Piotr Nowak from the Group of Divers of the 8th Coastal Defence Flotilla in Świnoujście.

Preparations for the entire operation had been underway since 7 January. Dangerous charges were prepared to be detached from the bottom and lifted to the surface. Then the bombs were handed over to the 8th Battalion of Sappers in Dziwnów. They will be transported to the training ground in Drawsko Pomorskie, where they will be detonated in a controlled manner.

“The bombs were found at a depth of about 7m about 2m from the shore. They were undermined so that ropes could be put on them. Today, we hooked them up to excavation pontoons (the so-called idrodynes), pulled them to the surface and, with the help of boats, transported them to the shore, where a crane mounted on a car was waiting,” Lieutenant Mar. Nowak explained further.

The excavated charges are German DM-11 depth charges from the Second World War. Inside each of them there is 100kg of explosives (the total weight of the bomb is 160kg). If, during dredging of the waterway (this type of work is carried out here on a regular basis) an excavator had hooked into such a load causing it to explode, the results would have been lamentable.

The whole action was an opportunity for cooperation between the army, police, municipal guards, Maritime Office staff and the Border Guard. As a result of the joint action, it was possible to secure the area near the incident on land and to close water traffic in the area.

This is the first such action in Świnoujście this year, but for comparison, in 2013 only DM-11 bombs were fished out – about 120pcs! Dangerous finds in the area are therefore not rare. They are remnants of an arsenal sunk by the Germans, which supplied an extremely important war port, such as Świnoujście, during World War II.

Source: polska-zbrojna.pl Photo: 8th Coastal Defence Flotilla