Phosphorus bombs from WWII found in the Oder River

Three British phosphorus bombs found near the approach to Szczecin harbour were neutralised last Thursday, 2 April, by the Group of Divers from the 12th minesweeper Squadron. The operation was another one aimed at removing a dangerous find from the IIWW period, lying on the Szczecin-Świnoujście waterway.

The dangerous find was located at a depth of 7-12 metres, near Szczecin’s Gryfia Shipyard, during dredging work on the waterway leading from Szczecin to Świnoujście. The bombs were discovered by employees of a private company hired by the Maritime Office. The Divers-Miners Group of the 12th minesweeper Squadron of the 8th Coastal Defence Flotilla, who specialise in similar cases, were called to the site.

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“The duty service of the 8th Coastal Defence Flotilla received a report of 4 objects of military origin of the WWII period lying on the Western Oder River in the vicinity of the Navigational Marker Base. The first stage of the operation was to carry out reconnaissance in order to identify and initially assess the objects found by experts in underwater tasks from the Group of Underwater Divers of the 12th minesweeper Squadron. Three objects found in the water were classified as 30-pound phosphorus bombs of British origin (incendiary bombs weighing about 14 kg). One of the objects posed no threat.”

Due to the danger resulting from the nature of the find, water traffic on the Szczecin-Świnoujście route was suspended for the duration of the operation. The whole operation of neutralisation of the found bombs proceeded according to plan and without any problems. As it was announced, these are certainly not the last discoveries of this type in this area and due to the works being carried out, in the nearest future we can expect more neutralizations of dangerous remains from the II World War period.

^{Source and Photo: wojsko-polskie.pl}