UXO Discovered During Commercial Fishing Operation

East Kent, United Kingdom the crew on a commercial fishing vessel fishing in the Thames Estuary was shocked when they discovered that a large bomb was caught in their nets. The crew radioed to the Coastguard who responded with a British Royal Navy EOD team for technical support. EOD identified the UXO as a WWII era German aerial dropped parachute retardant bomb (specific size not reported).

EOD moved the bomb to an open water area where disposal operations were conducted. The Coastguard closed the area surrounding the disposal shot from ship traffic during the controlled detonation operation which lasted almost a day and half. The disposal operation took longer than expected due to several failed attempts at the disposal operation. The reason for the failed attempts was not reported but Coastguard ships kept watch over the area throughout the night to ensure that no ships entered the exclusion zone. The bomb was finally safely disposed of without incident on the 3rd disposal attempt.