allardjd 1,853 Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 https://www.yahoo.com/news/70-000-evacuated-over-wwii-bomb-frankfurt-154435398.html 70,000 to be evacuated over WWII bomb in Frankfurt "Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - Some 70,000 people in Frankfurt will have to leave their homes this weekend in one of the biggest such evacuations in post-war Germany, police said Wednesday, after an unexploded World War-II bomb nicknamed "blockbuster" was uncovered. The operation on Sunday will allow for the safe defusal of the 1,400-tonne British bomb, which German media said was nicknamed "Wohnblockknacker" (blockbuster) during the war for its ability to wipe out whole streets or buildings." I,400 tonnes - really? Even Barnes Wallis didn't think that big. That's approximately the weight of a small destroyer, or put another way, it's about 45 times the MTOW of the Avro Lancaster. I wonder what kind of aircraft dropped that one? Maybe those sneaky Britischers infiltrated in the dead of night and built it in place. How could a reporter write this and an editor review it without questioning that number? Why do we believe them on anything? John Link to post Share on other sites
dodgy-alan 1,587 Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 Some people really will believe anything the press tells them. Bloody papers need to be sorted out. Fake news is a reality in many cases. Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 (edited) Probably some dolt transposed Kg to Tonnes and no one gave a fig to ...yawn...check "Math". Wiki lists the AN-M56 as containing 1,400 kg of Amatol explosive...god knows how someone can dyslex that without catching themselves. I thought it was mostly US schools being gutted to make up for corporate tax cuts...that a problem in the EU too? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockbuster_bomb Edited August 30, 2017 by Captain Coffee Link to post Share on other sites
wain 879 Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 another reason I never buy a newspaper, 1 Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,285 Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 So you're saying this article was a misfire. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted August 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 15 minutes ago, brett said: So you're saying this article was a misfire More like a dud..., but most of them are, particularly when the subject is anything remotely technical. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites
hifly 925 Posted August 30, 2017 Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 Just another tpyo. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted August 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2017 31 minutes ago, hifly said: Just another tpyo. Now that's funny... Link to post Share on other sites
Quickmarch 488 Posted September 1, 2017 Report Share Posted September 1, 2017 Looks like they may have got it adjusted, weight-wise. Local newscast reported 1400 lb bomb. Might be a bit of a sphincter-tightening process to dig that baby up with a backhoe. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted September 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2017 38 minutes ago, Quickmarch said: Might be a bit of a sphincter-tightening process to dig that baby up with a backhoe. ...or the opposite effect. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites
brett 2,285 Posted September 1, 2017 Report Share Posted September 1, 2017 I feel more sorry for the guy that has to defuse the rusty thing, it's not like they can blow it in place. Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted September 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2017 I think during the war one of the most common techniques was to remove the fuses, then bore a hole through the casing and use steam to melt out the explosives. I suspect removing the fuses is a lot more difficult after they've been buried for 70 years or so. I'm sure they have techniques, and probably have the advantage of knowing the details of the fuses. I suspect that they use X-ray or some other method to get a look at the internals before they go to work on it. It would be interesting to know more about how they go about it. Not a job I'd want. John 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Quickmarch 488 Posted September 1, 2017 Report Share Posted September 1, 2017 There's probably a Youtube video 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Coffee 2,030 Posted September 1, 2017 Report Share Posted September 1, 2017 (edited) 3 hours ago, Quickmarch said: There's probably a Youtube video As well as one on how to make a Blockbuster no doubt... edit: didn't find one stupid Youtube..but I found this. 22, 000 lb super blockbuster bomb footage. Edited September 1, 2017 by Captain Coffee Link to post Share on other sites
Quickmarch 488 Posted September 2, 2017 Report Share Posted September 2, 2017 (edited) Now, that's a bomb. Hey Coff, looks like they had taggers back then, too. Edited September 2, 2017 by Quickmarch Link to post Share on other sites
hurricanemk1c 195 Posted September 2, 2017 Report Share Posted September 2, 2017 Ah the blockbuster. Shed loads of explosive in a dustbin, with the aerodynamics of a dustbin! I'm sure the Germans are well able to defuse these by this stage. Not a job I'd want! Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted September 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2017 I don't think that's the one in the article. I'm reasonably sure it's either 1,400 lbs or 1,400 Kg or something along those lines. By the way there actually are some YouTube videos on how to defuse WWII bombs. Very interesting but I still don't want the job. In a couple of cases, they drill into the fuse and attach a vacuum pump (manual), while sealing the outer part of the fuse with a kind of putty. They establish a negative pressure within, then draw in a fluid - salt brine in one case and a more exotic mixture in another that dissolves electrical insulation and shorts out the firing circuit. Some of the German long-time delay fuses were actually mechanical clockwork devices, which is not too surprising considering the state of electronics in those times. John Link to post Share on other sites
allardjd 1,853 Posted September 2, 2017 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2017 The bomb is now reported to be a 4,000 lb (1,800 Kg) British HC 4000 bomb, sometimes referred to as an "air mine". John EDIT: The "HC" stands for High Capacity, meaning a thin steel shell, maximizing the explosive load - intended to favor blast effects over fragmentation or penetration capability. This particular type had 1,400 Kg of explosive filling, which is probably where the "1400" value in the original article came from. JDA 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Quickmarch 488 Posted September 4, 2017 Report Share Posted September 4, 2017 A note to "Idiot Media": (don't remember where I saw this, but it stayed with me, slightly altered to suit this subject) The difference between pounds and kilograms is the difference between me having a sip of wine and and 30 seconds with your daughter and me having a bottle of scotch and an evening with her 2 Link to post Share on other sites
J G 927 Posted September 6, 2017 Report Share Posted September 6, 2017 (edited) On 01/09/2017 at 20:04, allardjd said: I think during the war one of the most common techniques was to remove the fuses, then bore a hole through the casing and use steam to melt out the explosives. I suspect removing the fuses is a lot more difficult after they've been buried for 70 years or so. Sorry but quite correct I think. The steaming out of explosives from a German Bomb was not done after the fused were removed, the bomb would be safe then, but instead of removing the fuses. The Germans were very good at booby-trapping their bombs and came up with a fuse that couldn't be removed without setting off the bomb. these and time delayed fuses specifically targeted the Bomb Disposal teams. The answer to this problem was to take the explosives out of the bomb rather than the fuse, and as John says, this was done by drilling into the bomb and steaming out the main charge. This technique was invented in the second world war and not the first. 30,000 tonnes of bombs were dropped on the UK in WW2 killing 40,000 people, and an estimated 15,000 items, ranging from unexploded bombs to small mortar rounds and grenades, were removed from UK construction sites between 2006 and 2008. there was no loss of life. Germany is another matter. The number of bombs dropped over Germany in WW2 ran over the million mark and a corresponding larger number of duds remain. A little ago as January 2014 a German excavator driver was killed when he hit an unexploded WW2 bomb. Edited September 6, 2017 by J G 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now