45,000 Germans Evacuated For WWII MOAB Found In River

[twyacht]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_BOMB_EVACUATION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-12-03-07-57-38

BERLIN (AP) -- Officials in Germany's western city of Koblenz say some 45,000 residents have to be evacuated as officials try to defuse a World War II era bomb discovered in the Rhine river.

City officials said Saturday the massive British 1.8 ton bomb will be defused early Sunday, requiring all residents within a radius of about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the bomb site to leave their homes for the day.

Officials say seven nursing homes, two hospitals and a prison are also being evacuated. Train and road traffic in the area, some 130 kilometers northwest of Frankfurt, will come to a halt.

The British bomb was found last week alongside a 275 pound bomb dropped there by U.S. forces during WWII, after Rhine's water level fell due to lack of rain.

*****

1.8 Tons!!!  Holy Smokes!!!! The Bomb Disposal Unit better bring their "A" game..No Bomb Suit Required

 

[Solus]

The fun is just starting.  I doubt they will try to open something that has been sitting under water for 65 years...especial when a gentle touch is required.   If so, they would likely try to move it someplace for detonation or attempted detonation.  And if that is so, there will be evacuations along the route.  

Think a  helicopter could lift it and move effectively?

[tombogan03884]

I question the accuracy of this.
1.8 tons is a big freaking bomb, it is unlikely it could have fit in an unmodified bomb bay.
I suspect there was a mistake in converting between metric and english since we also never used 275 pounders, they were 250 pounds.

[twyacht]

I thought the Lancasters could carry 1000lb bombs. But the literal carpet bombing runs, who know what they strapped to them.

BBC also has it as 1.8tonnes with a pic.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16018659

Here's a vid, it seems they did have some that big.

http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=692480&vId=2893406&cId=World

Spiegal has it at 3meters approx 10feet long.
 
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,800947,00.html

One article stated, more are likely to be discovered if river levels keep falling.....

Be an interesting fishing trip if you snagged one and yanked real hard...

[mkm]

I question the accuracy of this.
1.8 tons is a big freaking bomb, it is unlikely it could have fit in an unmodified bomb bay.
I suspect there was a mistake in converting between metric and english since we also never used 275 pounders, they were 250 pounds.

My initial thinking after reading this was that it could be reporting yield in tons (equal to 1.8 tons of TNT), but then I reread and the US bomb is in pounds.  I doubt they would report one in yield and another in weight. 

Quick look around though shows several sources of 2000 lbs bombs; so, it's possible.  Conversion confusion wouldn't surprise me either.  I think either way we can all agree that it's a freaking huge bomb.

Be an interesting fishing trip if you snagged one and yanked real hard...

During my search, I found several articles discussing unexploded bombs from WWII still being found in Europe, esp Germany.

[Sponsor]

[Timothy]

Fat Man dropped on Nagasaki weighed over 5 tons.

1800 pounds is nothing for a B-29 though they weren't used much in Europe.

Correction, 1.8 tonnes is about 4000 lbs.  oops...still no problem for a heavy bomber.  Coincidentally, the RAF used the B-29 towards the end of the war.

2 metric ton is 4480 lbs.

[Pathfinder]

Fat Man dropped on Nagasaki weighed over 5 tons.

1800 pounds is nothing for a B-29 though they weren't used much in Europe.

Correction, 1.8 tonnes is about 4000 lbs.  oops...still no problem for a heavy bomber.  Coincidentally, the RAF used the B-29 towards the end of the war.

2 metric ton is 4480 lbs.

Got a source for that? I was not aware that any B-29s made it to Europe, and I would guess the USAAF would get them before the RAF.

As for the bomb, I'm guessing it was one of the anti-sub pen/bunker bombs, they were huge. The biggest problem was not the weight but the size - the Lancasters could only carry 1 and it went nose first straight down after being dropped.

[Timothy]

Got a source for that? I was not aware that any B-29s made it to Europe, and I would guess the USAAF would get them before the RAF.

As for the bomb, I'm guessing it was one of the anti-sub pen/bunker bombs, they were huge. The biggest problem was not the weight but the size - the Lancasters could only carry 1 and it went nose first straight down after being dropped.

It was from Wiki and I misread the article.  It was post war use in the late forties and early fifties...sorry!

[Big Frank]

We had bombs up about 22 tons so a 2 ton bomb doesn't surprise me.

[tombogan03884]

The Dam Busters dropped 10 ton bombs but the planes had to be specially modified, they would not even fit inside the plane. I would bet it was a 2000 pound bomb and some one screwed up converting from metric tons to standard tons.
We dropped a lot of 2000 pounders and 2000 KILOS is 2 metric tonnes