Clearance divers tackle beach bombs

Royal Navy divers have been busy destroying eighty seven bombs washed up in the Solent last week.

The unexploded ordnance was found scattered on Calshot beach, at the Western end of the Solent.

An initial six bombs washed up were believed to be of WW1 origin, thought likely to have been dredged up by fishing nets.

However, many more bombs were also found, and later identified as Second World War-era mortars.

Experts now believe they were probably ‘dislodged’ from the seabed by an exceptionally large moon – and subsequent tide.

The Royal Navy’s Southern Diving Unit 2 was called in to deal with the find, quickly setting up a 1,000m excusion zone.

Divers stacked the bombs 300 metres offshore at low tide and detonated them in controlled explosions.

Two World Wars have left a legacy of unexploded ordnance on the seabed around the UK. Bombs, shells and mortars are a common sight for divers on many wrecks.