Royal Navy Blows Up Ancient Torpedo in Scapa Flow

Last wekend, Royal Navy bomb disposal specialists securely exploded an old torpedo in Scapa Flow which might have harmed undersea facilities.

An expert group from the Royal Navy’s Diving and also Threat Exploitation Group took a trip to Orkney after study ship MV Athena discovered the aged tool while checking a course for undersea cords in between Flotta and also South Ronaldsay.

The HM Coastguard looked out to the tool and also a 100-meter exemption area established around the area. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal group from Charlie Squadron (formerly the Northern Diving Group till a shakeup of all scuba divers and also the production of the brand-new Diving and also Threat Exploitation Group).

The five-strong group made a nearly 400-mile journey from their head office in Faslane to get to the scene in Scapa Flow, which functioned as the primary base of the Royal Navy in both its 20th Century problems with Germany.

“It was a challenging task,” stated Charlie Squadron’s Chief Petty Officer (Diver)Roy Edwards “The suspected ordnance was located 210 meters from an oil pipeline and the weather was also an issue with a sea state 2-3 and wind gusting at 20 knots. “The torpedo was very degraded, and we needed to move it to a safe location, away from the pipeline, before it could be safely disposed of. It was a delicate job.”

The three-day procedure was damaged down right into numerous stages. After diving, finding, and also noting the torpedo, the group following connected bands and also made use of undersea training tools to increase it very carefully to the surface area.

The torpedo was after that lugged some 2 maritime miles away to a brand-new area, faraway from undersea cords, pipes, and also fish ranches.

Finally, after 1700 hrs on Sunday the scuba divers accomplished a regulated undersea surge to get rid of the ordnance.

Unfortunately, the problem of the torpedo was inadequate and also might not be definitively recognized, although it was believed to be a Mark 8 torpedo, a kind which initially went into manufacturing in the 1920s.

The job at Scapa Flow is the 3rd which Charlie Squadron have actually participated in on Orkney this year. In amount to the group has actually dealt with 63 standard artilleries disposal jobs and also 3 improvisated eruptive tool jobs throughout their location of procedure, consisting of every one of Scotland and also northEngland

The viewpoints shared here are the writer’s and also not always those of The Maritime Executive.