# No boom today, boom tomorrow **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 14, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900 "2020-10-14T00:57:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/1 "2020-10-14T00:57:35Z")
Well, tomorrow always comes. [Big boom today.](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-bomb-tallboy-idUSKBN26Y2K6) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/2 "2020-10-14T01:43:12Z")
Where’s the kaboom? There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering— ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/3 "2020-10-14T01:48:34Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Where’s the kaboom? There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering— - Obviously, someone stole the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/4 "2020-10-14T02:05:59Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Where’s the kaboom? There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering— So the kaboom didn’t kablooey? ---
**Author:** ![Mars\_Horizon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mars_horizon/32/2804_2.png) [@Mars\_Horizon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mars_Horizon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/5 "2020-10-14T02:20:03Z")
Thank you, Ivanova ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/6 "2020-10-14T02:22:44Z")
The canal is now a little deeper than when they started… Impressive fill ratio on that Tallboy. I wouldn’t expect nearly 40 percent on what was a heavily-built, almost armor-piercing bomb. 5200 pounds or so of TNT-ish explosive. Torpex and others, IIRC. I’m glad no one was hurt. Deflagrating the explosive _in situ_, and hoping it doesn’t go high-order, sounds ballsy. Guess they didn’t have a choice about it though. My favorite UXO story on those kinds of bombs was the Grand Slam the RAF unwittingly used as an architectural element for many years. Hilarity ensued when it was discovered the casing was filled with explosive, though I don’t remember if it had been fuzed. Supposedly Scampton—as it was Squadron 617’s home field—but now the claim is that the whole affair was an urban legend. ---
**Author:** ![allyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@allyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/allyn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/7 "2020-10-14T03:45:12Z")
From The BBC: > **[WW2 'earthquake' bomb explodes in Poland during attempt to defuse it](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54522203)** > > The blast of the WW2 bomb in a canal in Poland was not unexpected and divers were unharmed. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/8 "2020-10-14T13:44:43Z")
Glad there were no divers in the blast area. That was one almighty kaboom. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/9 "2020-10-14T13:51:01Z")
And that’s the _second_ biggest WWII conventional bomb. **Gray\_Ghost** ’s Grand Slam mentioned above is even bigger. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/10 "2020-10-14T14:08:46Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > And that’s the _second_ biggest WWII conventional bomb. **Gray\_Ghost** ’s Grand Slam mentioned above is even bigger. Then there were the radio-controlled, explosive-packed airplanes in [Operation Aphrodite](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Aphrodite), which had even more explosives. A maximum of 30,000 pounds of Torpex, per the wiki. For differing definitions of ‘conventional bomb.’ _Aphrodite_ was mainly notable for likely altering the future Presidency of the United States, by killing Joseph Kennedy’s eldest son, Joseph Kennedy, Jr on one of the missions. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/11 "2020-10-14T15:01:11Z")
Now, we have [drone video](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bMfR5UBp-TM) of the earth-shattering kaboom. Big splash. I dunno if that’s typical of a very tamped 2 and a half ton explosive blast, or if some of the explosive material was successfully deflagrated (AKA burned) before the rest exploded. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/12 "2020-10-14T15:04:47Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > I dunno if that’s typical of a very tamped 2 and a half ton explosive blast, or if some of the explosive material was successfully deflagrated (AKA burned) before the rest exploded. It was embedded with only the nose exposed as well as being under 12m of water, so I imagine that dampened some of the impact. How did they even find it? ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/13 "2020-10-14T15:41:26Z")
I thought they were trying to dredge the channel and discovered the bomb at some point in the process? With as much UXB/UXO that Europe deals with, I’m sure there’re procedures for trying to find such things before or during dredging or excavation operations. There may have been a few feet of overburden that got vacuumed out before any of the bomb was even visible. I have to think that, even hitting water first, a Tallboy could penetrate awfully deep into river bottom before stopping. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2020, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/14 "2020-10-14T22:57:46Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > I have to think that, even hitting water first, a Tallboy could penetrate awfully deep into river bottom before stopping. That was pretty much the plan - heavy supersonic penetrator bombs were Barnes Wallace’s original idea for destroying German dams, along with a Wallis-design super-bomber to carry them. Bomber Command didn’t go for it, so he developed the dam-buster bomb as an alternative. After the success of [Operation Chastise](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chastise), he was given the all-clear to develop the Tallboy and Grand-Slam. By penetrating deep under and around structures like canals, tunnels and bridges, the underground explosions undermined footings, structural walls and water-retaining layers, collapsing bridges, tunnels and draining canal systems. Even near-misses on moored ships damaged hull-plates and other ship elements - Tallboy raids disabled the _Tirpitz_ before it was finally destroyed. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/15 "2020-10-15T10:44:27Z")
According to [this](https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/specialists-prepare-biggest-underwater-wwii-bomb-detonation-in-europe-as-over-750-locals-evacuated-16599) article: > The unexploded shell was found last September by workers who were deepening the Piast Channel, which leads from the Baltic port of Świnoujście in north-west Poland towards the large Szczecin Lagoon. This means they took almost a year to plan the defusion. I believe this is quite unusual as it seems most bombs are handled within a week after they are found. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/16 "2020-10-15T11:03:05Z")
Well, the channel is certainly deeper now. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/17 "2020-10-15T14:22:41Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > Even near-misses on moored ships damaged hull-plates and other ship elements - Tallboy raids disabled the _Tirpitz_ before it was finally destroyed. The final raid was with Tallboys as well. Wiki: > A force of 32 Lancasters from Nos. 9 and 617 Squadrons dropped 29 Tallboys on the ship, with two direct hits and one near miss.[[60]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Tirpitz#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBreyer26-65) Several other bombs landed within the anti-torpedo net barrier and caused significant cratering of the seabed; this removed much of the sandbank that had been constructed to prevent the ship from capsizing. One bomb penetrated the ship’s deck between turrets Anton and Bruno but failed to explode. A second hit [amidships](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amidships) between the aircraft catapult and the funnel and caused severe damage. A very large hole was blown in the ship’s side and bottom; the entire section of belt armour abreast of the bomb hit was completely destroyed. A third bomb may have struck the port side of turret Caesar.[[73]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Tirpitz#cite_note-FOOTNOTEGarzke_&_Dulin272-78) If a Tallboy can blow a hole clear through to and including the bottom, one wonders what a well-placed Grand Slam would have done. Further down, this caught my eye: > In the aftermath of the attack, 82 men trapped in the upturned hull were rescued by cutting through the exposed bottom.[[60]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Tirpitz#cite_note-FOOTNOTEBreyer26-65) Figures for the death toll vary from approximately 950 to 1,204.[[f]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Tirpitz#cite_note-82) Approximately 200 survivors of the sinking were transferred to the heavy cruiser _Lützow_ in January 1945.[[77]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Tirpitz#cite_note-FOOTNOTEPrager287-83) _Lützow_ was what the bomb this week was intended for. I bet they felt picked upon. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/18 "2020-10-15T14:35:47Z")
Sooner or Later…BOOM Glad no one was hurt, I figured by now, 75 years later, that all the bombs would have been taken care of, but I guess when you fling that much high explosive around for that many years, stuff gets left over… ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/19 "2020-10-15T14:59:42Z")
When I was on Okinawa 1973/5 ordinance was still being discovered. There were PSA posters with pictures and the instructions, _Leave it alone – call the police_. Most of it was small stuff, 20 to 40mm shells, but one fine day a naval mine laid at the site of the former IJN headquarters was found the hard way when a pile was driven into it, killing the pile driver operator and a little girl passing by on her way to school. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2020, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900/20 "2020-10-15T16:13:44Z")
> The deflagration process turned into detonation. The object can be considered as neutralised, it will not pose any more threat There’s probably something I don’t know, but this sounds kind of obvious to me [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-boom-today-boom-tomorrow/922900.md?page=2)