Polish Authorities to Detonate 12,000 Pound British Tall Boy Bomb from World War II
- Thread starter v2
- Start date
Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
buffnut453
Captain
Ouch! Now that could be interesting. Really hope it all goes safely and that the scientists' modeling proves accurate. With that size of bomb, it will be a big "oops" if they got it wrong.
ThomasP
Senior Master Sergeant
When I read the part about bringing in the German authorities I looked up the area on Google Maps and saw that the canal comes within 1.5 miles of the Germany-Poland border. If they are seriously worried about the blast at that distance - yikes!!
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Take cover !!!
Ka-boom!
buffnut453
Captain
For some reason, this Gary Larson cartoon sprang to mind:
Its gonna leave a mark whatever happens !
fubar57
General
I want video of this event
Germans have a lot of experience in this for obvious reasons.
ThomasP
Senior Master Sergeant
Hmmm....I did not think of it from that perspective. I was thinking more along the line of 'here I am tootling along the coast road thinking about going home after work BATHOOOOM ...and then I was in the ditch. New shorts please'.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
wow...that's something you don't want laying around.
I wish the article said how they were planning to detonate it.
I would think that detonating it under water would create more of a blast (and possible damage) because of hydraulic pressure than if they had it hanging in the air from a gantry.
I wish the article said how they were planning to detonate it.
I would think that detonating it under water would create more of a blast (and possible damage) because of hydraulic pressure than if they had it hanging in the air from a gantry.
buffnut453
Captain
I don't think so. Water absorbs the shock of blasts rather well. The Dambusters is a particular example. Barnes Wallis' bouncing bomb had to slide down the wall of the dam because even modest separation between it and the concrete would result in the water cushioning the dam from the blast.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
Actually, the dam busters were counting on the hydraulic pressure to damage the dam.
Look at how many warships had their hulls buckled "near misses", either by skip-bombing or by dive-bombing.
Water under pressure can be harder than concrete.
Look at how many warships had their hulls buckled "near misses", either by skip-bombing or by dive-bombing.
Water under pressure can be harder than concrete.
buffnut453
Captain
Yes, but the force was amplified when the weapon was on the dam wall. Any separation of the weapon from the wall cushioned the blast.
GrauGeist
Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
The destructive force of the dam buster bomb was because it stopped short of the dam, sank and detonated, using the advantage of hydraulic shockwaves, which amplified the explosion, to fracture the dam.
Depth charges were designed to do the same. They were not designednfor contact the submarine, they were designed to detonated NEAR it, which used hydraulic amplification to buckle the hull and sink the sub.
When an explosion occurs under water, it is amplified through hydraulic compression. If the bomb is against the object (concrete, steel, etc.) the force of the blast projects outward. If the explosion occurs close to the object (concrete, steel, etc.) the blast is amplified in all directions, the close proximity of the object to the blast taking the full brunt of the amplified blast, typically causing immediate failure of the object/structure.
Depth charges were designed to do the same. They were not designednfor contact the submarine, they were designed to detonated NEAR it, which used hydraulic amplification to buckle the hull and sink the sub.
When an explosion occurs under water, it is amplified through hydraulic compression. If the bomb is against the object (concrete, steel, etc.) the force of the blast projects outward. If the explosion occurs close to the object (concrete, steel, etc.) the blast is amplified in all directions, the close proximity of the object to the blast taking the full brunt of the amplified blast, typically causing immediate failure of the object/structure.
- Thread starter
- #16
Last weekend we went for walk on the Ashley Walk Bombing Range...an old WW2 bombing range in the New Forrest, specifically to find the Tallboy crater.
It's big...35 feet deep and 135 feet across....oh, and there's now a tree growing in the middle of it
. Couldn't get a decent pic from ground level as it's sooo big !. Standing in the bottom of the crater, there's a sense of unimaginable power being used to shift a good few hundred tons of earth !!
They also dropped a few Grand Slam's but they where filled in afterwards.
Check out the link to the range here
Bombing Range
Will be going back in the next few weeks for a further walk around taking photo's of bl**dy great big holes in the ground
It's big...35 feet deep and 135 feet across....oh, and there's now a tree growing in the middle of it
. Couldn't get a decent pic from ground level as it's sooo big !. Standing in the bottom of the crater, there's a sense of unimaginable power being used to shift a good few hundred tons of earth !!They also dropped a few Grand Slam's but they where filled in afterwards.
Check out the link to the range here
Bombing Range
Will be going back in the next few weeks for a further walk around taking photo's of bl**dy great big holes in the ground
Attachments
It did not diminish the effect of a depth charge, if it exploded in contact to a sub's hull. In fact a Hedgehog bomb, which only exploded if it hit, had only 1/10 of the explosive charge compared to a standard British depth charge. And the Hedgehog bomb was capable to sink a sub. A DC with 10 times the amount of explosive than a HH bomb could kill a sub if it exploded about clearly under 10 m/33 ft from sub's hull but nearer was better. During my demolition training as a junior sapper NCO in the Finnish Army we were trained to put explosive charges in contact to whatever we were blowing up, also when the explosive charges were put underwater.
In the case of Upkeep (the Dambuster bomb) the backspin, besides helping skipping, kept the sinking bomb very near or in contact to the dam wall.
Ps. the bottom mines, a type of sea mine, used big gas bubble generated during its explosion to make the harm, they were deployed in shallow water to be effective.
Last edited:
Peter Gunn
Master Sergeant
Bummer.
fubar57
General
I was looking forward to the ka-freakin'-boom
