Finding a Nuclear bomb

[luscioman]

I didn't see this as a dup. Just goes to show you never know what you will find on a dive.


Georgia: Amateur Divers Find Long-Lost Nuclear Warhead World News Daily Report

 

[Lorenzoid]

Fake story. There have been other threads about the lost bomb, but this one had the most recent post (see #116) until yours: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/264312-americas-lost-h-bomb-3.html

 

[Rhone Man]

Guess it is not as rare as we thought:

Nuclear weapon missing since 1950 'may have been found' - BBC News

A commercial diver may have discovered a lost nuclear bomb off the coast of British Columbia near the Haida Gwaii archipelago.​

How many of these bloody things are out there?

 

[diversteve]

While not 'satire,' per se, World News Daily Report follows the old-school Tabloid-styled faux-journalism of its predecessors, such as the Weekly World News.

But it must be true since you read it on the Internet right?

 

[NAM001]

It certainly would not have been dismantled prior to reclaiming it. You would reclaim the whole thing and take it to a weapons shop for disassembly in a controlled environment. I mean what did they do with the nuclear material put it in a canvas bag and attach a lift bag to it and repackage it on the surface ship????

 

[Jared0425]

The one off of BC was a packed with lead in the core and not plutonium, so really not a nuclear weapon in the traditional sense as only the conventional explosives would cause a boom. The one off Georgia is probably destroyed. If one wants to find lost nukes, go to the White Sea off Murmansk where the Soviets dumped reactors and lost a few nuclear armed bombers in the area well within reach of diving depths.

 

[kelemvor]

The one off of BC was a packed with lead in the core and not plutonium,

I read that in some articles as well, however it seems like a dubious claim. If true, why would they have been so worried about our enemies finding it and using it against us? I think it was just spin to try and calm people down.

If one wants to find lost nukes, go to the White Sea off Murmansk where the Soviets dumped reactors and lost a few nuclear armed bombers in the area well within reach of diving depths.

Doesn't sound like a good time to me!

Does anyone know what depth fattie was found at? The articles said it was a commercial diver, which could very well be saturation divers at extreme depths.


It blows my mind that there are so many areas in the ocean where things can be discovered. With all our technology, we still don't have as much grasp on what's in the ocean as I once thought we did.

 

[nadwidny]

Does anyone know what depth fattie was found at? The articles said it was a commercial diver, which could very well be saturation divers at extreme depths.

I think it was under 100'. The diver was a commercial diver but the fishing kind, not the welding kind. He was diving for sea cucumbers according to one report.

edit-just read the diver said it was at around 50'

 

[HalcyonDaze]

I read that in some articles as well, however it seems like a dubious claim. If true, why would they have been so worried about our enemies finding it and using it against us? I think it was just spin to try and calm people down.


Doesn't sound like a good time to me!

Does anyone know what depth fattie was found at? The articles said it was a commercial diver, which could very well be saturation divers at extreme depths.


It blows my mind that there are so many areas in the ocean where things can be discovered. With all our technology, we still don't have as much grasp on what's in the ocean as I once thought we did.

Even an unarmed nuclear weapon would be a bad thing for an adversary to find, especially at that stage of the Cold War. The Soviets had just tested their first nuke (which as we found out, was greatly helped by spies in the Manhattan Project) the year before and the US was busily making newer bomb designs. An unarmed bomb would have been a treasure trove of technical information; the Mark 4 bomb was the first mass-production nuclear bomb in the US arsenal (the preceding Mark 3 "Fat Man" bombs like the one used on Nagasaki were essentially handbuilt). The Soviets would have been interested in things like

There are a number of presumably intact nukes sitting on the bottom of the ocean due to accidents; thankfully most of them appear to be in deep water that would require submersibles to get to.

 

[Jared0425]

A MK IV that has been submerged in seawater for 65 years would have massive damage done to it's components making it unrecognizable except for the exterior. A terrorist would look at it, take the conventional explosives and go on his merry way if those were usable. It's not a big secret as to how a atomic munition works or how it is put together. Even though the design is one of WWII's still kept secrets, the design can be downloaded on the Internet. The materials is what keeps terrorists from building one. I'm sure the Soviets and Chinese have a few loose nukes that are only known to their governments.

So if you are diving and come across one, make sure you watch Joe Dirt before bringing it up!