Shark Blows Up Diver Support Boat

[RickI]

This story seemed strange to me at first, but with some checking it appears like it actually happened back in 1956. A large shark, possibly a white shark blew up a dory with the detonation of two bombs it was carrying, killing two naval personnel and leading to the loss of both legs for one officer.

More at: Shark Attacks Boat With Explosives - FKA Kiteboarding Forums

 

[kelemvor]

I'm guessing that falls in the "provoked" category.

Reminds me of a story I heard about a dude in TN who tied dynamite to a dogs tail right before the dog ran under his house...

 

[RickI]

I would say George Burgess would conclude this was a provoked attack and perhaps one of the first explosive shark attacks in history? Wonder if Peter Benchley heard about this but turned the tables in "Jaws?"

Note to self: don't attach an activated charge to a free swimming shark while you are in the kill radius. Uh, check.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

I would say George Burgess would conclude this was a provoked attack and perhaps one of the first explosive shark attacks in history? Wonder if Peter Benchley heard about this but turned the tables in "Jaws?"

Note to self: don't attach an activated charge to a free swimming shark while you are in the kill radius. Uh, check.

Not even the first "selachian suicide bomber" - Thomas Helm's "Shark: Unpredictable Killer of the Sea" recounts an experience the author had in 1941 as a U.S. Navy PBY flying boat crewman during a layover on Palmyra Atoll. A Marine sergeant and four members of the PBY crew decided to go shark fishing in a liferaft with a side of beef and two cases of hand grenades that were due for disposal. After getting the sharks interested, they started tying fishing lines to the pins on the grenades and hiding them in the beef. Take a wild guess what eventually happened. All five men made it to shore unscathed, proof that a) dumb luck must play a part in natural selection, and b) idiot humans with explosives are more of a hazard than sharks. I guess prior to Wile E. Coyote cartoons they didn't know any better.

That piece also has some anecdotes about the Palm Beach Sharkers, which used to fish off the West Palm Beach Municipal Pier starting in 1959.

 

[RickI]

Good story, now that you mention it, I bet bored naval guys have gotten up to some considerable shark-explosive mayhem through time. I suspect most were never recorded or not at least where we might come across them. Regarding suicide bomber sharks, the Daily Mail had a piece on our Navy's inglorious attempt to draft tiburons into blowing things up. Who thinks this stuff up anyway? US Navy trained 'suicide bomber sharks' to deliver explosives

Ironically an article was published through MIT on this subject within the last week or so: How World War II Scientists Tried to Use Sharks as Suicide Bombers