Grand Slam Bomb

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    • Grand Slam Bomb

      In the last days we had a complicate bomb disarming in Dresden. It was a bomb from the RAF that was dropped during the WW2. It was a "only" 500 lbs bomb, but the center of Dresden was blocked for more than 24 hours. I start to read something about the bombs that was used during the war.



      Picture of bombs sized that used in world war 2

      an here is a small video about the "Grand Slam"



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      Watch for the next season starts in September!
    • Everyone of a certain age remembers the Germans' so-called wunderwaffen -- the "wonder weapons" -- that H*tler hoped/believed would turn the tide of war before the outcome became inevitable. Less well remembered, however, are the British weapons and technologies that also pushed the envelope of 1940s tech -- things like sonar, radar, and the various "earthquake bombs," of which the Tall Boy and Grand Slam were two examples. Of course, the Americans' atomic bombs were in a class by themselves. The A-bomb was originally intended for use against Germany, but the final collapse of the Reich happened two months before the first A-bomb was ready for testing. I often see various conjecture documentaries about how this or that German wonder weapon might have made the difference if the European war had continued into the second half of 1945 and into 1946, but everyone seems to forget that the Americans would have been producing two to four Nagasaki "Fat Man" A-bombs every month after September 1945 and those would have been used on Germany first. As bad as conditions were in 1945 Germany, they could have been much worse.
    • @Xarus, as I'm sure you know, the 500-pound bomb found in Dresden was a relatively small bomb, of which 100,000s were dropped on Germany by the USAAF and RAF from 1942 to 1945. When they clear entire downtown areas when such bombs are found and the bomb-defusing squads are called, the wide clearance is done mostly in an abundance of caution -- a single 500-pound bomb is highly unlikely to destroy an entire steel-reinforced concrete commercial building of modern construction.

      BTW, when was the last time a WW2-era bomb detonated after it was discovered in a German/European city?
    • here is a list of accidents from the last years: (in German)

      November 2013: Die kontrollierte Sprengung einer zehn Zentner schweren Bombe im brandenburgischen Oranienburg verursacht große Schäden. Ein Wohnhaus ist nicht mehr zu retten und muss abgerissen werden, weitere Gebäude sind beschädigt.

      September 2012: In Viersen (Nordrhein-Westfalen)kommt es bei der kontrollierten Sprengung einer Weltkriegsbombe zu Verwüstungen. In der Fußgängerzone müssen Teile von Geschäften abgerissen werden.

      August 2012: Eine US-Fliegerbombe aus dem Zweiten Weltkrieg wird im Zentrum von München kontrolliert gesprengt. Versuche, die 250 Kilogramm schwere Bombe zu entschärfen, waren erfolglos. 2500 Anwohner müssen ihre Häuser verlassen. Die Druckwelle beschädigt Fassaden, zahlreiche Fenster gehen zu Bruch.

      Juni 2010: Bei einer Routine-Entschärfung explodiert ein Blindgänger in Göttingen. Drei Sprengmeister kommen ums Leben. Zwei Menschen werden schwer verletzt, vier weitere Männer erleiden einen Schock. Die mit einem Säurezünder ausgerüstete Bombe war bei Bauarbeiten auf einem Schützenplatz in sieben Metern Tiefe entdeckt worden.

      September 2009: Im Ulmer Hauptbahnhof explodiert ein Blindgänger bei Bauarbeiten. Arbeiter waren mit einem Bohrer auf die Bombe gestoßen. Zuvor hatten Fachleute das Gelände untersucht und grünes Licht für die Bauarbeiten gegeben. Zwei Arbeiter erleiden einen Schock.

      Oktober 2006: Die Explosion einer fünf Zentner schweren Fliegerbombe reißt einen Bauarbeiter an einer Autobahnbaustelle in Aschaffenburg in den Tod. Trümmerteile beschädigen Häuser und Autos. Die von dem Arbeiter gesteuerte Fräsmaschine war auf den Blindgänger gestoßen.

      September 1994: Drei Bauarbeiter kommen in Berlin ums Leben, als ein Blindgänger in einer Baugrube explodiert. Mehrere Gebäude und Autos werden stark beschädigt.

      August 1990: Beim Entschärfen einer Fliegerbombe aus dem Zweiten Weltkrieg sterben in Wetzlar in Hessen zwei Sprengstoffexperten, als der Sprengkörper explodiert. Drei Fachleute vom Kampfmittelräumdienst erleiden schwere Verletzungen.

      Would you like to play with your friends in a game where gold is banned?


      Watch for the next season starts in September!
    • For those of you who are not German speakers (like myself), I post a Google Translate version of Xarus' list (above) of recent WW2-era bomb incidents:

      November 2013: The controlled demolition of a ten-hundred-weight bomb in Brandenburg Oranienburg caused great damage. A house can no longer be saved and must be demolished, other buildings are damaged.

      September 2012: In Viersen (North Rhine-Westphalia), the controlled demolition of a World War II bomb causes devastation. Parts of shops need to be demolished in the pedestrian area.

      August 2012: A US aerial bomb from the Second World War is blown up in the center of Munich inspected. Attempts to defuse the 250-pound bomb were unsuccessful. 2500 residents have to leave their homes. The pressure wave damages facades, numerous windows are broken.

      June 2010: In a routine defuse explodes a dud in Göttingen. Three demolition masters are killed. Two people are seriously injured, four more men are shocked. The bomb, equipped with an acid igniter, had been discovered during construction work on a shooter's ground seven meters deep.

      September 2009: A dud bomb explodes during construction works in Ulm Central Station. Workers had hit the bomb with a drill. Previously, experts had examined the site and given the green light for the construction work. Two workers are shocked.

      October 2006: The explosion of a five-hundred-pound aerial bomb takes a construction worker to death at a motorway construction site in Aschaffenburg. Rubble parts damage houses and cars. The milling machine controlled by the worker had stumbled upon the dud.

      September 1994: Three construction workers are killed in Berlin when a dud explodes in an excavation. Several buildings and cars are badly damaged.

      August 1990: When defusing a bomb from the Second World War, two explosives experts die in Wetzlar in Hesse, as the explosive device explodes. Three experts from the ordnance clearance service suffer serious injuries.

      [End of German-to-English computer translation -- Please accept my apologies for the imperfect translation.]


      So, yes, those WW2-era bombs are still live and dangerous, even after 73+ years.
    • off topic
      .. what is grand slam .. ?


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      .... .. so beware of caltrops, spring-guns and booby traps. :00008185:
      Warning! Texts above this signature may contain traces of irony! :D
    • Grand slam, as I am sure you know, is an English-language sports term that is used in multiple sports, including baseball, golf, tennis, and several card games including bridge.

      As a fan of obscure James Bond trivia, I immediately recognized the architectural model in the middle picture above as the "sand box" mock-up of Fort Knox from the 1964 movie "Goldfinger," wherein the villain, Auric Goldfinger, planned to detonate a dirty nuclear bomb in Fort Knox, irradiating what was at the time something like half of the world's gold bullion supply to drive world gold prices. Goldfinger's evil plan was, of course, called "Operation Grandslam."

      The best part of the movie was English actress Honor Blackman playing the villainess-turned-good-girl Pussy Galore, opposite Sean Connery.