Lost Nuke off Canada old story new discovery

[albatross]

I am very surprised that the USN hasn't offered Canada to go look "for free, no charge..hey just want to help out!" "As luck would have it we can be there..tomorrow morning..very early tomorrow morning!" "Just send the co-ordinates." "We will keep you fully informed if we find anything, even if it is just a sunken buoy or an old boiler...we haven't decided which it will be. Trust us!"


UFO? Lost Cold War nuclear weapon? Canada's navy to investigate object found off B.C. coast - British Columbia - CBC News (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ufo-lost-cold-war-nuclear-weapon-canada-s-navy-to-investigate-object-found-off-b-c-coast-1.3835542)

[Coochycool]

With the current state of US politics, maybe Canada suddenly feels it needs one....:rolleyes:

[riff_raff]

The official crew report of this B-36 accident state the bomb had a dummy lead core rather than a plutonium core. The crew also claimed they witnessed the bomb explode above the ocean surface after they released it, but before they bailed out.

https://web.archive.org/web/20090118032640/http://www.cowtown.net/proweb/brokenarrow3.htm

[topgas]

The Royal Canadian Navy ship deployed to investigate should arrive in the area in the next few weeks.

Either it's a very slow ship, or the Navy isn't getting too excited about it

[racedo]

Quite possibly its Amelia Earharts plane...............

[SASless]

Hey....remember we are still looking for a real one off Savannah, Georgia!

We did easily find the ones we dropped near Seymour-Johnson AFB.

One out of three events resolved is not bad for Government work!

[racedo]

Hey....remember we are still looking for a real one off Savannah, Georgia!

We did easily find the ones we dropped near Seymour-Johnson AFB.

One out of three events resolved is not bad for Government work!

What about the ones dropped in Europe ..............

Number of losses publicly known about makes me wonder how many losses were covered up.

[Rick777]

When is a nuke not a nuke? The headline says nuke, but the story says dummy with lead core. Maybe that's why nobody seems in a big hurry to recover it.

[sandiego89]

When is a nuke not a nuke? The headline says nuke, but the story says dummy with lead core. Maybe that's why nobody seems in a big hurry to recover it.


Believe it was a real bomb, but without the plutonium core inserted. The lead "dummy" core was inserted into an otherwise nuclear capable casing. The dummy core would allow close enough weight, practice loading and arming training to occur- perhaps not with that special warmth or radiactivity the real thing provided. Some early bombs had this added safety feature of having the pit or core inserted in flight to make a full up weapon. Real pits could be left at home, or in special carrying cases aboard the plane.


The bomb also detonated (non nuclear) above the surface. The crew saw the explosion/flash.


My bet is the diver found a boiler, settling tank or other similar maritime artifact.

[West Coast]

Wouldn't the likelihood be there'd be a wreck associated with either? Not saying someone couldn't dump one, but the area is pretty remote to travel to with the intention of simply dumping it.

[sandiego89]

Wouldn't the likelihood be there'd be a wreck associated with either? Not saying someone couldn't dump one, but the area is pretty remote to travel to with the intention of simply dumping it.

West Coast, not sure that was directed at me. The Broken Arrow case close to this site the B-36 was having multiple engine failures due to icing and jettisoned the bomb before the crew bailed out. They hoped the bomber would head out to sea, but it did not and crashed inland far from the jettison site only to be found years later. So no aircraft crash debris near this object.

As for maritime wrecks they can be widely scattered or wooden vessels break apart and leave the heavy engine debris. The heavy bits can finds themselves away from other parts of the wreck, especially during a breakup in a storm or grounding. Sometimes the heavy parts break though the hull (like the boilers tumbling out of the Titanic). Not just dumping, which I agree why go to the bother. Cargo loss is another possibility, with a rail car or locomotive, or logging equipment, etc. falling off a deck barge in heavy weather

[West Coast]

I would think the odds are a shipwreck would have been documented and/or somewhat visible to what sounds like an experienced diver. I've flown over the area many times to/from Alaska, it's remote and not an area a novice diver would likely find themselves.

Hopefully we'll know soon enough.

[albatross]

Lead diver: "No Bloggins I would not recommend tapping it with that hammer!" Joke

Strangely enough the political cartoon in today's Toronto Star Nov 8 (US election day) portrays a Mark 4

https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorial_cartoon/2016/11/07/michael-de-adder-us-election-choice.html

[Pontius Navigator]

I am surprised that there have been no nukes found in UK waters. Several Blue Danube off the Isle of Man and Yellow Sun in Luce Bay, probably WE177 too. Some interesting stuff in Cardigan Bay too.

[FODPlod]

Here's an earlier one: :) Georgia: Amateur Divers Find Long-Lost Nuclear Warhead (http://worldnewsdailyreport.com/georgia-amateur-divers-find-long-lost-nuclear-warhead/)
“I noticed an object that looked like a metal cylinder, which I thought was an oil barrel” says Jason Sutter. “When I dug it up a bit, I noticed that it was actually a lot bigger and that there was some writing on the side. When I saw the inscription saying that it was a Mk-15 nuclear bomb, I totally freaked out. I caught Chritina (sic) by the arm and made signs to tell her we had to leave. We made an emergency ascent, went back to shore and then we called 911.”http://worldnewsdailyreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/canadians.jpg


The couple is still shocked after their frightening discovery
and say they will avoid diving for the rest of their trip.

(Snopes: Rumor: Amateur scuba divers discovered a long-lost nuclear warhead off the coast of Georgia (http://www.snopes.com/media/notnews/warhead.asp))

[hoodie]

For anybody who hasn't clicked on the Snopes link above - it reveals that the Georgia story is false.

[JT Eagle]

I am surprised that there have been no nukes found in UK waters. Several Blue Danube off the Isle of Man and Yellow Sun in Luce Bay, probably WE177 too. Some interesting stuff in Cardigan Bay too.
Really? Having studied this subject in some depth (but more so the US history of "lost nukes") I would be very surprised there were any weapons in UK waters. Were these ones you mention complete weapons or training dummies? Were they dropped deliberately, dumped in emergency or lost in crashes?
Published information on UK "Broken Arrows" and the like is mainly about fender benders on road convoys. I've never heard about a lost UK weapon, even a dummy.
On the other hand, I can tell you where to find a complete US Navy B43...

JT

[PhilipG]

I am surprised that there have been no nukes found in UK waters. Several Blue Danube off the Isle of Man and Yellow Sun in Luce Bay, probably WE177 too. Some interesting stuff in Cardigan Bay too.

On another thread I was told that no British Bomber had ever taken off with a nuclear weapon on board, except the Valiants on operation Grapple.

Or are we talking about unrecovered exercise dummies used to check the release procedures etc?

[Pontius Navigator]

To both of you, the Blue Danubes were on Jurby Range. I do know they were not live but were shapes. I suspect these were ballistic stores without any electronic package. Up until the range closed it was cleared for practice bombs up to 10,000lbs. Periodically fishermen petition the MOD to clear the range as their nets snag.

At Luce Bay the weapons were Yellow Sun 2 shapes. These probably had access panels and control knobs etc but no electronics. They were dropped in trials to prove the pop up attack procedures. To say the results were interesting is an understatement. Overshoots in the region of 3,500 yards were common until some crews started using the automate ballistics.

[Herod]

I'm glad you posted a clarification, PN. The ISIS sub-aqua force can stand down now. Nothing to find there.

[vaneyck]

The paper cited in Riff Raff's post describes it as, "...a real, fully functional, bomb that used lead for the core instead of plutonium." and not a cement dummy. That suggests the Uranium tamper remains. Of course that Uranium is U238, and not itself either explosive or dangerously radioactive. Still, it might make sense to recover the bomb.