Does this look like ordnance to you?

I found what looks like an old artillery shell yesterday. The area I found it in was used for target practice up until the 70's but was supposed to be cleaned since then.

What does this look like to you guys? The whole thing is about a 1 1/2 feet long and shaped like a giant bullet.

If this was an old shell could it possibly still pose a hazard? It is located in about 35ft of water in a very popular/busy snorkel and dive spot.

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Whatever it is, it's clearly been down there for awhile. I hope you didn't try to bring this up - unexploded ordnance (UXO) can be chemically unstable and very dangerous. If it's live, the risk factor will depend in part on what kind of fusing device it had. That size, if it were live and it went off, it would make a very big bang - you wouldn't want to be anywhere around.

If the area was formerly used as for target practice by the military, there are speciallly trained Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) personnel who can identify and dealing with underwater UXO. If it were me, I would contact the Navy, give them coordinates and/or bearings for where you saw this, and let them handle it. Or you could contact

Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technology Division

UXO Countermeasures Department

Code 50B22

2008 Stump Neck Road

Indian Head, Maryland 20640-5070

Frogfish

Thank you for the reply. I left the thing as I found it, sitting perfectly underneath a row of snorkel/dive boats that ferry about two thousand people each morning to that dive site.

I'm afraid that the only way to get rid of it would be to blow it up and thereby killing the reef and the surrounding fish. I'm told that that was the way they did it last time and it took a long time for the reef to grow back.

So I'd like to be somewhat confident that it's not a harmless object but i guess there's no way to find out.

I'll give the navy a call tomorrow.

Yes, if they think it is UXO, they'll blow it up. But I understand that they have a new technique, using a special projectile that strikes the object and goes off, which can minimize the damage to surrounding coral and marine life if it turns out that the suspect object wasn't explosive itself, and there are things they can do to limit the damage even if it is.

I found what looks like an old artillery shell yesterday. The area I found it in was used for target practice up until the 70's but was supposed to be cleaned since then.

 

What does this look like to you guys? The whole thing is about a 1 1/2 feet long and shaped like a giant bullet.

 

If this was an old shell could it possibly still pose a hazard? It is located in about 35ft of water in a very popular/busy snorkel and dive spot.

 

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I remember back in the 80s when I was an instructor in Hawaii we found a few pieces of ordinance in the Crater and we contacted the Navy about them.

Well good ole uncle sam sent the boys right over to blow the hell out of the reef.

I hope that they will move it and not blow it in place.

Aloha Dakine,

The EOD detachment in Hawaii falls under Group One in Coronado.

You might want to contact these guys or Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources and have them take a look.

That would be the responsible thing to do.

It might be nothing but better safe than sorry.

Both EOD and Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources are a very professional and friendly communities.

EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL (EOD)

GROUP ONE

Naval Amphibious Base Coronado

2424 Rendova Road San Diego, CA 92155-5400

Telephone:

COMM:(619) 522-3369

DSN: 542-3369

FAX: (619) 437-0726/5694

Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources

1151 Punchbowl Street, Room 330 Honolulu, Hawai`i 96813

Phone 808-587-1966

vr/

Andy