Navy guys:
When were these kind of mines last used?
Could this be a prank?
This is in Puget Sound between Bainbridge Island and the Kitsap peninsula north of the Bremerton Navy yard. Could it be left over from WW2?

https://komonews.com/news/loca...-in-port-orchard-bay

BROWNSVILLE, Wash. -- The Coast Guard and Navy bomb technicians are working to retrieve what looks like an unexploded mine spotted floating in the waters of Port Orchard Bay off Brownsville Marina, according to Coast Guard officials.

Coast Guard boats have established at 1,500 yard safety zone around the ordinance, which was found drifting south about 1,200 yards east of the marina early Tuesday afternoon.

Naval Base Bangor bomb disposal units are working on retrieving the ordinance.

There's no word on how it ended up in the water or what specific item is floating, but video from Air 4 looks like a mine.

The state Department of Natural Resources originally spotted the mine, Coast Guard officials said. Navy officials are assessing whether the mine can be towed back to Keyport.

quote:

Navy officials are assessing whether the mine can be towed back to Keyport.

If that happens, I'll bet each member of the away team is wearing red shirts...

That's a mine alright. Any serious student of Gilligan's Island would know that

I seem to remember old footage of mines like that being destroyed by gunfire. Am I mistaken?

Isn't it floating pretty high for a mine? Seems like it's empty, especially if that shell is metal.

A friend described shooting at mines with M-1 Garands while in the Pacific late in and just after WWII. Said they were pretty hard to see, let alone hit with a rifle.

While we think of the Navy and minefields, the Army handled mines defending certain harbors:

http://cdsg.org/coast-artiller...arine-mine-defenses/

The mine pictured in the OP is probably Navy issue as it does not resemble any of the the Army style mines.

OK they have a 5" gun, why not just solve the problem.

The mines are buoyan, anchored at varying depths to bar channels and deny access to enemy vessel security/submarines.

Chains have deteriorated and separated casting it adrift.

quote:

Originally posted by newtoSig765:
Isn't it floating pretty high for a mine? Seems like it's empty, especially if that shell is metal.

A friend described shooting at mines with M-1 Garands while in the Pacific late in and just after WWII. Said they were pretty hard to see, let alone hit with a rifle.

I'm still in the camp of just shoot the sucker. problem solved. Even .50 would be enough. If we still have anchored mines that are now separating we have really big issues.

USN Gunners Mate here (many years ago). Never dealt with mines other than some study. If the USN is taking it seriously, I would be too.

Does look to be floating rather high. If it was far enough away from everything I would be tempted to shoot it. Repeatedly. With the well known Browning M2HB.

If it is too close to civilization, a floating net, with a long long lead might be used to encircle it and tow it out to sea. Shoot it and or sink it.

They aren't going to shoot this thing. It is likely being tracked by Navy Region Northwest out of my former office. Shooting it to set it off would cause noise pollution, agitating the already annoyed whale chasers who fault the Navy every sound in the water. Expect they'll use a number of small boats to tow it closer to Keyport.

Can't tell you where it came from, but if EOD is looking into it it is probable they've presumed it to be real. It is near the right base for a response: NUWC and Navy divers work out of the base.

USCG Gunner' Mate Chief (ret) here, yes that is probably a real mine, and yes they float...

every ship completes mine-ex training during REFTRA (or whatever they call it now), and yes they just shoot them with a rifle....I used my M14 during REFTRA on more than one occasion. I once used an M60 as the ship wasn't outfitted with anything more than an M16..they score the training scenario on how many rounds it takes you to sink the target (weighted 55gallon drum) when hit.

The safest way would be to shoot it in place, but the surrounding area may not be a good place to do that and it my be towed out to a safer area.

Those things turn up from time to time, but most used during WWII have deteriorated so much they are no longer around.

Fishermen dredge all kinds of UXO, when I was in Fl, a shrimper dragged up a torpedo from WWII. We responded until the Navy EOD arrived and blew it with 6 pounds of C4.

Navy Divers Attached a line and towed it away:

https://www.kitsapsun.com/stor...e-island/1126383002/

Unexploded ordnance reported floating off Brownsville
BROWNSVILLE — Multiple agencies responded to what the Navy called an "unidentified mine" found drifting in the water Tuesday afternoon between Brownsville Marina and the west shore of Bainbridge Island.

Coast Guard spokeswoman Ali Flockerzi said the unexploded ordnance was reported in the early afternoon and was located by a crew from the Department of Natural Resources.

The object was round and heavily rusted, with rods protruding from its surface. According to a Navy news release, "the unidentified moored mine was found to have decades of marine growth."

The Coast Guard established a 1,500-yard safety zone around the ordnance, which was about 1,200 yards east of the marina and drifting south.

At about 5 p.m., Navy divers secured a long line to the device and began towing it with a small boat. Kitsap County Sheriff's Office asked residents along the waterfront in the area to shelter in place and stay off the beaches as a precaution. Brownsville Marina was also evacuated.

As of Tuesday evening, the Navy was still assessing how to best dispose of the ordnance.

Brownsville is located a few miles south of Naval Base Kitsap-Keyport's torpedo testing range.

Nearby residents watched the scene unfold Tuesday afternoon as news helicopters circled overhead.

"It looks just like a World War II mine," said Tom Parks, a retired Navy master chief who snapped pictures as the corroded object bobbed by his Brownsville home.

What surprises me it that it's been around so long. Given the location, I would assume that various mine fields were laid in the Puget Sound region in WW2 to keep Japanese subs from lurking around. It would also seem that the Navy would've accounted for every mine laid when they would've done minesweeping operations at the end of the war. This one would've been missed, been anchored deep enough to be unnoticed until the tethering cable corroded and released it. The minesweeper Captain is going to be in trouble:

Shelter in place at 1200-1500 yds. Huh have these guys any practical knowledge

The Navy's Undersea Warfare Center is located in nearby Keyport. Appears somebody may not have secured one of the 'examples'. Navy apology tour begins tomorrow to the various community leaders and city fathers.

A. The mine likely isn't from the Puget Sound itself, and certainly not NUWC. They do more Torpedo and UUV work. It could have broke loose from a number of places and been carried in here.

B. Seems they've come to terms with annoying the whale chasers. Around 2008 Pacific time, I heard a loud boom in Silverdale, Washington. Kitsap Department of Emergency Management, working with the various agency partners, decided to detonate the mine in a controlled location.

https://www.facebook.com/KCDEM/posts/1753462118106454

I saw video on the local feed here of those two Navy divers swimming around it and securing the line to it .