So there was a certain pucker factor this week when this bad boy showed up.
The device found drifting Tuesday afternoon near the Port Brownsville Marina in Kitsap County. The Coast Guard established a 1,500-yard safety zone around it. (Tom Matsuzawa / KIRO 7)
As reported by the Kitsap Sun, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said the object was reported at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, first noticed by conservation officers.
“The Navy says initial inspection of the moored mine showed it had decades of marine growth. At about 5 p.m., Navy divers secured a long line to the device and began towing it with a small boat. By 8:15 p.m., officials said it had been detonated without incident.”
Described as an inert practice mine of unknown origin with decades of marine growth, the Navy is investigating the backstory of the device but you can be sure the local MIUWU guys have assholes the size of cheerios.
For reference, training mine, below. These were based on the old WWI/II-era spherical Mk 5, a moored Hertz-horn (acid) contact mine, and the Mk 6, a smaller antenna type with a Hertz backup. The USN still had quantities of these live mines on had as late as the 1980s and practice casings, as you see here, are still in use:
970215-N-3093M-001 Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class David Ahearn (Diver) attaches an inert Satchel Charge to a training mine, during exercises in waters off Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. U.S. Navy Photograph by Photographers Mate 2nd Class Andrew Mckaskle (Released Sept. 12, 2012)