Navy carry out controlled torpedo detonation

July 11, 2022 at 3:39 pm

The detonation of the torpedo that was, last week, in Scapa Flow (Royal Navy).

A dive team from the Royal Navy carried out a controlled explosion of a torpedo on Sunday after the wartime ordinance was found in Scapa Flow.

A 100m exclusion zone was established after the torpedo was found at a location between Flotta and South Ronaldsay as part of seabed surveys being carried out by the mv Athena in advance of the laying of cables.

The team moved the torpedo to a safe location and then carried out a controlled explosion on Sunday to make the ordnance safe. Unfortunately, it was so badly corroded that they couldn’t make a precise identification apart from saying that it was a wartime torpedo.

The team were from Charlie Squadron — Diving and Threat Exploitation Group (DTXG), based at HM Naval Base Clyde. “Charlie Squadron” is the new name for Northern Diving Group which has close links with Orkney, having received the freedom of Kirkwall.