Target Shipwreck Find

[Skijak]

Found on a known NAVY Target wreck in the Florida Keys.
Local knowledge it was a 85ft freighter sunk by Navy planes in 1943 and has numerous Large Dummy bombs around it.
Found these two near to the wreck and have been told possible still live but what to get more info before moving\disposing.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[stevemc]

View attachment 1687783

Found on a known NAVY Target wreck in the Florida Keys.
Local knowledge it was a 85ft freighter sunk by Navy planes in 1943 and has numerous Large Dummy bombs around it.
Found these two near to the wreck and have been told possible still live but what to get more info before moving\disposing.[/. Yes I know about those wrecks. All around the Marquesas Keys. Dove on all of them. They used them as targets up until maybe 15 years ago. I have been underwater when they strafe us at supersonic speed. To leave! Makes you come up quick! We would leave and watch from miles away as they bomb it and shoot at it. Mainly the target wreck 5 miles straight West of Marquesas Key. They used to have steel I beams all around it and they would blow those up all the time. Those look like BDU 32. Bomb dummy unit 32 pounds replacement. Hard to tell without scale to see size. They had some wild looking fake bombs. And there was a lot of 50 cal machine gun cartridges all around too. They won’t last out of the water. Soak them in fresh water, replace to new water every couple day for a month or so. Then dry out and soak in ospho or some kind of phosphoric acid rust killer. Follow the directions. Let dry and coat with some kind of sealer, maybe an oil. Looking at those they are smaller than a BDU 32. Maybe 12.

 

[CaptEsteban]

Looks like M69 " Dummy, practice, " mortar rounds,

60mm Mortar Ammunition And Fuzes

 

[stevemc]

These are dummy bombs so they can practice deploying from jets to see where they land.

 

[BLK HOLE]

Welcome to the forum from Northern Virginia

 

[Ammoman]

Cool finds and welcome.

Here is a picture of a land target. Berry M. Goldwater Range in AZ.


Range clean up 1980's BDU-33 practice bombs being lined with C-4.