Neptune taketh. Neptune giveth back..eth

DreadShips said:
Interesting thing on that - German ordnance is generally okay, because it either worked as designed or was sabotaged deliberately by slave labour and a complete dud. Allied ordnance, on the other hand, was produced in enormous quantities by the lowest bidders and actually going "bang" on demand was very much viewed as a stretch target. Apparently if you drop enough tonnage then enough of it will go "bang" eventually...

This means magnetic fishing is very much safer in places bombed by the Nazis than it is in places where the Allies might have chucked it away to become somebody else's problem. Right next to an air base is probably a bad choice, tbh...
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Well, I believe some of the German stuff had anti-handling features and targetted EOD personnel, in fact IIRC in some specialist types the EOD team was the only means of detonation, so you could be unlucky.

I do remember being impressed with the contrast in my EOD training though.

German aircraft bomb fuse - In Germany, under the murderous Nazi regime, they had wars of conquest, slavery, and mass extermination of subject races, but they produced a sleek standardised aluminium cylinder with electronic fusing which still had 3/4 of its original charge when recovered from the Maplin Sands in 1972

British aircraft bomb fuse - In Britain they had 100's of years of parliamentary democracy and peace and what did that produce? - The Cuckoo Clock

(Cue zither music)
 
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fredrussell said:
Just out of interest, if you have one of those mega magnets on board - does it effect your steering compass?
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I don’t keep mine onboard because of that.....so anchor fishing is really a bit academic for me....unless I return to the scene of the crime
 
I keep mine in the workshop....still secured in its original packaging.....which I assume is safe, to protect any postmen with pacemakers
 
I have just remembered I think you can demagnetise a piece of metal using a magnet and stroking/reverse stroking ha ha
I think (?)
I have a spot drill for lathe centring which is irritatingly magnetic
 
fredrussell said:
Just out of interest, if you have one of those mega magnets on board - does it effect your steering compass?
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The effect decreases as the square of the distance, and of course they have keepers to "short circuit" the magnetic field (yes, I know that's not accurate, but it's close enough!) So as long as it's not right next to the compass, it's ok.
 
AntarcticPilot said:
The effect decreases as the square of the distance, and of course they have keepers to "short circuit" the magnetic field (yes, I know that's not accurate, but it's close enough!) So as long as it's not right next to the compass, it's ok.
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I remember reading an anecdote about mysterious distractions of the steering compass. The skipper kept interrogating his crew about carrying steel items, which they denied. When he got to pocket-emptying, one was found to carry a pocket compass. "But it is brass!"...
 
mjcoon said:
I remember reading an anecdote about mysterious distractions of the steering compass. The skipper kept interrogating his crew about carrying steel items, which they denied. When he got to pocket-emptying, one was found to carry a pocket compass. "But it is brass!"...
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The external field of the tiny magnet in a compass would be very unlikely to have any significant effect on a steering compass. Of course, if it was brass coated steel, that's a different matter!
 
johnalison said:
In the Grand Union Canal?
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Not impossible given the vagaries of airbourne astronavigation when you are being shot at, but Homeguard disposals probably more likely there. There were apparently munitions from the Forth and Clyde in playground circulation when I was a kid, (never actually saw any) which according to the media were ex-Homeguard, but I'd guess those will nearly all have been disposed of by now.

As another example, munitions {mostly Panzerfaust, IIRC) were disposed of by Allied forces in the Kiel Canal at the end of WW2. Regimental Motto "Screw The Future"?
 
My tiller pilot developed "interesting" behaviour that was eventually traced to the German army knife that I always carried, which had, somehow, become quite strongly magnetic.

As for things lost and found, Madame lost her watch over the side while alongside the club pontoon. Three weeks later, we happened to be alongside in the same place at low tide, and there was her watch, still working. She wore it for several years after. I guess Neptune has a more expensive taste in watches than a £10 Casio.
 
johnalison said:
In the Grand Union Canal?
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Michael Bentine, who was in the RAF, recounted the sad story of a mine which they had seen dropped and were searching for it seccure in the knowledge it need to be in water to be armed. They heard an immense explosion and the mine had fallen into a duck pond and a farmer on his tractor with a harrow had made enough noise to set off the accoustics. The only good thing was the farmer had never known anything about it.
 
Stemar said:
My tiller pilot developed "interesting" behaviour that was eventually traced to the German army knife that I always carried, which had, somehow, become quite strongly magnetic.

As for things lost and found, Madame lost her watch over the side while alongside the club pontoon. Three weeks later, we happened to be alongside in the same place at low tide, and there was her watch, still working. She wore it for several years after. I guess Neptune has a more expensive taste in watches than a £10 Casio.
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Or my cheap Bruce copy kedge
 
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