Massive German bomb found off Liverpool

LIVERPOOL, England, May 16 (UPI) -- A routine survey by the British Navy turned up a massive World War II-vintage German bomb submerged not far from a busy ferry terminal in Liverpool, England.

"It was a huge device absolutely massive," said Ministry of Defense spokesman Neil Smith Monday. "It weighed over 1,000 pounds and was capable of causing a tremendous amount of damage. It was a bomb designed to wreak havoc."

An exclusion zone was established, which closed the ferry docks as divers attached a floatation line to the bomb, and then towed it at low speed to an interim location in Liverpool Bay, the Wirral Globe reported Tuesday.

The plan Tuesday was to carefully lower the ordnance once more onto the seabed packed with plastic explosive, and then detonate it in a controlled explosion.

Royal Navy surveys locate between 150 and 200 unexploded World War II-era munitions each year, the report said.