Description

GERMAN MINE An enemy mine came into the bay of Port MacDonnell with the high tide on Tuesday 26th October 1943, a number of houses at the eastern end of the town about half a mile from the jetty, had to be temporarily evacuated. The mine was first seen by Mr Hammond while out inspecting his crayfish pots about half a mile from the shore. He circled it in his boat and then hurried back and reported his discovery to Mounted Constable A. J. West. The mine was kept under observation and eventually came ashore between three and four pm. The mine an old one encrusted with barnacles and seaweed, was dismantled and the explosive material destroyed on Wednesday morning by a naval demolition party from Adelaide. The explosive in the mine was hexonite, six times more powerful than T.N.T. it was designed that if any of the horns were touched it set off a series of chemical and electrical reactions which in turn caused the mine to explode in 2/5 of a second. The mine weighed approximately ¼ of a ton