 Blasting of the bunkers of Heligoland, seen from the neighboring island Düne | |
| Date | 18 April 1947 |
|---|---|
| Time | 13:00 CET (12:00 UTC) |
| Location | Heligoland, Germany |
| Coordinates | 54°10′57″N 7°53′07″E / 54.1825°N 7.885278°E |
| Also known as | Operation British Bang |
| Cause | Detonation |
Operation Big Bang or British Bang was the explosive destruction of bunkers and other military installations on the island of Heligoland. The explosion used 7400 tons (6700 metric tons) of surplus World War II ammunition, which was placed in various locations around the island and detonated at 1 p.m. on 18 April 1947 by the Royal Navy. The energy released was 1.3×1013 J, or about 3.2 kilotons of TNT equivalent[1] making it the largest artificial non-nuclear explosion at that time. The objective of the blast was to destroy the bunkers and military installations on the North Sea island of Heligoland, but due to the enormous amount of explosives it was foreseen that the entire island might be destroyed.[2] The porous sandstone that makes up the island allowed the blast wave to escape so only the southern tip of the island was destroyed, but there was considerable damage to the northern tip.
- ^ Willmore, PL (1949). "Seismic Experiments on the North German Explosions, 1946 to 1947". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. 242 (843): 123–151. Bibcode:1949RSPTA.242..123W. doi:10.1098/rsta.1949.0007. ISSN 0080-4614. JSTOR 91443.
- ^ Katja Iken (2017-04-18). "Inselsprengung in der Nordsee – Hell-Go-Land!" (in German). Spiegel-online. Archived from the original on 2017-04-18. Retrieved 2017-04-18.