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Divers Find (Possibly) Live Ammo In Bay
By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 25, 2010
Modified Oct 25, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Oct 25, 2010
Modified Oct 25, 2010
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On March 4, 1954, a stockpile of 14,470 live rounds landed in the Narrows and Gravesend Bay, and they weren't seen again until last week. According to the NY Post, that's when a group of Brooklyn commercial divers found the shells, which 50 years ago were making headlines after they were lost. The paper joined the divers off the former Fort Lafayette, an island near Bay Ridge that was destroyed in 1960 for the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.
Diver Gene Ritter found eight World War II-era copper artillery shells, up to five feet long, and 1,500 large-caliber machine-gun shells. Upon spotting them, he declared, "What a find! They're all over the place. Hundreds of them." According to accounts, the aircraft carrier USS Bennington had unloaded the firepower onto a barge, but during a storm the barge broke free and drifted six miles to the Rockaways—sending the live ammo to the bay's floor.
It's not confirmed that the ammo is from the Bennington (there is confusion over whether it was recovered long ago), but if it is, it could be dangerous to move. One assemblyman noted that because of this, it raises concerns over whether the city should move ahead with plans to dredge that part of the bay to build a waste-transfer station. He said, “it could be a catastrophe... there’s an oil depot nearby.”
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ammo
divers
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USS Bennington
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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