Naha, Okinawa – Japanese troops demolished 24 suspected U.S. shells off the coast of Okinawa’s capital on Wednesday, marking the third disposal of World War II ordnance within a month on the historic island battleground.
Eleven explosive ordnance disposal divers from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Sub Area Activity Okinawa unit successfully detonated the explosives underwater at 1 p.m., approximately 2,300 feet offshore from Shinko, one of four wharves at Naha’s civilian port.
The controlled blast, which eradicated over 1,630 pounds of ordnance, reverberated through the two-story Naha Ecoisland waste disposal building near Pier 10. Self-Defense Force personnel and media personnel gathered to witness the operation.
Precautionary measures were put in place, with vessels prohibited from entering a 980-foot radius around the detonation site. Swimmers and divers were also restricted from an area within nearly a two-mile radius starting at 9:30 a.m., as announced on Naha city’s website on Feb. 27. Restrictions were lifted at 2 p.m. on the same day.
The discovered shells, unearthed during construction work in the port’s harbor between January and November 2024, had been submerged underwater near the detonation site, as per the city’s announcement.
Among the recovered ordnance were three 275-pound bombs, seven 5-inch shells, one 5-inch shell casing, one 4-inch shell, four 3-inch shells, seven 81-mm mortars, and one 110-pound bomb fragment.
Prior to the detonation, divers secured the shells with sandbags 50 feet below the water’s surface before deploying C-4 explosives to obliterate them, confirmed a Maritime Self-Defense Force spokesman. The quantity of C-4 utilized was not specified.
The location has been utilized for multiple past detonations, including the destruction of a 14-inch shell and a 5-inch shell in January 2024, and a 550-pound bomb in December 2023.
Various similar operations have taken place elsewhere on Okinawa, underscoring the ongoing efforts to defuse remnants of WWII-era explosives, reflecting Japan’s commitment to safety and reconstruction.
