Exmouth Marina
14–16 January 2026 · Exmouth, Devon
View this record on the map →- Date
- 14–16 January 2026
- Record type
- Found UXO
- Bomb weight
- 250kg
- Cordon radius
- 600m
- Casualties
- None reported
- People evacuated
- ~5,000
- Location
- Exmouth, Devon
- Position accuracy
- Confirmed incident
What happened
A mud-clearing dredger raised a suspected 250kg German bomb from the bed of Exmouth Marina, triggering a major incident. The cordon grew from 100m to 400m and then to 600m, affecting around 5,000 people and 2,000 properties, before a Royal Navy EOD team took the device out to sea.
How it was made safe
Floated out to sea on a flotation pack, sunk to the seabed at 17m and destroyed in a controlled explosion at 08:13 on 16 January.
Evacuation
A further 500 properties were evacuated overnight when the cordon was extended from 400m to 600m.
Also worth knowing
Found on the same day as the Bath Street device in Plymouth — the first time two WWII bombs had been discovered in Devon on a single day.