Watch as Canadian Forces collect unexploded Second World War ordnance from ocean floor

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Cillian O'Brien CTVNews.ca Writer

Divers explore the gun on the deck of the SS Saganaga shipwreck off the coast of Bell Island, N.L., in an undated handout photo. Undetonated explosives from four iron ore carriers that sank in 1942 German U-Boat attacks will be retrieved by military divers starting Monday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Rick Stanley, *MANDATORY CREDIT*

Canadian Armed Forces have collected unexploded artillery from the ocean floor following a sweep of four ships sunk by the Nazis during the Second World War.

Royal Canadian Navy clearance divers visited the site off the coast of Bell Island in Newfoundland this week, to collect any undetonated explosives that remain.

The wrecks, the Lord Strathcona and Rose Castle from Canada, France's PLM 27 and Britain's S.S. Saganaga, are popular diving spots, but there were growing concerns that a diver might accidently trigger a leftover bomb.

The footage of the retrieval, recorded July 16 and 17, shows the rusting wrecks at the bottom of the Atlantic encrusted with marine life, including flower-like anemones.

The divers are seen carefully bringing artillery shells from the sunken Saganaga to the surface before they are placed in an armoured vehicle designed to transport explosives.

The ordnance was then taken for safe disposal at a Canadian Forces range about 45 minutes west of St. John's, where they were detonated.

The sunken ships, each about 120 metres long, were carrying iron ore from Bell Island's mines to steel mills in Sydney, N.S.

Bell Island was one of the few places in North America to be attacked by German forces during the Second World War.

Rick Stanley of Ocean Quest Adventures has spent the last two decades guiding tours of what he calls the "underwater museum" of the wrecks.

He told the Canadian Press the connection to Canadian, British, French and German forces as well as Bell Island families who tended to the survivors draws visitors from diverse backgrounds.

--- With files from The Canadian Press

RELATED IMAGES 1 / 3 A Canadian Forces Clearance Diver from Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic searches for undetonated explosive ordnance on S.S. Saganaga, during the retrieval mission off the coast of Bell Island in Newfoundland and Labrador, 16 July 2019. Photo: MCpl Gabrielle DesRochers, Canadian Forces Combat Camera IS05-2019-0006-005 A Canadian Forces Clearance Diver from Fleet Diving Unit Atlantic combs the sea floor around S.S. Saganaga for undetonated explosive ordnance during the retrieval mission off the coast of Bell Island in Newfoundland and Labrador, 16 July 2019. Photo: MCpl Gabrielle DesRochers, Canadian Forces Combat Camera IS05-2019-0006-003 Unexploded explosive ordnance is prepared for disposal at Cambrai Rifle Range, Makinsons, during the underwater cleanup mission of the Bell Island Wrecks in Newfoundland on 17 July 2019. Photo: MCpl True-dee McCarthy, Canadian Forces Combat Camera IS03-2019-0012-005