RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Virginia Department of Historic Resources made an explosive discovery recently: a stash of grenades from the Revolutionary War.

The grenades were found mislabeled in storage and as soon as staff members realized what they were, they called on law enforcement to safely destroy them.

The Richmond Police Bomb Squad detonated 24 hand grenades from the Revolutionary War. Authorities told 8News on Friday that it’s the oldest stash of weapons they’ve ever found in the City of Richmond.

“Law enforcement was surprised to learn that during the Revolutionary War, there were hand grenades,” said Julie Langan, director of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. “They didn’t realize that.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Curators found the stash of weapons, which are as old as the Declaration of Independence, mislabeled in storage at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources in November.

“They were going through some things, they initially found one which turned out to be explosive still but then they were going through some more boxes and they found another and another,” RPD Bomb Squad Commander Mark Castillo told 8News.

The grenades survived the sinking of the British ship “The Betsy,” during the siege of Yorktown in 1781. The ship was excavated in 1989 and the grenades sat in storage for 30 years.

When the department got a national park service grant to look through the shipwreck artifacts last fall, a conservator found the Revolutionary War grenades.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​”The first one – the outer core had just rotted away and it was just the explosive core left which is extremely dangerous because the powder is sensitive to all kinds of things,” Castillo said.

The Richmond Police Bomb Squad enlisted the help of Henrico County Police, Virginia State Police, the ATF and the FBI to safely destroy the weapons.

It took about 18 officers three days to detonate them all.

“One of these types of hand grenades is not going to bring a building down but it could cause extreme damage to one person or anyone around it,” Castillo told 8News. ​​​​​​​

As for the Department of Historic Resources, Langan told 8News it was a good training exercise for her staff and for law enforcement.

“We have asked ourselves, what else might we have that we don’t know that we have?” Langan said.

The bomb squad commander wants to use this experience to remind people that explosive devices can survive in water if they’re properly sealed. Authorities said if you notice anything out of the ordinary that may resemble an explosive device, no matter how old it is, then you should call them.

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