ELITE Royal Navy units have detonated a Nazi bomb at sea following the largest evacuation since WW2.
The 500kg shell was found on Tuesday in the Keyham area of Plymouth by a dad building an extension.
The discovery on St Michael Avenue triggered a "hugely complex operation" as 10,320 residents were ordered to leave their homes on Friday as bomb disposal experts moved in.
The German-made SC-500 was extracted from the ground and carried on a 1.2 mile route through the city.
It was loaded onto a buoy-type vessel at Torpoint Ferry slipway and towed out into the channel where it was detonated at 9.51pm last night.
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An MoD spokesperson confirmed the beneath-the-waves explosion - thought to be the safest option - but gave no further details.
Residents had been warned to expect a large bang and a 300ft high plume of water when the decades-old Nazi menace is seen off.
The city's evacuees were back in their homes by 6pm on Friday following a "successful" operation but some expressed frustration after being turfed out in the pouring rain.
Chief Superintendent Ian Drummond-Smith, of Devon and Cornwall Police, wrote on X: "The bomb has gone to sea! Thank you to everyone for your patience and good spirits."
Johnny Mercer, MP for Plymouth Moor View, thanked emergency responders for "working around the clock" to deal with the bomb.
Police were called on Tuesday after Ian Jury, 57, hit the munition with a spade while digging foundations for his daughter's extension.
After sending pictures of the shell to the police he got a call almost immediately and before long officers were at the house.
He told MailOnline: "The next minute they're suggesting a cordon with a 200m radius."
Weighing around half a tonne and measuring one metre in length, the bomb was used extensively by Hermann Göring's Luftwaffe throughout WWII.
The same type of shell was detonated in a controlled explosion off the north coast of Guernsey in July last year.
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HOW THE MISSION UNFOLDED
On Friday, a 300-metre cordon was put in place around the site with streets left deserted as civilians fled the area.
Hundreds of offices, shops, schools and houses were also cleared while train and bus services were cancelled as experts moved in to begin the extraction.
Cops were later spotted knocking on doors to make sure residents had left before the urgent operation got underway.
Following days of planning, around 30 of the Armed Forces' most experienced bomb disposal experts and other emergency services began a "highly complex" three hour operation.
Residents were sent a “severe” government alert to their phones, warning them to stay away from the route of the disposal convoy between 2pm and 5pm.
As the mission got underway, a military vehicle carrying the un-exploded ordnance was seen rolling through residential areas.
It was carried on the back of a flatbed truck surrounded by white builders-style bags.
Pictures from inside the operation nerve centre showed tense scenes as officers and experts watched live footage of the bomb's journey.
'HIGHLY COMPLEX OPERATION'
The Ministry of Defence said the transportation of the device was one of the largest peacetime evacuation operations in the UK since WWII.
Ian Regan told Sky News he received a Government alert on his phone urging him to leave his home which was just 10 metres away from the convoy route.
He said: “It was scary. We put the cats in the boxes and got to my father’s spare bedroom.
"It is very stressful. The greatest fear is that it could go off anytime.”
He added that residents were let back in to homes to move furniture and valuables out before the bomb was moved.
Mr Jury previously feared the bomb would wipe his daughter's house out if it went off and was worried local insurance firms may not cover the cost.
On Thursday he told PlymouthLive: "Last night my daughter and her two neighbours were brought together for a meeting where they were effectively told to prepare that all three houses were going to be destroyed."
