Breeding ground

A V-2 rocket on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
Photograph courtesy of NASM
V-2 rockets, the first ballistic missile built and used by the German Nazi military against Allied targets in Europe during World War 2, killed about 9,000 people and wounded another 25,000 in Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, according to historical records. Some 12,000 to 20,000 forced laborers also died building V-2 missiles at the Mittelbau-Dora camp.
Many V-2 rockets seized by Allied forces after the defeat of the Nazis were dumped on Germany’s Lubeck Bay as it was safer than defusing all of them on land. The killer missiles are now harboring marine life as marine biologist Andrey Vedenin recently took photos of starfishes living on its metal surface and even TNT using a submersible.
