By Sam Webb PUBLISHED: 07:44 EST, 27 January 2014 | UPDATED: 09:36 EST, 27 January 2014 A boat used by the U.S. Navy for target practice broke free from its mooring and drifted 4,000 miles across the Atlantic - eventually landing on a quiet beach in Cornwall. The orange boat, known as a Low-Cost Tow Target, started its epic journey in Florida and is believed to have been cut off from its towing vessel, possibly by gunfire, on January 2 2013. Over the next year it drifted east across the Atlantic before it was spotted by a man walking his dog on picturesque Perranporth beach on the North Cornish coast on Friday.
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The boat floated across the sea for a year before it was spotted on a beach
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The coastguard was surprised to discover it had come from Florida
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The U.S. Navy uses towed boats like this for gunnery practice
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It is believed to have broken free during a live fire exercise
@placeholder ships are vessels used for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing.