JoeyCape1977
01-13-2008, 07:54 PM
The SS RICHARD MONTGOMERY was a US Liberty Ship of 7146 gross tons. She was built in 1943 by the St John’s River Shipbuilding Company of Jacksonville, Florida and was one of over 2700 of these mass-produced vessels built to carry vital supplies for the war effort.
In August 1944 the ship was loaded with a cargo of some 7000 tons of munitions and joined convoy HX-301 bound for the UK and then on to Cherbourg. On arrival in the Thames Estuary, the vessel was directed to anchor in the Great Nore anchorage off Sheerness. The ship was to await the formation of a convoy to continue the journey across the Channel. However, on the 20th August 1944, she dragged her anchor in the shallow water and grounded on a sandbank running east from the Isle of Grain approximately 250m north of the Medway Approach Channel.
The vessel grounded amidships on the crest of the sandbank and intensive efforts began to unload her in order to lighten the vessel so that she could be refloated and also to save the cargo of munitions that were vital for the Allies post-D-Day advancement. Unfortunately, by the next day, a crack appeared in the hull and the forward end began to flood. The salvage effort continued until the 25th September, by which time approximately half the cargo had been successfully removed. The salvage effort had to be abandoned when the vessel finally flooded completely.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/foresthillsdesigngroup/Waverley-Cruise_20051010-70_Robert-.jpg
The wreck of the SS RICHARD MONTGOMERY remains on the sandbank where she sank. The wreck lies across the tide close to the Medway Approach Channel and her masts are clearly visible above the water at all states of the tide. There are still approximately 1,400 tons of explosives contained within the forward holds.
Due to the presence of the large quantity of unexploded ordnance, the ship is monitored by the Maritime And Coastguard Agency. In 1973 it became the first wreck designated as dangerous under section 2 of the Protection of Wrecks Act and there is an exclusion zone around it monitored visually and by radar. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency nevertheless believe that the risk of a major explosion is remote. The UK government's Receiver of Wreck commissioned a risk assessment in 1999, but this risk assessment has not been published (as reported in the New Scientist, 21st August 2004 ). The Maritime and Coastguard Agency convened with local and port authorities to discuss the report in 2001 and concluded that "doing nothing was not an option for much longer".
One of the reasons why the explosives have not been removed was the unfortunate outcome of a similar operation in July 1967 to neutralize the contents of the Kielce, a ship of Polish origin, sunk in 1946 off Folkestone in the English Channel. During preliminary work the Kielce, containing a comparable amount of ordnance, exploded with force equivalent to an earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter Scale, digging a 20-foot-deep crater in the seabed and bringing "panic and chaos" to Folkestone, although no injuries.
According to a BBC news report, in 1970 it was determined that if the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery exploded, it would throw a 1000 foot wide column of water and debris nearly 10,000 feet in the air and generate a wave 16 feet high. Almost every window in Sheerness (pop. c20,000) would be broken and buildings would be damaged by the blast.
Critics of government assurances that the likelihood of a major explosion is remote argue that there is a possibility that over time a partially flooded fuse in at least one of the 2600 fused fragmentation devices will become less stable owing to its lead azide constituent reacting with water vapour (rather than liquid seawater) to form hydrazoic acid. This will react with copper in the detonating cap, to form extremely sensitive copper azide. A knock, such as caused by the ship breaking up further, or a collision on the busy shipping lane, could cause the copper azide to explode, triggering an explosive chain reaction resulting in the detonation of the bulk of the munitions.
Similarly, when the condition of the munitions was originally assessed there was concern that copper azide would be produced through reaction between the lead azide and copper from brass fuse components. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency argue that the fuses will probably have been flooded for many years and consequently the hazard is insignificant since these chemicals are water soluble and will have been washed away.
The wreck site has been surveyed regularly since 1965 to determine the stability of the structure, with the most recent diver survey being completed in 2003 . There have been subsequent high-resolution multi-beam sonar surveys in 2005 and September 2006 which have confirmed that no significant movement of the wreck has taken place recently.
In August 1944 the ship was loaded with a cargo of some 7000 tons of munitions and joined convoy HX-301 bound for the UK and then on to Cherbourg. On arrival in the Thames Estuary, the vessel was directed to anchor in the Great Nore anchorage off Sheerness. The ship was to await the formation of a convoy to continue the journey across the Channel. However, on the 20th August 1944, she dragged her anchor in the shallow water and grounded on a sandbank running east from the Isle of Grain approximately 250m north of the Medway Approach Channel.
The vessel grounded amidships on the crest of the sandbank and intensive efforts began to unload her in order to lighten the vessel so that she could be refloated and also to save the cargo of munitions that were vital for the Allies post-D-Day advancement. Unfortunately, by the next day, a crack appeared in the hull and the forward end began to flood. The salvage effort continued until the 25th September, by which time approximately half the cargo had been successfully removed. The salvage effort had to be abandoned when the vessel finally flooded completely.
http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r107/foresthillsdesigngroup/Waverley-Cruise_20051010-70_Robert-.jpg
The wreck of the SS RICHARD MONTGOMERY remains on the sandbank where she sank. The wreck lies across the tide close to the Medway Approach Channel and her masts are clearly visible above the water at all states of the tide. There are still approximately 1,400 tons of explosives contained within the forward holds.
Due to the presence of the large quantity of unexploded ordnance, the ship is monitored by the Maritime And Coastguard Agency. In 1973 it became the first wreck designated as dangerous under section 2 of the Protection of Wrecks Act and there is an exclusion zone around it monitored visually and by radar. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency nevertheless believe that the risk of a major explosion is remote. The UK government's Receiver of Wreck commissioned a risk assessment in 1999, but this risk assessment has not been published (as reported in the New Scientist, 21st August 2004 ). The Maritime and Coastguard Agency convened with local and port authorities to discuss the report in 2001 and concluded that "doing nothing was not an option for much longer".
One of the reasons why the explosives have not been removed was the unfortunate outcome of a similar operation in July 1967 to neutralize the contents of the Kielce, a ship of Polish origin, sunk in 1946 off Folkestone in the English Channel. During preliminary work the Kielce, containing a comparable amount of ordnance, exploded with force equivalent to an earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter Scale, digging a 20-foot-deep crater in the seabed and bringing "panic and chaos" to Folkestone, although no injuries.
According to a BBC news report, in 1970 it was determined that if the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery exploded, it would throw a 1000 foot wide column of water and debris nearly 10,000 feet in the air and generate a wave 16 feet high. Almost every window in Sheerness (pop. c20,000) would be broken and buildings would be damaged by the blast.
Critics of government assurances that the likelihood of a major explosion is remote argue that there is a possibility that over time a partially flooded fuse in at least one of the 2600 fused fragmentation devices will become less stable owing to its lead azide constituent reacting with water vapour (rather than liquid seawater) to form hydrazoic acid. This will react with copper in the detonating cap, to form extremely sensitive copper azide. A knock, such as caused by the ship breaking up further, or a collision on the busy shipping lane, could cause the copper azide to explode, triggering an explosive chain reaction resulting in the detonation of the bulk of the munitions.
Similarly, when the condition of the munitions was originally assessed there was concern that copper azide would be produced through reaction between the lead azide and copper from brass fuse components. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency argue that the fuses will probably have been flooded for many years and consequently the hazard is insignificant since these chemicals are water soluble and will have been washed away.
The wreck site has been surveyed regularly since 1965 to determine the stability of the structure, with the most recent diver survey being completed in 2003 . There have been subsequent high-resolution multi-beam sonar surveys in 2005 and September 2006 which have confirmed that no significant movement of the wreck has taken place recently.