Sheerness,Kent,England - The SS Richard Montgomery

During the Second World War, German aircraft would fly up the River Thames to attack the London docks. In eleven months 40,000 explosives were dropped and it is estimated that one in ten failed to explode. Now with more people diving and fishing the Royal Navy divers get called out three times a week to deal with unexploded bombs on this coast.

The SS Richard Montgomery is an American cargo ship fully laden with explosives. It safely crossed the Atlantic but when it entered Sheerness a storm was starting and the ship drifted onto a sand bank. When the tide fell the weight of its 4,000 tonnes of bombs broke the vessel in half. It is now lying in two pieces, full of its eroding cargo.

The Montgomery is not in an ideal spot. It ran aground in the middle of a busy waterway and is a sinister sight -the ship is partially visible with its mast still sticking out of the water.
Because of the difficulty in clearing the wreck it has been left where it sank. It is regularly checked by the Department of Transport but surveys suggest that it may break up in the next nine years. But if the Montgomery did explode, Government experts estimate that it would blow up with the force of a small atomic bomb, throwing debris 3,000 metres into the air.

The masts of the SS Montgomery sticking out of the water

The Sunken Ship.

Liberty ship.
The SS Richard Montgomery was a liberty ship, this being a cargo ship of a design created and built during the second world war. Between 1941 and 1945 the number of these ships that were built was 2751 this was easily the largest number of ships constructed to a single design. These ships were built to last five years but many remained in service for considerably longer.

General details.

Length 441 feet
Beam 56 feet
Draft 27ft9.25in
Propulsion two oil fired boilers with triple expansion steam engines, single screw, 2500HP
Speed 11 to 11.5 knots
Compliment 41 men
Armament Stern mounted 4in gun and various anti aircraft guns.

TheHistory of the Montgomery`s.
The SS Richard Montgomery was named after the Irish born general of the American civil war. Was such a ship as, detailed above, to give the excelent service during and, after hostilities but, this ship was not one of them, it appears to have been a number of ships that have been launched with the name of Montgomery only one remained in service for any length of time.

USS Montgomery 1776 a frigate the was never completed.
USS Montgomery 1813 a sloop or schooner that saw service from 1813 to 1815
USS Mongomery 1861 a screwdriver steamer from 1861 to 1865
USS Mntgomery A C9 protected cruiser from 1891to 1918
USS Montgomery DD-121 a destroyer completed in 1918 and later converted to minesweeper that served in the second world war later sold for scrap 1946.
SS Richard Montgomery the wrecked ship that served from July 1943 to August 1944.

It would appear that the ships that held this name did not see very much service apart from the destroyer that actually had managed to serve for 28 years. The liberty ship that was wrecked did not have a distinguished service but has remained in the Thames, still carrying part of its cargo, for the last sixty six years.

The Voyage
The SS Richard Montgomery was built by the St Johns River Shipbuilding Company in 1943 and was completed on 29 July 1943. It was loaded for its fatal voyage in Philadelphia with over 6000tons of munitions in August 1944 and set sail for England where it was to meet another convoy and sail onto Cherbourg France. The munitions were intended for the invading armies in Northern France. It managed to reach the Thames estuary in England in August 1944 where it was told to berth of the North edge of Sheerness by the harbour master.

Arrival in England
The Montgomery was berthed at Sheerness waiting for a convoy to continue its voyage to Normandy France where the munitions was urgently required for the invading armies of the allies. On the 20th August 1944 it dragged its anchor and was carried by the tide to a nearby sand bank where the ship ran aground at a point that is 250 metres from the Medway approach channel (the Medway is a tributary of the Thames) at this point the sea is 24ft deep The average dry cargo liberty ship had a draught of 28ft the Montgomery was trimmed to 31ft so it is obvious why the ship stuck on the sand bank.
Obviously the ship was overloaded but in war time it was a common practise.

What Happened
What is not known is why the ship dragged its anchor, its possible that the strong tides of the Thames estuary may have caused the ship to be dragged and it is possible that the crew would not be have aware of the strength of the tides at this point. It also a mystery why the ships that were near by that saw the Montgomery moving and tried to raise the alarm but, one aboard the Montgomery responded. During the enquiry into the sinking no suitable explanation was given why no one responded to the alarms and why no one on watch spotted the ship moving.

Cargo removal.
The removal of the cargo was started in 23 August 1944 and continued through to 25 September even though the hull had split in two. The cargo was removed using the ships own handling equipment but not all the cargo was removed. The wreck still has 3173 tons remaining 1400 tons of the this was TNT the remainder various explosive ordinance. The rest of the cargo remains in the ship to this day as any attempt to remove the remainder of the cargo may have resulted in an explosion. This was the case when explosives removal had been attempted in another ship with the result that it was detonated.

Danger
In 1973 it was the first wreck to be designated as dangerous under the Protection of Wrecks Act and a buoy is now permanently moored at the site of the wreck with a warning of danger to other ships. There is also an exclusion zone around the wreck that is monitored by radar. However the Maritime and Coastguard Agency convened with other local agencies in 2003 and decided that there was only a minor risk. This is very comforting but any risk is not so good as none.

Life Goes on
The life of the surrounding towns goes on and over the years has developed with business and commerce whether or not the towns people know that there is a risk. Many people do know about it but it has not seemed to have made a difference to their lives and, those people who do not know about the dangerous wreck may never know or may never believe that it exists.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-14809752

I knew it was there but I didn't realise it could be that dangerous