GET THE LATEST NEWS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTY IN YOUR INBOX SIGN UP Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

An American cargo ship which sank off the Kent coast 74 years ago packed full of explosives could accidentally blow up at any time, causing devastating tsunamis and more than £1 billion of damage.

Lying half-submerged near the mouth of the Thames estuary, the SS Richard Montgomery grounded on a sandbank more than seven decades ago while holding 1,400 tonnes of high explosives in its forward hold.

If detonated the explosives have the potential to cause one of the most devastating non-nuclear peace-time explosions ever seen, experts have warned.

In fact, the Florida-built vessel poses such a real threat it is constantly being monitored by the government, with a 1,640 feet wide exclusion zone in place to protect the wreck.

The SS Richard Montgomery sank and split in two off the coast of Sheerness in August 1944, KentLive reports.

Known semi-affectionately to locals as the “Monty”, the 441ft-long (134m) vessel was a US Liberty ship, a type of cargo ship used during World War II.

It arrived off Britain’s coast in August 1944 carrying munitions to help the war effort and on August 20, while waiting to join a convoy across the Channel to France, harsh weather caused the ship to drag anchor and founder on a sand bank.

As the tide receded the vessel was left stranded and the hull’s welded plates began to crack and buckle under the weight of the explosives on board.

Local dockworkers managed to empty the rear half of the ship before finally abandoning it on September 25, when the forward section flooded and the vessel snapped in half.

Rusty masts of the stranded ship can still be seen poking above the water, an eerie reminder of what lies beneath.

After spending the last 74 years almost completely submerged, time has taken its toll on the ageing ship and the government has previously warned the risk of explosions are more likely than ever.

According to a report by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency there are holes in the ship big enough to allow the explosives to escape.

A catastrophic explosion

Worryingly, there is a part of the wreck which still houses contains 2,000 cases of 'used and non-fused fragmentation cluster bombs' and 208 tonnes of bombs containing TNT.

If these explosives were to suddenly detonate, a catastrophic explosion could ensure which may endanger lives.

A 2004 report by the New Scientist stated if the ship did explode it would be one of the biggest non-nuclear blasts ever and would devastate the port of Sheerness, according to the Daily Mirror.

The site of the ship is constantly being monitored by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and is well sign-posted to ensure no ships inadvertently wander into the path of the sunken danger.

'Large-scale disaster is inevitable'

Ken Knowles, a director who spent ten year's making a film about the ship, believes that its condition is worsening and if nothing is done, large-scale disaster is inevitable.

He said that should the corroding ship’s bombs explode, debris would cause damage to the area within a 20-mile radius.

“If the Montgomery went off it could cause a tsunami that would flood London,” he explained.

He also pointed out that despite the protective measures, there have been multiple occasions were calamity was narrowly avoided.

"There have been near misses from cargo ships going up the Thames. They have been warned off by the Sheerness docks control tower,” he said.

Ken believes that most Sheerness residents take the ship for granted and do not feel it poses a threat.

But should a team of bomb disposal experts attempt to diffuse or remove the Richard Montgomery’s cargo, it would require evacuating everywhere within a 25-mile radius for months at a time, which Ken argues is realistically an impossibility

He added: “When there is one bomb found in a high street, the bomb disposal team evacuates all the area within ten miles because that it the size of the area the bomb would affect. On the Montgomery there are hundreds of bombs.”

Ken feels that the Ministry of Defence is reluctant to do anything about the Montgomery because currently there is no clear way to tackle the problem.

“If you speak to any of the officials, they would say there is no solution,” he said.



“Something is going to happen and it is quite sad really because nobody in a high position, even bomb disposal experts, have got a solution.”