How many bombs are on the SS Montgomery?
10,353 bombs
The SS Richard Montgomery has an estimated 10,353 bombs still on-board with an explosive mass of 1400 tonnes of TNT. The wreck risks exploding from another vessel being blown into it, easy suicide bomber attack and a significant internal collapse of the Tween deck cargo on the 7 metre stack of bombs in the holds.
Can you see the SS Montgomery?
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.
Are there still bombs in the Thames?
An unexploded 50kg World War Two bomb found in the River Thames has been removed and exploded. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the WW2 device had been towed along the river to Tilbury, Essex, where it was safely detonated.
What would happen if the SS Montgomery exploded?
According to a BBC News report in 1970, it was determined that if the wreck of Richard Montgomery exploded, it would throw a 1,000-foot-wide (300 m) column of water and debris nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 m) into the air and generate a wave 16 feet (5 m) high.
Will the Richard Montgomery explode?
1. The SS RICHARD MONTGOMERY grounded and split in two off Sheerness in 1944 whilst carrying a cargo of bombs. A large part of the cargo was successfully recovered at the time. No explosions occurred when the ship grounded or during the subsequent salvage operation, and none have occurred since.
Where is the Montgomery shipwreck?
sandbank
The wreck remains in shallow waters on the sandbank where she sank- across the tide close to the Medway Approach Channel, around 1.5 miles off Sheerness and 5 miles off the coast of Southend. The rusting masts of the 441ft long vessel are clearly visible above the water at all states of the tide.
How many bombs fell in the Thames?
130 bombs and between 3,000 and 5,000 incendiary devices rained down on Twickenham and Teddington, destroying 150 houses and damaging more than 6,000 others.
Where is the Richard Montgomery ship?
At the mouth of the rivers Medway and Thames close to London, England, a sunken ship lies undisturbed in shallow water. It is uncomfortably close to a major shipping channel and to urbanised, industrialised coastlines. It contains a very large cargo of bombs and other munitions.
Where was the Richard Montgomery going?
The ship sailed from the USA to the UK as part of the convoy HX-301 in summer 1944 with a cargo of some 7000 tons of munitions. On arrival in the Thames Estuary the vessel was directed to anchor in the Great Nore Anchorage, off Sheerness.
What does USS mean on a ship?
United States Ship
Learn more about the evolution of the ship naming process. A Note on Navy Ship Name Prefixes. The prefix “USS,” meaning “United States Ship,” is used in official documents to identify a commissioned ship of the Navy. It applies to a ship while she is in commission.
Where is the Isle of Sheppey?
The Isle of Sheppey, some nine miles long and half as wide, lies on the southern side of the Thames estuary and is separated from the north Kent coast by a narrow channel of the sea called the Swale. Sheerness in the mid-seventeenth century was a short, beak-shaped point of uninhabited marshland jutting out of the north-western tip of the island.
Could a ship off the Sheppey coast cause a tsunami?
More info If a sunken American cargo ship off the Sheppey coast was to blow up, it could cause a devastating tsunami. Not our words – but those of a film director who has been studying the SS Richard Montgomery for ten years and has warned the ship poses a serious danger.
What happens to the site of a sunken ship?
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.
Is Sheerness safe from cargo ships on the Thames?
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.