The Ticking Timebomb of the Thames. The Wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery. Sheerness. Kent
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 มิ.ย. 2024
- Built in World War 2, the SS Richard Montgomery is an American Liberty Cargo Ship named after an Irish born Anerican officer.
The ship launched on 15th June 1943 but, only a year later, ran around on 20th August 1944 on the sandbank of the Thames Estuary near Sheerness in Kent.
Breaking in half, the ship sank on August 25th, still loaded with 1400 tons of munitions, which have now sat on the sea bed for 80 years.
Sensational headlines in recent years have suggested the shipwreck is a ticking timebomb due to its cargo, which could have a horrifying ending in the worst case scenario.
very interesting , you cant beat a good old shipwreck it just hits different. Thanks for uploading :)
Yeah, it's amazing to see it. Thanks for watching 😊
My thoughts and respect to the brave sailors that crewed these ships full of munitions during the war. Just imagine having to live on board metres away from a cargo of 6127 tons of munitions in wartime with the high possibility of being torpedoed by a U boat.
Absolutely. Thankfully, no crew lost their lives in this particular sinking. Thanks for watching
Back in the 60’s I sailed through the masts that still had extensive rigging showing. No exclusion zone then!
Ha ...intriguing.! The carefree 60s 😊
Same for me, could have been very late fifties. It was on a motor boat for people to visit the wreck.
Those three 'chimney's' as you call them are not chimneys for 'belching smoke' but the top of three cargo winches.They were used as a means of unloading/reloading cargo on these vessels.
Thanks for the info. I do change it to 'masts' a bit later 😉
No worries
Very Interesting, enjoyed it. Well researched Matt!
Cheers buddy 👍
Great Post 😊
Cheers my friend 😊
What an Explosive Post
😊
I thought the masts or whatever they are/were had been removed already.🤔
Not up to about 6 weeks ago, they were still there......🙂
@@matparks08
Ah, ok thanks. It's just I read they were to be removed this year as there were worries about them falling in on the cargo. (There were boat trips out to get a last close up look before they went 😂).
That was quite brave of you both.
I'm not sure I'd have gone up close to it. Not with my bloody bad luck anyway 😂😂
Ha....I did mention to Dani that if it did explode, I'd probably miss it on film 🎥 😆
@@matparks08 🤣
Wow how exciting 👍😁
Definitely 😊
It ran around during a storm.its full of fuses and bombs for aircraft.
Yeah, apparently so. Thanks for watching 😊
In nanny state Britain if there was any possibility of an explosion it wouldn’t be sitting there now would it !!
How do they get it sorted, though? If there's even 1% chance it could happen, it can't be risked. As I said in the video, don't listen to me recounting the media headlines....but there's a lot of work going on to ensure it IS safe.
Munitions is a big field to cover. Is it artillery shells or torpedo warheads or some other high explosive filled weapon .If it,s small arms munitions in wooden crates or cans of propellant for loading into shell cases or for small arms ammunition the water will no doubt have rendered at least 50% of it useless .If it is high explosives then the risk is greater but to say it,s 1400 tons of munitions and an explosion will crack every window in Sussex is pretty well over stated. Some more research is needed.
Not info I have to hand, however there's a lot of work been going on this year. Plans were being made to remove the masts before they potentially eroded and fell down onto the ship or sea bed, cauaing an explosion. but this has been delayed for further research. There may be websites about what is included in the wreckage. The 'damage factor' is from, as mentioned, 'sensational' headlines that have appeared over time.
Wikipedia says there are a huge amount of big bombs, 286 2000 lb. bombs, 4,439 1000 lb. bombs, 1,925 500 lb. bombs.
Who said anything about Sussex, what Matt said was Sheerness!
It was deliberately sunk to dispose of the ammunition.
Hmmmm...can't answer that one....
Aug '44? Dispose of ammunitions? I doubt it very much!! Any idea what was happening in Europe then?
Completely wrong. She dragged her anchor, went aground on one of the many sandbanks in the Thames and then broke her back. Stevedores were brought in and paid exceptional wages as attempts were made to unload her. A substantial percentage of her cargo was unloaded, but in the end it was deemed too dangerous the get the rest and so she was left. Views now range from the ammunition being down there so long, the detonators are now harmless, to the ammunition’s been down there, the detonators are now extremely unstable and she could go up at any moment. There have been various plans to cover her in sand, but the tides would wash it all away in days and she lies just north of the channel into the Medway. In the days of a large Government department having a large data centre just the other side of the Thames, she was listed on the official risk register as should she go up, it would be equivalent to a small nuclear bomb and the resulting surge of water cause huge damage to the sounding land, especially the low-lying land to the north of the Thames