For decades, a shipwreck with 1,400 tons of explosives on board has been lying in the mouth of the Thames. Salvage is difficult, but is becoming increasingly urgent due to the ship’s deterioration.
Kent – More than 70 years after the At the end of the Second World War, unexploded bombs were repeatedly found. Around 100,000 tons of such unexploded World War II bombs are said to still be lying underground in Germany alone. Great Britain has this problem on a larger scale just outside London: an explosive legacy from the Second World War could trigger a tsunami in the Thames estuary.
80-year-old danger: How the SS Richard Montgomery ran aground and sank
The SS Richard Montgomery was used during World War II to transport vital goods, among other things. However, in August 1944, 7,000 tons of ammunition were also on board when the ship sailed to Great Britain with convoy HX-301, as reported in a notice of the British government. In the mouth of the Thames, the ship was instructed to anchor off Sheerness. However, the boat dragged its anchor into shallow water and ran aground on a sandbank. It has been there since August 20, 1944 – that is, for 80 years. The ship’s masts are clearly visible from the water at all times of the tide. The area is marked as a restricted area.
After the SS Richard Montgomery ran aground on the sandbank, efforts immediately began to unload the cargo, i.e. to recover the explosives from the ship. However, the day after the ship ran aground, a crack appeared in the hull, flooding the front end. Salvage operations continued until September 25, but then the rest of the ship was flooded and sank completely. Of the original 7,000 tons of ammunition on board, 1,400 tons are still in the forward holds, as the British government confirms.
Tsunami could threaten: Tidal wave could roll towards Kent, Essex and Thames Barrier off London
The risk of a major explosion is “low” according to the British government. But the ship is deteriorating, London admits. There is a small but serious risk that if the cargo explodes, a tidal wave could hit the coasts of Kent and Essex and further onto the storm surge barrier. Thames Barrier rolling towards the gates of London, like BBC reported. Work was recently scheduled to begin on the wreck to remove the masts to prevent them from falling onto the cargo and potentially causing it to explode.
The corresponding securing work was originally announced for 2020, then planned for June 2022, but was postponed again. “We have commissioned experts to carry out important survey work on the wreck,” a spokesman for the British Ministry of Transport told the broadcaster BBC in April. “Based on their findings, we are revising our original schedule and updating our strategy to remove the ship’s masts in the safest way possible.” In 1970, the Royal Military College of Science The consequences of an explosion are as follows: a 3,000 meter high column of water and debris and a five meter high tsunami.
Dangerous cargo: Experts warn of possible tsunami caused by the SS Richard Montgomery
The expert David Alexander from University College London said that if the explosive charge on the SS Richard Montgomery exploded, there was a risk of a “small tsunami”. The case of the Polish ship Kielce, which also sank in the 1940s and whose cargo was to be rendered harmless in 1967, is a warning. During the preparatory work, however, an explosive charge on the Kielce exploded, the explosion was equivalent to a magnitude of 4.5 on the Richter scale, as was the British government confirmed in a report.
The incident “caused panic in the town of Folkestone” and “caused chaos on the beaches,” the report continued. However, the Polish cargo ship is said to have had nowhere near the same explosive load as the SS Richard Montgomery. In its report, the government in London wrote that the ship was carrying a “full load of bombs and ammunition,” but no cargo manifest was found.
The wave caused by the explosion reached a height of around 60 centimeters, “even though the total energy released was higher than expected for 2,000 tons of TNT,” the report continues. Time is running out to recover the dangerous cargo of the SS Richard Montgomery. The ravages of time are gnawing away at the wreck. “I think the government has been thinking for the past 77 years: ‘The longer we wait, the safer it will be,'” commented expert David Alexander, according to BBC. “When you talk to explosives experts, it turns out that the opposite is the case.”
#World #War #wreck #river #mouth #Explosion #trigger #5meter #tsunami