(no subject)

[theweaselking]

For 60 years the rotting masts of the SS Richard Montgomery have poked eerily from the sea at low tide, surrounded by buoys.

Small signs attached to the masts inform those who sail by on the Thames estuary: "Danger: unexploded ammunition." There are 3,172 tonnes of high explosive in the forward holds.

The ship foundered 60 years ago tomorrow in the mudbanks of the Medway, a mile from the Kent port of Sheerness. Today it is claimed the cargo of 13,700 bombs is a disaster waiting to happen.

If the Second World War American cargo ship was to blow up, a report warns, it would be one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever and could devastate Sheerness (population 11,000).

Tests in 1970 showed that a blast at low tide, when the wreck is covered by only 36ft of water, would hurl a 1,000ft-wide column of mud, metal and munitions almost 10,000ft into the air, shattering every window in Sheerness and causing widespread damage to buildings. No assessment was made of likely injuries or loss of life.