| The SS RICHARD MONTGOMERY was a US
Liberty Ship of 7146 gross tons. She was built in 1943 by the St
John’s River Shipbuilding Company of Jacksonville, Florida
and was one of over 2700 of these mass-produced vessels built to
carry vital supplies for the war effort.
In August 1944 the ship was loaded with a cargo
of some 7000 tons of munitions and joined convoy HX-301 bound for
the UK and then on to Cherbourg. On arrival in the Thames Estuary,
the vessel was directed to anchor in the Great Nore anchorage off
Sheerness. The ship was to await the formation of a convoy to continue
the journey across the Channel. However, on the 20th August 1944,
she dragged her anchor in the shallow water and grounded on a sandbank
running east from the Isle of Grain approximately 250m north of
the Medway Approach Channel.
The vessel grounded amidships on the crest of the
sandbank and intensive efforts began to unload her in order to lighten
the vessel so that she could be refloated and also to save the cargo
of munitions that were vital for the Allies post-D-Day advancement.
Unfortunately, by the next day, a crack appeared in the hull and
the forward end began to flood. The salvage effort continued until
the 25th September, by which time approximately half the cargo had
been successfully removed. The salvage effort had to be abandoned
when the vessel finally flooded completely.
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. There are still approximately 1,400 tons of
explosives contained within the forward holds.
The Montgomery is not in an ideal spot. It ran aground
in the middle of a busy waterway and is a sinister sight -the ship
is partially visible with its mast still sticking out of the water.
Because of the difficulty in clearing the wreck
it has been left where it sank. It is regularly checked by the Department
of Transport but surveys suggest that it may break up in the next
nine years. But if the Montgomery did explode, Government experts
estimate that it would blow up with the force of a small atomic
bomb, throwing debris 3,000 metres into the air.
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