Is This The World's Most Dangerous Wreck?

in the mouth of the thames estuary between two major shipping channels lies a shipwreck with the potential to cause one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history containing around 1500 tons of world war ii munitions it's claimed that the resultant blast would throw a 1 000 foot column of water and debris nearly 2 miles into the air as well as a 5 meter tidal wave that would race up the thames towards central london less than 40 miles away i'm talking of course about the wreck of the ss richard montgomery back in world war ii cargo ships were used to transport supplies of food troops and munitions across the atlantic unlike their heavily armed naval counterparts however they found they were easy targets for the u-boats the continuous loss of vessels combined with the need to supply the war effort resulted in the design of a low-cost mass-produced class of ship the liberty ship between 1941 and 1945 2710 of them were built an average of one new ship every 16 hours they were 135 meters or 441 and a half feet in length with a gross tonnage of 7170 tons and a maximum displacement of nearly 15 000 tons their beauty was in their simplicity with a single steam engine driving a single propeller and five large cargo holes separated vertically by twin decks on the 15th of march 1943 in jacksonville florida construction started on one of these ships which would go on to be named the ss richard montgomery just 136 days later she was complete and handed over to the atlantic gulf and west indies steamship incorporation over the following year she completed numerous successful passages across the atlantic until beginning her final voyage in august 1944. before we get to that though let me take a moment to thank this episode's sponsor curiositystream a subscription streaming service offering thousands of documentaries and non-fiction titles from some of the world's best filmmakers including exclusive originals curiosity stream is extremely affordable at under 20 dollars a year that's only 167 per month with content spanning science nature history technology music and sports you're sure to find something you'll love for example i've been watching their three-part documentary series ships that change the world which focuses on the titanic the bismarck and the canberra although they cover loads more within the episodes themselves curiosity stream is available worldwide on many of the most popular platforms the web app roku android xbox one smart tvs ios chromecast amazon fire amazon kindle and apple tv go to curiositystream.comcasual for unlimited access to the world's top documentaries and non-fiction series and for our subscribers use the promotional code casual and you'll save 25 off which comes out to only 14.99 a year so use my link in the description curiositystream.comcasual with the code casual and save 25 right now that's only 14.99 for the whole year or just 125 a month anyway we were diving into the history of another ship the richard montgomery who was just beginning her final voyage in august 1944. she departed hog island philadelphia with nearly 7 000 tons of munitions ultimately destined for sherberg in france as the final leg of the journey required the formation of a convoy richard montgomery first called in at the thames estuary where she was attacked by german aircraft after the attack she was towed in and anchored in great nor anchorage under the direction of thames naval control on the 20th of august lookouts on other vessels spotted the montgomery dragging anchor and tried to alert her crew unfortunately the warnings went unheard and she soon ran aground approximately 250 metres from the medway approach channel over the following hours the tide dropped away leaving the montgomery exposed high on the sand bank without the support of water around the hull she ended up breaking her back literally cracking in half there was no way she was getting off the bank within days the salvage operation began using the ship's own gear to start emptying the cargo it continued for over a month until being abandoned on the 25th of september the thing is there was still cargo on board inaccessible due to the flooding i guess they did plan to come back and finish the job when the war died down but of course we know that nearly 80 years later the ship and her remaining cargo of almost 1500 tons of high explosives is still there we said at the beginning of the video that there are enough explosives to potentially result in a blast throwing a 1 000 foot column of water and debris nearly two miles into the sky as well as sending a five meter tidal wave into the heart of one of the world's most popular cities so why has nothing been done well actually there are measures in place if you check out any nautical chart you'll see that the wreck is clearly marked with special marks on its northern eastern southern and western extents the area enclosed is legally protected and entry forbidden there are signs on the exposed masts telling everyone to stay away and the entire site is under the surveillance of the local port authority who keep a continuous radar watch the general consensus is that at the moment doing nothing is less risky than trying to do something you see back in 1967 there was another wreck the kills like the montgomery she sank during the war with a highly explosive cargo on board and was left untouched for decades while attempting salvage the cargo on board the keels detonated resulting in a blast that was picked up by seismic detectors as much as 5 000 miles away registering the equivalent of a magnitude four and a half earthquake on the richter scale the thing is the keels was much further away from land with a fraction of the cargo that the montgomery still holds it's seen as a warning of the potential danger of trying to remove ordnance from the wreck so what's the harm in leaving it where it is after all in the 80-ish years since the montgomery went down nothing has happened the tnt in the explosives is actually quite stable especially when stored at low temperatures such as it is while submerged in the river thames there are unknowns such as the state of the fuses and some of the other explosives but generally the feeling is that if it stays submerged in a stable environment it should remain safe of course that stable environment is not guaranteed forever over time the hull will disintegrate in fact in 2001 the uk's maritime and coast guard agency who undertakes surveys to monitor the rex condition concluded that doing nothing is not an option for much longer that was 20 years ago but now finally things are starting to happen in the next month or so work is due to start on lowering the height of the masts to reduce the stress on the underlying hull which should in turn reduce the risks posed by leaving the wreck where it is it's all part of the risk seesaw that has been and will continue to go on on one side you have the risks associated with doing nothing a spontaneous explosion caused by the collapse of the hull or collision with another vessel and things like that on the other side you have the risks associated with a full salvage such as the operation attempted on the kills in 1967 as time passes the balance of risk changes for example the risk that a falling mast may detonate the ship has increased to such an extent that it now outweighs the risk of removing them in time we'll start to get additional risks such as the wreck actually breaking up and the munitions starting to spread they could be carried by the river currents onto beaches where there is then the dangerous spontaneous explosion as they dry out you can of course continue to manage each additional risk as it comes up but eventually there might come a time when the least risky option is the full salvage i think that then and only then will it be considered but what do you think i'm guessing most of you didn't even realize it was there

Channel: Casual Navigation

Views: 798,843

Keywords: casual navigator, marine, shipping, casual navigation, maritime explaination, merchant navy, sailing, marine animation

Id: I4MwDekn8-k

Length: 8min 16sec (496 seconds)

Published: Fri May 27 2022