A sunken US warship in the Thames Estuary, containing enough unexploded bombs to devastate a Kentish coastal town and send a tidal wave through London, has been made slightly safer, ministers have announced.
Engineers removed the masts of the SS Richard Montgomery — a World War II cargo ship that sank in 1944 with about 1,400 tons of munitions on board — without triggering the kind of feared explosion that kept the wreck under constant surveillance for decades.
The work was carried out due to fears that the masts, which remained visible above the water near Sheerness, could collapse on the deadly cargo and cause the ship to explode.
The potential effects of an explosion after 82 years underwater divide expert opinion. Some believe it could cause a small tsunami, throwing debris 3km into the air and “leveling Sheerness”, according to a 2004 New Scientist report. A 2000 government report said it was widely believed it would “endanger local property and people”.
The exact contents of the ship’s three holds are unknown, but a defense agency report estimates there were nearly 300 900 kg hit bombs and more than 2,000 cluster bombs.
Keir Mather, the marine minister, told the House of Commons on Monday that the work was now complete, with all three masts successfully removed as part of a “complex project requiring specialist programme, engineering and risk management expertise”.
Mather said the masts had imposed “a significant load on the structure and their removal has reduced this risk and supports the long-term safe management of the site”.
He said the work had been completed ahead of schedule and below planned costs, estimated at £9.5 million. The masts have now been delivered to a maritime museum, the Historic Dockyard Chatham, “in recognition of the historical significance of the SS Richard Montgomery and her role in supporting the efforts of the Allied forces during the Second World War.”
The wreck “will continue to be subject to continued monitoring and control through the established exclusion zone”, it said.
A no-fly zone has long been in place around the SS Montgomery, and since 2025 a no-fly zone has been in place – a development that could have been tricky if Boris Johnson’s proposed Thames Estuary Airport had gone ahead.
Although the risk of a major accidental explosion is now considered remote, local people have been alarmed by incidents in recent years, including the occasional proximity of a cargo ship and a paddleboarder who uploaded photos to social media of himself leaning on the protruding masts.
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