Masts removed from bomb-laden WWII ship in Thames in bid to avoid explosion

A sunken US wartime ship in the Thames estuary holding enough unexploded bombs to devastate a Kent coastal town has been made slightly safer, ministers announced. Engineers have successfully removed the masts of the SS Richard Montgomery, a Second World War cargo ship that sank in 1944 with approximately 1,400 tonnes of munitions onboard, without triggering the feared explosion that has kept the wreck under constant guard for decades.

The work was carried out due to concerns that the masts, which had remained visible above the water near Sheerness, could collapse onto the deadly cargo and cause an explosion. The potential effects of such an explosion after 82 years underwater have divided expert opinion. Some believe it could cause a small tsunami, throw debris 3km into the air, and "level Sheerness," according to a New Scientist report in 2004. A government report in 2000 stated it was widely accepted that an explosion would "put property and the local population at risk."