Crews Remove Masts From 1944 Shipwreck to Prevent Collapse

Engineers have completed a high-stakes operation to remove the three remaining masts from the SS Richard Montgomery, a World War II vessel wrecked in the Thames Estuary. The project aimed to reduce the structural load on the ship, which still sits on the seabed holding a massive cargo of unexploded ordnance.

The Montgomery ran aground off Sheerness in August 1944 while transporting munitions for the Allied forces after D-Day. The ship broke apart during salvage attempts and sank with an estimated 1,500 tons of explosives in its holds. For decades, the masts remained visible above the water, serving as a landmark for local residents and passing ships.

Recent surveys indicated the structure was deteriorating, raising concerns that the masts could collapse onto the cargo and trigger a detonation. Nolan Conway, a naval architect with Resolve Marine Group, noted that the vessel had begun to lean. He explained that some munitions likely have pressure fuses, meaning an impact could set them off. The firm built a custom lifting frame to raise each mast without swinging or swaying, using a remotely operated underwater diamond-wire saw to cut them free without requiring divers to enter the water.

U.K. maritime minister Keir Mather told the House of Commons that the project finished ahead of schedule and on budget. The total cost was just under $13 million. Mather stated that the masts placed a significant load on the structure and that their removal supports the long-term safe management of the site.

The explosives themselves remain in place because removing them would carry considerable risks. Experts disagree on what a potential detonation would cause. Conway said estimates range from effects on the shoreline to a tidal wave traveling up the Thames, or a minor event that might only close a nearby shipping channel. He described the possible impacts as a wide range, none of which are favorable. Officials still judge the overall chance of an explosion to be low.

The government maintains an exclusion zone around the wreck, which lies about 1.5 miles off the Sheerness coast. Mather said the site will continue to be subject to continuous monitoring and control through that zone. The three masts have been moved to the Historic Dockyard Chatham museum, where they will be displayed to recognize the ship's role in supporting Allied forces during the war.

More than 80 years after the ship failed to reach Europe, the Montgomery and its cargo remain where they came to rest. The wreck is now entirely out of sight, but the monitoring efforts continue.