British maritime engineers have completed a delicate operation to remove the three deteriorating masts from the SS Richard Montgomery, a World War II cargo ship that sank in the Thames Estuary in 1944. The Department for Transport confirmed the milestone in a written statement to Parliament, noting that the extraction was ordered after expert advisors warned that the heavy masts were placing dangerous structural strain on the aging hull. Salvage crews utilized a specialized diamond wire saw to minimize vibrations while working around the fragile, paper-thin deck structures of the wreck, eventually transporting the salvaged masts to the Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent.
Built in Florida in 1943, the vessel ran aground on a sandbank near Sheerness after dragging its anchor while carrying approximately 7,000 tons of ammunition. Although roughly half of the original cargo was recovered during initial efforts before the hull cracked and sank, an estimated 13,700 explosive devices remain trapped at the bottom of the estuary. Marine salvage experts point out that while the bombs themselves are watertight, their fuses are not, creating a persistent underlying hazard if seawater breaches the deteriorating ordnance.
Despite the recent removal of the weight-bearing masts to prevent a catastrophic collapse onto the cargo hold, the UK government has announced no immediate plans to extract the remaining munitions. Past proposals from researchers and engineers ranged from encasing the wreck in concrete to constructing a protective perimeter, yet none of these major interventions materialized. Authorities maintain that the site will continue to undergo regular monitoring, and strict aerial and maritime exclusion zones remain active around the resting place of the historic vessel.
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