There she blows

[happy daze john in oz]

Just off the south coast near Sheernes lies the SS Richard Mongomery.
She sank way back in 1944 with some 1400 tons of explosives on board.

Experts now say it is time for the gov to have them removed as she poses a risk to the region.

It is still possible for the munitions on board to explode even after so many years under water, they are now more likely to do so then many long years past according to munition experts.

Such an explosion could cause a Tsunami capable of sending a sea of mud, metal and other objects as much as 10,000 feet into the air.

There is talk that removing the sections of mast still above the water would reduce the risks of such an explosion.

If she does go up it will make Guy Fawkes night look like a very small event compared with this.

[John F Collier]

Living in the area John I have an interest in the ship, for the duration of the war Southend pier was named HMS LEIGH and had a Harbour Master installed as the
Thames Estuary was to be the muster point for convoys and was named as HMS WESTCLIFF, when the RICHARD MONTGOMERY arrived at the Thames Estuary
she was given a mooring position by the Harbour master, during the night the ship dragged her anchor and drifted on to a sandbank, when the tide went out
the ships back was broken. For the following days munitions were unloaded as quickly as possible as the ship was slowly sinking, when she finally sank there
was still a significant amount of explosives in her hatches. After much discussion on the possibility of the stability of the cargo, they decided to remove her mast
as local idiots had been buzzing around the wreck in speed boats and jet skis, also seen as a danger to shipping, in 2022 her mast were finally dismantled and
marker bouys put in place, my bungalow is 400 yards from the sea front, so I am in the front line so to speak, I love it here and at 85 I'm here for life. cheers

[Des Taff Jenkins]

John.
I have a picture of her somewhere in my stuffed up computer. Trouble is it doesn't make a lot od difference how long she has been there she is still a dangerous ship, they are still blowing up old wartime bombs they find.
Cheers Des

[John F Collier]

John.
I have a picture of her somewhere in my stuffed up computer. Trouble is it doesn't make a lot od difference how long she has been there she is still a dangerous ship, they are still blowing up old wartime bombs they find.
Cheers Des

That's true Des, the last UXB was found only a couple of weeks ago and safely detonated at sea, after getting married we moved from London to Essex, in December 68
we moved in to our first house just before Christmas, the house was close to the beach. 50 years later I sold the house and down sized to a bungalow and moved in once again just before Christmas, the move was 0.75 of a mile form the house and 4oo yards from the seafront, I love being by water, after the war I was always
going fishing on the river Lea at Waalthamstow, the tow paths were still in use with horse towing barges, used to love watching the locks fill with water and the
barges rising to the top and passing through the lock gates, loads of dragonfly's colouful butterflies that are now long gone. As for the Richard Montgomery, who knows
what's in the future, there is a very old saying, "Never worry worry til worry worries you" cheers
the

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John.
I do all the dish washing and spend time looking out te window at the hills, except when there is snow on them, But I still like to see the British countryside and sea scapes on TV, if for some reason I lived at home I would like to live in Devon, go exploring those fossils.
Cheers DEs

[John F Collier]

Hi John.
I do all the dish washing and spend time looking out te window at the hills, except when there is snow on them, But I still like to see the British countryside and sea scapes on TV, if for some reason I lived at home I would like to live in Devon, go exploring those fossils.
Cheers DEs

Dorset is the place for fossils Des, the last notable one found there was a prehisoric sea monsters remains, the skull was about 7ft long, can't remember the name
of it but David Attenborough had a TV program on it, he said it was a ferocious predator, the skull was a bit like a crocodile's, it was found on Dorset's Juristic coast. cheers

[happy daze john in oz]

We do pretty well here in Oz for fossils, mainly in feral parliament.

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi John.
Got the wrong County, that is the one I meant, shows how long since I was there LoL.
Des