SS Richard Montgomery

The U.S.S. Richard Montgomery was an American ship built during World War II - one of the 2710 Liberty ships used to ferry cargo. The ship was built in 1943 by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, (Est.1942), and the seventh of the 82 such ships built by this yard. The Montgomery was completed July, 1943 and given the official ship number 243756.

Named after Richard Montgomery, a celebrated Irish-American soldier of the 18th Century, who was born in Dublin in 1738, elected to congress and later fought against the British in Canada, only to be killed in the assault on Quebec in 1775.

In August 1944, on what was to be its final voyage, the ship left Hog Island, Philadelphia, where it had been loaded with 6127 tons of explosives. It made its way from the Delaware river to the Thames estuary where it anchored while awaiting the formation of a convoy to travel to Cherbourg, France, which had already fallen to the Allies (on July 27, 1944) during the Battle of Normandy.

When she arrived of Southend she came under the authority of the Thames naval control at HMS Leigh, located at the end of the Southend pier.

It was the then harbour master, responsible for all shipping movements in the estuary who ordered Montgomery to a berth off the north edge of Sheerness middle sands, where she ran aground in a depth of 24 ft. of water at low tide.

The general dry cargo liberty ship had an average draught of 28 ft, Montgomery was trimmed to a draught of 31ft however, and at low water, at the height of a spring tide with a northerly wind it was inevitable the ship would run aground at its shallow mooring.

On August 20, 1944, the ship ran aground on sand banks near the British Isle of Sheppey off the northern coast of Kent. Between then and September 25, about half of the explosives were successfully removed from the wreck, after which time the ship was abandoned.

A Rochester based stevedore company were given the job of removing the cargo, which began 23rd August using the ships own cargo handling equipment, but by the next day the liberty ships hull had cracked, causing several cargo holds at the fore end to flood, it was still possible to continue salvage up until 25th. Sept. 44, when she was finally abandoned.

Due to the presence of unexploded ordnance, the ship is still monitored by the Port of London Authority.

During the enquiry that followed, it was revealed that several ships moored nearby had noticed Montgomery drifting toward the sandbank, and that they had attempted to signal an alert by sounding their sirens without avail, and that throughout this captain Wilkie of the Montgomery was asleep, and the chief officer was unable to explain why he had not alerted the captain.

The real reason however for the disaster was ultimately down to the harbour master, who was confident that his choice of birth for the ship was safe, despite objections by the assistant harbour master who tried to have it relocated, but was countermanded by his superior. Foley, the assistant, insisted upon a written confirmation of these instructions, which was refused, with this Foley left the office.

That he was after the disaster posted to another department prevented his attendance at the enquiry, so obscuring the fact that the ship was incompetently parked, by the harbour master, who then refused to consider otherwise.

3173 ton of various explosives remain on and around the wreck to this day.

(The wreck of the USS Montgomery. FR Turner. isbn 0-9524303-6-3. 1995).

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