The ‘doomsday wreck’ whose bomb-laden bomb that threatens to cause a tsunami in the Thames could be carrying another of his feared deadly cargoes – mustard gas.
The SS Richard Montgomery sank in the Thames near Sheerness, Kent, in August 1944, and 1,400 tons of American bombs were dropped.
But Southend councilor Stephen Aylen fears that the accident, which is eight miles from his constituency, has carried a second, ‘much worse’ cargo – mustard gas.
He gave the example of another Liberty Ship, the SS John Harvey, which was sent to the Mediterranean theater and secretly shipped the deadly gas.
But the ship was sunk by the Luftwaffe from Bari, Italyin December 1943, it unleashed its deadly force and killed many people, with hundreds injured.
Mr Aylen asked: ‘Is there anything like that in Montgomery? Is there something more sinister on board than we’re being told?
‘Because nobody can say exactly what’s in there.’
Fear that a desperate Hitler may turn to medicine equipmentThe Allies sent mustard gas into Italy for a quick response.
The ‘doomsday wreck’ whose bomb-laden wreckage threatens to cause a tsunami in the Thames could be carrying another dreaded deadly cargo – mustard gas.
The SS Richard Montgomery sank in the Thames near Sheerness, Kent, in August 1944, and 1,400 tons of WW2 explosives landed on the bottom.
The SS Richard Montgomery sank on the Medway in Kent and has been at the bottom of the sea for almost 80 years.
But the gas was prohibited by the Geneva Protocol, and it was sent so secretly that its presence in Italy was not acknowledged even if it was accidentally released.
Aylen said that if Hitler was considered willing to use chemical weapons after the Allied war in Italy, then in August 1944 it was very difficult for him.
D-Day occurred in June, and Hitler gave his troops permission to withdraw from Normandy a few days before the sinking of the SS Richard Montgomery.
Mr Aylen said: ‘I could be putting two and two together and making five here, but the point is: if they took the oil to Italy, why wouldn’t they take it after D-Day?
‘Hitler must have been desperate.
‘If he had taken it to Italy thinking that Hitler would be willing to use it, he must have had good reason, and certainly logic says that he would have bought it in this part of Europe.’
Plans are in place to remove the SS Richard Montgomery’s masts, which still hover above the waterline, lest they fall to the wreckage and cause an explosion.
But work has been repeatedly delayed and now work is not expected to begin until next year.
Plans are in place to remove the SS Richard Montgomery’s masts, which still hover above the waterline, lest they fall apart and cause an explosion.
‘The entire front part of the damage’, which is in two halves on the floor, ‘seems to be enlarged’ by 10 to 15cm.
In a statement, the Department for Transport said its aim was to ‘ensure public safety and minimize any risk posed by the SS Richard Montgomery’.
The American government offered twice to protect the disaster – in 1948 and 1967 – but was rejected both times.
“It seems strange that it has been abandoned,” said Aylen, an independent who has been on Southend council for nearly 30 years.
‘Why would they leave this obstacle there, with some of the world’s largest ships now heading up the Thames?
‘And it’s sitting there, just yards from where they’re going.’
He added: ‘The more you look, the more you start to doubt.’
It comes after a recent investigation found other signs of the ship’s collapse, all of which were seen last year.
This included the ‘entire front part of the wreck’, which is in two sections on the ground, leaning 10 to 15 cm to the east as the ‘support doll is washed away’.
The second load-bearing crack increased by 5cm in width and 37cm from the previous survey, and was ‘significantly rebuilt’ at the bottom.
A spokesman for the Department of Transportation, Ministry of Health, said the accident was being monitored at all times
It is feared that the wreck still has enough power to send waves into the Thames, giving it the nickname ‘Doomsday wreck’.
The back half of the ship, meanwhile, was ‘breaking in half about half its length’, with its six-metre length falling more than half a meter in a year.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transport, the lead ministry, responded to Aylen’s actions.
They said: ‘The SS Richard Montgomery is one of the world’s most famous shipwrecks.
‘In the 80 years since she sank there has been no evidence that her cargo contained mustard gas.’
A total of 628 soldiers were hospitalized with symptoms of mustard gas after the sinking of the SS John Harvey, and 83 of them were injured.
The number of civilians killed has not been recorded, but is thought to have been much higher.
What is the SS Montgomery and why is it dangerous?
The SS Richard Montgomery was a United States Liberty Ship built in 1943 to transport goods across the Atlantic Ocean.
The 7,200 ton ship successfully crossed the Atlantic on HX-301 without incident and was ordered off Sheerness.
The ship was carrying 7,000 tons of ammunition and was due to go to Cherbourg to unload its cargo.
However, on August 20, 1944, Montgomery pulled anchor and ran aground 250 yards from the Medway Approach Channel.
The SS Richard Montgomery, pictured, sank in 1944 off the coast of Kent carrying 7,000 tons of ammunition that was to be shipped to Cherbourg for the invasion of Europe.
The SS Richard Montgomery pulled anchor on August 20, 1944 and ran aground on a sandbar before her hull broke and began to flood.
A major salvage operation was launched to unload the deadly cargo from the ship although, within 24 hours cracks began to appear across the hull and the forward areas began to flood.
By September 25, the rescue operation had to be abandoned after the entire ship flooded.
The Richard Montgomery was one of 2,700 Liberty ships built during the war.
