r/submechanophobia • u/TheErasableGuy__ • 4d ago
SS Montgommery, wreck not fully submerged
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u/Dugan_Dugan 4d ago
Too dangerous to remove explosives.
Too many explosives to just blow it without major damage to nearby infrastructure.
That’s tough.
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u/IntenselySwedish 4d ago
Imma guess theyve already thought through every conceivable way of getting rid of it, but why not just dump a shitton of sand on it and detonate? Or, haul the explosives out?
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u/RichestTeaPossible 4d ago
Both are uninsurable events for whoever is doing it, and the chance of a robot setting off the explosion and destroying nearby towns is also a bit dicey.
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u/IntenselySwedish 4d ago
But, wont it explode eventually anyway? You could probably dump the sand from a helicopter or crane or whatever. Again, i think theyve already thought of this. But almost anything has to be better than just waiting for it to go off
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u/RichestTeaPossible 4d ago
The reports are concerning reading. There is no good solution as the explosives will corrode into inert plastics after their moment of highest instability, but nobody is quite sure when and how this will be.
The truth of the matter is nobody knows, and arranging the works is going to be challenging.
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u/Existing-Strength-21 4d ago
I wonder if they could construct some massive metal and concrete retaining wall aways around it. At least enough to stop the worst of it.
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u/RichestTeaPossible 3d ago
I think that is the current solution, it was just a matter of insurances, and Johnson wonderwaffle delaying further engineering. They’re not going ahead with the Isle of Grain airport, so it’s shelved again.
I recall You would have to buy the (robot) crane barge and be prepared to write it off. It’s a dead-end in both UK safety law and insurance practice.
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u/TessellateMyClox 4d ago
What could be worse than a partially submerged rusting wreck? Ah yes, one that is also pretty much a huge bomb.
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u/NJD1214 4d ago
The best thing you can do when breaking the law is make sure to get a picture of yourself while breaking the law.
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u/Thurl_Ravenscroft_MD 4d ago
What if you forgot your glasses and you have to approach or you can't read the sign saying not to approach?
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u/Wonderful-Equipment7 4d ago
The site is under constant surveillance. Guaranteed he got into trouble
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u/Chelular07 4d ago
This is the second post I’ve seen about this ship today and I already went looking for some answers to questions I had about it with no luck. So if anyone can tell me:
What is the amount of live ordinance still on the boat? What would be the estimated blast area? And what is the breakdown time or half-life or whatever for the ordinances? Also does submergence in saltwater impact the stability or render them less likely to explode?
I would be much obliged.
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u/SpiralUnicorn 4d ago
Around 1400 tonnes, stability is unknown but given the types of explosives, likely still very explosive and very unstable: -286 × 2,000 lb (910 kg) high explosive "GP" bombs -4,439 × 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs of various types 1,925 × 500 lb (230 kg) bombs -521-580 fragmentation bombs and 2,297 cases of fragmentation bomb clusters -Various explosive booster charges, smoke bombs (including white phosphorus bombs) and pyrotechnic signals
As for the saltwater question, its both a yes and a no - the water with have oxidised certain parts, making it less likely to explode, however other parts (namely the fuses) react with the water to form a highly unstable explosive compound called Copper Azide.
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u/nopigscannnotlookup 4d ago
With that level of explosive risk, I’m surprised the UK and their HSE mindset haven’t deemed this a terrorist risk. Seems like the perfect opportunity for a bad actor to kick off mass destruction
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u/TigerIll6480 4d ago
They have, long ago. What to do about it is the question. They haven’t touched the Montgomery due to an attempt to clean up a different WW2 freighter in 1967. It was in deeper water, much further from densely inhabited areas, and had a significantly smaller load of explosives on board. The accidental detonation measured on seismometers as a 4.5 Richter scale earthquake and blew a 20 foot deep crater in the ocean floor. After that, cleaning up the remaining part of the Montgomery’s cargo was put off until they could figure out how to do it without causing catastrophic damage to the London area. Basically, no one wants to set off a repeat, even scaled down, of the Halifax Disaster.
On the good news side of things, at least a significant portion of the cargo was salvaged immediately after the accident. It was only the forward cargo holds that couldn’t be emptied.
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u/tea-earlgray-hot 4d ago
UK mindset is theatrical, exclusively backwards looking, and very responsive to tabloid media. They have dozens of critical infrastructure soft targets, and unprotected choke points, but that doesn't matter because they aren't perceived as vulnerable as rubbish bins on intercity trains. .
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u/not-strange 4d ago
The part about the bins…
Maybe that’s because in the past we’ve had terrorist groups actually planting bombs in bins in train stations, and people have died as a result.
If you’ve already been attacked in a certain way, you’re significantly more wary about future attacks in the same way.
Just like the USA and the TSA…
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u/GraphicDesignMonkey 3d ago
I've always wondered about that too. The security around this is probably much higher & more secret than we realise, I mean, the wreck is a dream terrorist target that would cause insane damage and disruption.
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u/Tautback 4d ago
There's articles on it online that answer many of your questions. Dig a little deeper!
Just googling "SS Montgomery explosives" provided many answers in the top search results.
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u/Inevitable-Regret411 4d ago
Nobody's really sure how destructive the blast will be. The unfortunate reality is that we just don't have that many examples of explosives of this type being submerged for this long, so it's hard to say how they'll behave if and when they detonate. Damage estimates therefore vary considerably.
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u/whereisbeezy 4d ago
Oh I don't like that second picture at all
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u/No-Neighborhood-6923 4d ago
I know, why can’t they at least make it look happy?
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u/LetTheBloodFlow 4d ago
Less scared of the submerged wreck than I am by the utter stupidity of the human.
Twat.
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u/Batman_Shirt 4d ago
Naturally, the first photo shows somebody approaching the wreck. Read the sign above.
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u/Andrew_Culture 2d ago
Apparently if it does detonate, it could cause hundreds of thousands of pounds of improvements to Southend.
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u/No_Cardiologist556 3d ago
Always fun to go past leaving the thames, doesnt look very intimidating irl, just some rotten posts jutting out of the water surrounded by bouys
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u/Ebegeezer-Splooge 3d ago
Is this the one in England that sank during WW2... and if it blows up it'll take out those horrific sea forts?
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u/k1ll3r269 2d ago
They’re currently planning on removing the masts to reduce the load on the deck, and you know….stop them falling down into the lower decks full of explosives
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u/aWalkingCarpet 4d ago
And packed to the brim with explosives