The Real Gunpowder Plot or The Legend Lives On From The Kentish On Down...

Today is a pretty important day in the UK; Guy Fawkes/Bonfire Night. But there will be more of that later. The true Gunpowder Plot is an active threat that started just over sixty-five years ago. The SS Richard Montgomery is an American Liberty ship that was built during the middle of World War II. The Montgomery was on its way to France in August of 1944 when, during a storm, it became stuck in one of the many sandbars that dot the English Channel. After becoming lodged in the sand, a mile and a half from the town of Sheerness, the ship was bashed by the storm until it split into half under its own weight and sank. There were thousands of boats sunk during World War II. What makes this one noteworthy? Why is it a regular topic of conversation for Brits; especially the townspeople of Sheerness?

The SS Richard Montgomery is one of 2,710 hastily built a Liberty Ships that the U.S. military forces used to get supplies to the war fronts. The supplies that the Montgomery were carrying were 6,127 tons of munitions. After the ship began to break apart the munitions were attempted to be salvaged, and yet 1,400+ tons of munitions still remain on board! 1,400 Tons! Nearly, three-million pounds of explosives!

The decision to leave the remaining explosives on board was made in respect to another ship, the Kielce that sank off Folkstone in 1946. In 1967 an attempt was made to difuse the explosive cargo of the Kielce with the explosive result of the equivalent of a 4.5 magnitude earthquake. Currently the site of the wreck is cordoned off and is monitored visually and by RADAR. Although the wreck is in a percarious spot as it falls at the intersection of serveral major shipping lanes.

One has to choose whom to believe regarding the risk of explosion sixty-five years later. The governing authorities have always reported that it is better to leave the wreck alone rather than risk having anything occur while trying to alleviate the situation. According to them, any leaking explosives would be counteracted by the fridged Channel waters. Others however insist that the saltwater could corrode the casings of many of the exposives and eventually cause them to explode, they also are quick to point out that a significant portion of the munitions are TNT, and that TNT is not water solvable.

What could the detonation of the ship mean? According to the BBC, a report released by the British government shows that "a blast would hurl a 1,000ft wide column of water, mud, metal and munitions almost 10,000ft into the air. The shock of the blast would shatter almost every window in Sheerness and damage buildings. The explosion would also generate a 16ft high wave that could sink a small craft." Other not so optomistic folk forsee an explosion causing a tsunami and flooding large portions of the South East of England. Sheerness is just a little less than 15 miles from us, and the river Medway runs right through downtown Maidstone.

The wreck has been featured in various novels that usually depict nefarious groups planning on causing it to explode and thus create chaos for the surrounding areas. An enterprising soul has even claimed the domain name www.ssrichardmontgomery.com and has the domain name along with a movie script entitled "The Richard Montgomery Matter" for sale and one very interesting video is on youtube.