SS Richard Montgomery Matter
Back to home page http://www.ssrichardmontgomery.com
The doomsday wreck
NewScientist 21st August 2004
Mick Hamer Page 38 (Extract)
"The bombs themselves have watertight cases and most experts agree that the
TNT they contain
is probably in first-class condition.
The fuses however, fall well short of this state, a fact that the government has
known since 1967.
The fuses contain lead azide, a chemical designed to explode on impact and
detonate the main
charge of TNT. Although the bombs are watertight, the fuses are not. This isn't
a problem if
seawater gets in: it will wash out the lead azide. But there is a nightmare
scenario- and it only has
to apply to one fused bomb.(*)
If water vapour, and not water, gets into the fuse it will react with the lead
azide to form hydrazoic
acid. This in turn will attack the detonating cap, which is 95 per cent copper,
to form copper
azide, which is highly sensitive and will explode at the slightest knock. It is
so sensitive that it
cannot be used commercially. One fuse detonating one fragmentation bomb could
easily set off
the rest of the cargo."
(*) The 2600 Fragmentation bombs (mostly if not all) have fuses in them.
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AN-M1A1 CLUSTER FRAGMENTATION BOMBS
These comprise a cluster of six 20lb TNT-filled fragmentation bombs type M41
assembled and packed on the cluster in the fuzed condition. They are the most
hazardous items in the cargo of the "SS Richard Montgomery". Each cluster was
packed in a metal-lined wooden box of exterior dimensions 134 X 27 X 32 (cm).
The fuze employed is the type AN-M110A1
Cluster bomb fuze type AN-M110A1 diagram and workings (pdf)
Cluster bomb fuze type AN-M110A1 cutaway picture (jpg)
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IN THE Thames estuary, 60 kilometres from central London, lies the
60-year-old wreck of the American liberty ship Richard Montgomery. It still
carries 1400 tonnes of TNT, and according to a report commissioned by the UK
government, an explosion is "increasingly probable with the passing of time".
Which makes it odd that it has taken four years to publish the report, which
will appear this week.
New Scientist revealed last year that the then secret report warned of the
dangers posed by the wreck (21 August 2004, p 36). The ship is disintegrating
and is likely to start collapsing in 10 to 20 years' time. "Experience
from other similar wrecks indicates that the explosion of
one munition is likely to result in a mass explosion," the report says.
It would be the world's biggest non-nuclear explosion apart from volcanoes, and
would cause £1 billion of damage and widespread injuries to the public.
“It would be the world's biggest non-nuclear explosion apart from volcanoes
”Removing the explosives would mean evacuating 40,000 people for six months.
The report's favoured solution is to build an 1800-metre earthwork around the
wreck to deaden the blast of the explosion.
(Extract) From issue 2483 of New Scientist magazine, 22 January 2005, page 4
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