Shipwreck crammed with enough explosives to send ‘catastrophic’ tsunami up the Thames rapidly decaying

Plans to remove the three masts, which can be seen above the water’s surface, have now been brought forward after a new assessment discovered the corrosion.

Experts suggest the corrosion is plaguing the masts worse-than-expected and could trigger a potentially “catastrophic” blast.

Southend Labour councillor Lydia Hyde has warned that things had reached a point where it was safer to act.

She said: “There was an assessment in the summer, and then there was a more detailed one in November, to basically go and look at the condition of the masts.

“The concern is that corrosion means they catastrophically fail, their structural integrity goes, the mast falls down and then lands on the wreck, and then that could set off an explosion.

“Following the dive, they’ve assessed it and they’ve gone ‘actually, no, we need to bring this forward because the corrosion was more than expected’.”

The ship was an American vessel carrying military weapons for the allies in the Second World War.

The SS Richard Montgomery has been nicknamed “Doomsday wreck” due to its potential explosive power.

More to follow…