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'We want a shipwreck mast to stay in Essex'

Shivani ChaudhariEssex
News imageGetty Images The wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery is seen partially submerged in the Thames Estuary in an archive image from June 1962. Three large cargo masts and several smaller structures lean at different angles above the water, with rigging and cables hanging from them. The black-and-white photograph shows calm water stretching to the horizon beneath a pale sky.Getty Images
The masts have remained visible in the Thames Estuary since the wreck ran aground in 1944

An MP said he was doing all he could to keep at least one of the masts from a Thames Estuary shipwreck in Essex.

Work to remove the visible masts from the SS Richard Montgomery - a World War Two American Liberty ship with 1,400 tonnes of explosives on board - is due to start in September.

They will then be taken to Historic Dockyard Chatham in Kent, which is home to restoration facilities, but David Burton-Sampson, Labour MP for Southend West and Leigh, said the masts were "a big part of the culture and we want to make sure one stays in Essex".

The Department for Transport (DfT) said no final decision had been made on the masts' long-term location.

Last month, the US backed plans to keep the masts in the UK.

Aviation, maritime and decarbonisation minister Keir Mather said it was important for local people to be able to reflect on the contribution the area made to the UK's war effort.

The ship has been perched on the Nore sandbank off Sheerness since it ran aground in August 1944 and the masts are visible from Kent and Essex.

Experts previously said the masts needed to be removed before anything breaks off and falls on to the cargo below, detonating it.

News imageGetty Images Three weathered masts from the SS Richard Montgomery rise from the water in the Thames Estuary. A warning sign attached to one mast reads: "Danger Unexploded Ammunition Do Not Approach Or Board This Wreck". Several seabirds are perched on the structures, with shoreline and buildings visible in the distance, in the photograph from 1 Aug 2022.Getty Images
The wreck remains surrounded by an exclusion zone in the Thames Estuary

The possibility of the masts being spread out between Kent, Sheppey and Southend was discussed in Parliament in April.

The masts have been visible to the local community for the past 84 years but the risk of a major explosion is believed to be remote.

Flo McEwan, a World War Two seafort historian, told BBC Essex presenter Sonia Watson: "We've been talking about this which seems like forever.

"Those masts are sadly going to be removed.

"Very excited but a bit sad at the same time that they will no longer be visible in the sea."

Daniel Cowan, a Labour councillor who represents the St Laurence ward, said: "It is an incredibly big part of local history.

"There are certain water-based tourism that will be affected.

"We're doing everything we can to bring one of the masts home."

News imageAngus Browne A man standing on a boat. He is wearing black shorts and a white top and a sun hat. He is holding onto the railing and smiling at the camera Angus Browne
Angus Browne has been running boat trips to the landmark for the past seven years

Angus Browne, who takes people on boat trips to see the wartime shipwreck, said the removal of the masts would be "a big shame", but he understood the decision behind it.

"It is one of our trips, you go out to see the masts and it is lovely to see," he said.

"I will miss it."

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