You're absolutely correct. Think of it this way: during World War II, cargo ships, including Liberty ships, carried everything needed to fight a war in locations around the world. What do you need to fight a war? Among many other things, ammunition, bombs, gasoline, fuel oil and other petroleum products of all kinds, chemicals of all kinds. Any number of those items are hazardous and often deadly, then and now.
Two examples come quickly to mind. The Liberty ship PAUL HAMILTON, carrying a load of high explosives and 580 unlucky troops and crewmen, was destroyed instantaneously when struck by a single German aerial torpedo on April 20, 1944, while in convoy in the Mediterranean. The ship literally disappeared, with pieces of the ship raining down on other vessels in the convoy. There were no survivors and only one body was ever recovered.
The Liberty ship RICHARD MONTGOMERY sank in shallow water at the mouth of the Thames River in Britain in August 1944 after going aground. There were no casualties among the crew. The ship carried thousands of tons of explosives, including large bombs. Some of the cargo was salvaged before the ship broke apart but much of it remains in place to this day, too dangerous and expensive to remove, in water shallow enough that the ship's masts remain visible above the water. There are serious concerns about public safety if the explosives were to detonate, even after so many years, as the ship and its cargo disintegrates. It has been estimated that if the cargo were to detonate spontaneously, it would send a column of water 1,000 feet wide as much as 10,000 feet into the air and generate a wave 16 feet high. Every window in the nearest city would be broken and many buildings damaged. An exclusion zone has been established around the ship, which is monitored around the clock, to minimize the possibility of collision with other vessels.
Less notorious examples are widespread. Many World War II vessels, whether cargo ships or warships, were lost in relatively shallow waters around the world, while containing fuel tanks filled with oil and with cargoes of various kinds still in the holds. As these ships rust away, they will eventually release the chemicals and explosives still trapped within them into the sea. The battleship USS ARIZONA, lost in a spectacular explosion when attacked at Pearl Harbor, continues to leak fuel oil into the waters of the harbor. Where the wrecks lie close to a shore, significant local environmental damage and threats to public safety and health may result without warning. See this newspaper article: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Fuel+seeping+from+sunken+vessels/5482177/story.html.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com
Responses « Back to index | View thread »