Resolve Marine Removes Masts From SS Richard Montgomery Wreck

A Wartime Wreck Enters a New Phase of Risk Management

According to a report by The Maritime Executive, salvage specialist Resolve Marine has begun removing the three masts protruding from the sunken SS Richard Montgomery, a Liberty ship that went down in the Thames Estuary in August 1944 while loaded with Allied munitions. The UK Department for Transport appointed the company in April 2026 to carry out the operation, following roughly six years of planning and ongoing annual surveys of the site, located about 50 miles east of London.

Why the Masts Had to Come Down

The Richard Montgomery sank after a storm, and an early attempt to recover its cargo was abandoned once the hull cracked and was judged unsafe to work on further. Since then, an estimated 1,400 tons of munitions have remained aboard, and the wreck has been monitored closely by UK authorities for decades. Its mast tops, visible above the waterline, turned the site into something of a local landmark — but engineers had grown increasingly concerned that decay was making the masts unstable, raising the risk of collapse and further damage to the hull. That risk, rather than any new discovery about the munitions themselves, appears to be the driver behind the government’s decision to finally act.

How the Operation Is Being Carried Out

Resolve Marine divers and engineers are cutting and lifting the vessel’s three steel masts under strict safety protocols, with each section surveyed and paired before lifting. The company says the plan was shaped by extensive technical assessment and independent expert review, aimed at preserving the wreck’s stability while protecting personnel, nearby communities, and passing maritime traffic. Sam Adams, Resolve Marine’s Director of Projects, described the job as a highly specialized engineering undertaking demanding meticulous planning and rigorous risk control. UK Maritime Minister Keir Mather called the wreck one of the most remarkable in the world, noting it has rested in the estuary for more than 80 years, and described the start of mast removal as a significant milestone. The government has said the recovered masts will eventually go on public display rather than be scrapped, preserving a tangible piece of the wreck’s history.

What This Means for Owners and Surveyors

The Richard Montgomery case is an extreme example of a principle that applies across the industry on a smaller scale: structural decay is rarely static, and what was once a manageable risk can become an urgent one without warning. The decision to intervene only came after mast instability itself became the hazard, not the original munitions cargo — a reminder that ongoing condition monitoring needs to track evolving failure modes, not just the risks identified at the outset. For owners and managers of aging vessels, laid-up tonnage, or wrecks under their responsibility, the project underlines the value of regular, independent condition surveys that can flag structural degradation before it becomes a safety or liability issue. It also shows how technical assessments feeding into a removal or dismantling plan — whether for a historic wreck or a vessel nearing end of life — benefit from the kind of rigorous, documented survey work that underpins any defensible risk management decision. Charterers and insurers reviewing legacy liabilities tied to wrecks or long-dormant assets may also take note of how slowly, and how carefully, such operations are typically approved and executed once genuine risk is confirmed.

Looking Ahead

With the masts now being removed piece by piece, attention will likely shift to how the UK government manages the broader long-term plan for the wreck, including the fate of the munitions still aboard. For now, the mast removal marks a rare instance of visible, hands-on intervention at a site that has otherwise been left largely undisturbed for eight decades.

Reviewed by Ibrahim Halil Ceylan, Marine Surveyor at Apeks Marine.