The post Shipwreck: SS Richard Montgomery appeared first on Shipwrecks and Submerged Worlds.
]]>
I, however, am less concerned with the contents of the wreck and more with the effects the wreck has had on the seafloor. The wreck’s presence on the seafloor has dramatically altered the local flow of the tidal currents and where these currents accelerate around the structure sediment is scoured away. The wreck now firmly sits within a crater, or scour pit. However, recent propositions for the construction of an airport within the Thames Estuary threaten the wreck’s permanency. A feasibility report for the airport construction stated that it would seem necessary for the full treatment and/or removal and disposal of the munitions. This would mean a sad end to the wreck of the Monty, one of only three remaining unaltered liberty ships.
Amelia Astley
Find out more about SS Richard Montgomery
If you are interested in finding out more about SS Richard Montgomery, it is covered in Week 2 of Shipwrecks and Submerged Worlds. Sign up here: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/shipwrecks
Coast Series 2, episode 8 – Felixstowe to Margate has a section on SS Richard Montgomery.
SS Richard Montgomery information and survey reports
The post Shipwreck: SS Richard Montgomery appeared first on Shipwrecks and Submerged Worlds.
]]>The post Amelia Astley – a short biography appeared first on Shipwrecks and Submerged Worlds.
]]>
Hi, I’m Amelia Astley, a PhD student at the University of Southampton. Although my office is within the National Oceanography Centre my PhD focuses on the dynamics of shipwreck sites, specifically looking at the effects of varying marine environments on the evolution of wreck sites.
Presently I am focusing on the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery, a WW2 liberty ship, which wrecked after becoming stranded on a sandbank off the Sheerness. The hull still contains some 3,000 tonnes of ammunitions; maritime archaeologists are therefore concerned with the stability of this ship. Since 1995 the wreck has undergone near annual multibeam bathymetry surveying, this has provided an exceptional time-series of the changes in the seabed height.
As well as using this field data to describe the site, I am also drawing on my oceanographic background in order to account for the site stability observed in the bathymetry time-series. This includes measurements of the local tidal and wave-induced currents.
As part of the MOOC, I shall be introducing the concepts of geophysical surveying and describing a few case studies, including the Richard Montgomery.
I you would like to follow my future research you can follow me on twitter @Amelia_Astley.
The post Amelia Astley – a short biography appeared first on Shipwrecks and Submerged Worlds.
]]>