>According to a BBC News report in 1970,[15] it was determined that if the wreck of *Richard Montgomery* exploded, it would throw a 1,000-foot-wide (300 m) column of water and debris nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 m) into the air and generate a wave 16 feet (5 m) high. Almost every window in Sheerness (population circa 20,000) would be broken and buildings would be damaged by the blast. However, news reports in May 2012 (including one by BBC Kent) stated that the wave could be about 4 feet (1 m) high, which although lower than previous estimates would be enough to cause flooding in some coastal settlements.[16][b]
That sounds not good, but not as bad as I’d thought from previous mentions on Reddit of it. I guess that the distance from the shore is a big deal.
>According to a survey conducted in 2000, by the United Kingdom Maritime and Coastguard Agency,[5] the wreck still held munitions containing approximately 1,400 tonnes (1,500 short tons) of TNT high explosive.
For those who have seen the [footage of the Beiruit port explosion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNH4eE3RYUM) last year, this explosion would be about twice as large as that one.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery
>According to a BBC News report in 1970,[15] it was determined that if the wreck of *Richard Montgomery* exploded, it would throw a 1,000-foot-wide (300 m) column of water and debris nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 m) into the air and generate a wave 16 feet (5 m) high. Almost every window in Sheerness (population circa 20,000) would be broken and buildings would be damaged by the blast. However, news reports in May 2012 (including one by BBC Kent) stated that the wave could be about 4 feet (1 m) high, which although lower than previous estimates would be enough to cause flooding in some coastal settlements.[16][b]
That sounds not good, but not as bad as I’d thought from previous mentions on Reddit of it. I guess that the distance from the shore is a big deal.
>According to a survey conducted in 2000, by the United Kingdom Maritime and Coastguard Agency,[5] the wreck still held munitions containing approximately 1,400 tonnes (1,500 short tons) of TNT high explosive.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_artificial_non-nuclear_explosions
According to that, if they touch it off, it’ll be the fifth-largest man-made accidental non-nuclear explosion in history.
About half of the size of the largest, the Halifax Explosion, but that munitions ship was right up against the docks, and this has some distance.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion
For those who have seen the [footage of the Beiruit port explosion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNH4eE3RYUM) last year, this explosion would be about twice as large as that one.