SS Kielce

SS Kielce was a Polish-operated cargo ship. She was a Type N3-S-A2 steamship, built in the USA in 1943 as SS Edgar Wakeman.

History
Name:
  • Edgar Wakeman (1943–44)
  • Kielce (1944 onward)
Namesake: City of Kielce, Poland
Owner: War Shipping Administration
Operator: Zegluga Polska, SA
Builder: Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc, Beaumont, TX
Completed: 1943
Out of service: 1946
Fate: sunk after collision with the steamer Lombardy
General characteristics
Class and type: Type N3-S-A2
Tonnage:
Length: 250 ft (76 m)
Beam: 41.3 ft (12.6 m)
Draft: 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m)
Depth: 20.4 ft (6.2 m)
Decks: 1
Installed power: 1,300 SHP
Propulsion: 6-cylinder steam engine
Speed: 10.2 knots (18.9 km/h)
Range: 4,500 nautical miles (8,300 km)
Sensors and
processing systems:

In 1946 while laden with a cargo of munitions she sank in the English Channel after colliding the French or British steamer Lombardy.[1]

In 1967 an attempt to salvage her wreck detonated some of her cargo, causing a minor earthquake.

History

Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc built Edgar Wakeman at Beaumont, Texas, completing her in 1943. She was an oil-burning steamship: a variant of the Type N3 design built at the request of the UK Government.

In 1944 the US War Shipping Administration bareboat chartered her to the Polish government-in-exile,[2] who renamed her after the city of Kielce in Małopolska. In April 1944 Kielce sailed in Convoy HK 217 from Galveston to Key West,[3] Convoy KN 308 from Key West to New York and Convoy HX 289[4] from New York to Liverpool.[5] From then until April 1945 she took part in short-distance convoys in UK home waters.[6]

On 5 March 1946 Kielce was in the English Channel off Folkestone carrying a cargo of munitions from Southampton to Bremerhaven when she collided with the steamer Lombardy. Kielce sank about four miles offshore, in water about 90 feet (27 m) deep.[7] Fortunately, there were no casualties, and all crew members were rescued by Lombardy.

Explosion

In 1966 the Folkestone Salvage Company was contracted to clear the wreck and disperse her explosive cargo. In 1967 the salvage company tried to dismantle part of the hull by setting explosive charges. On 22 July 1967 the third of these charges detonated some of her cargo. The resulting explosion damaged ceilings and chimneys and dislodged roof slates in Folkestone. A few windows were broken by movement of their frames. Nobody was injured.[7][8][9]

It was claimed that the explosion "brought panic to Folkestone’s town and chaos to the beaches", and a few sources claimed that it caused a "tidal wave". In fact two employees of the salvage company in a small boat only about 400 yards (370 m) from the wreck witnessed only "a small ripple and some spray", and it is calculated that the resulting sea wave cannot have been more than 2 feet (0.6 m) high.[7]

The explosion was recorded by 25 seismic recording stations, some of them up to 5,000 miles (8,000 km) away. From their recordings the explosion is estimated to have been about 4.5 on the Richter scale. It left a crater on the seabed 153 feet (47 m) long, 67 feet (20 m) wide and 20 feet (6 m) deep.[7]

See also

References
  1. Wrecksite - Kielce Cargo Ship
  2. Lloyd's Register of Shipping (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1945. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  3. Hague, Arnold. "Convoy HK.217". HK Convoy Series. Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  4. Hague, Arnold. "Convoy KN.308". KN Convoy Series. Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  5. Hague, Arnold. "Convoy HX.289". HX Convoy Series. Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  6. Hague, Arnold. "Ship Movements". Port Arrivals/Departures. Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  7. Report on the Wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery (PDF). Southampton: Maritime and Coastguard Agency. November 2000. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
  8. Sherlock, Peter (28 June 2013). "Does WWII wreck SS Richard Montgomery threaten Thames airport?". BBC News. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  9. Sabbagh, Dan (14 February 2020). "Bombs dumped in Irish Sea make bridge plan 'too dangerous'". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
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