View source for SS Kielce

{{Short description|Polish-operated cargo ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
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{{Infobox ship career
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| Ship name = *''Edgar Wakeman'' (1943–44)
*''Kielce'' (1944–present)
| Ship namesake = City of [[Kielce]], Poland
| Ship owner = [[War Shipping Administration]] (1943–1944), Żegluga Polska (1944–onwards)
| Ship operator = 
| Ship registry = 
| Ship route = 
| Ship ordered = 
| Ship builder = [[Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc]], [[Beaumont, Texas]]
| Ship original cost = 
| Ship yard number = 
| Ship laid down = 
| Ship launched = September 1943
| Ship completed = 1943
| Ship christened = 
| Ship acquired = 
| Ship maiden voyage = 
| Ship in service = 11 March 1944
| Ship out of service = 5/6 March 1946
| Ship identification = 
| Ship fate = Sunk after collision with the steamer ''Lombardy''
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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| Header caption = 
| Ship class = [[Type N3 ship|Type N3-S-A2]]
| Ship type = 
| Ship tonnage = *{{GRT|1752}}
*{{NRT|990}}
*{{DWT|2905}}
| Ship displacement = 
| Ship length = {{convert|250|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|41.3|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship height = 
| Ship draft = {{convert|20|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship depth = {{convert|20.4|ft|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship decks = 1
| Ship power = 1,300 [[Horsepower#Shaft horsepower|SHP]]
| Ship propulsion = 6-cylinder [[Marine steam engine|steam engine]]
| Ship speed = {{convert|10.2|knot|km/h}}
| Ship range = {{convert|4500|nmi|km}}
| Ship capacity = 
| Ship crew = 26 (in Polish service)
| Ship sensors = *[[direction finding]] equipment;
*[[echo sounding]] equipment
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}

'''SS ''Kielce''''' was a Polish-operated [[cargo ship]]. She was a [[Type N3 ship|Type N3-S-A2]] [[steamship]], built in the United States in 1943 as '''SS ''Edgar Wakeman'''''.

In 1946, while laden with a cargo of munitions, she sank in the [[English Channel]] after colliding with the British or French steamer ''Lombardy''.<ref>[https://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?11652 Wrecksite - Kielce Cargo Ship]</ref>

In 1967, an attempt to salvage her wreck inadvertently detonated some of her cargo; the resulting explosion was measured to be equivalent in force to a minor earthquake.

==History==
[[Pennsylvania Shipyards, Inc]] built ''Edgar Wakeman'' at [[Beaumont, Texas]], and completed her in 1943. She was an oil-burning steamship, a variant of the [[Type N3 ship|Type N3]] design built at the request of the UK Government.

In 1944, the US [[War Shipping Administration]] [[bareboat charter]]ed her to the [[Polish government-in-exile]],<ref>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/45/45a0608.pdf |year=1945 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |location=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |access-date=6 October 2020}}</ref> who renamed her after the city of [[Kielce]] in [[Lesser Poland|Małopolska]]. In April 1944, ''Kielce'' sailed in Convoy HK 217 from [[Port of Galveston|Galveston]] to [[Key West]],<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hk/index.html?hk.php?convoy=217!~hkmain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Convoy HK.217 |work=HK Convoy Series |publisher=Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date=6 October 2020}}</ref> Convoy KN 308 from Key West to [[Port of New York and New Jersey|New York]], and Convoy [[HX convoys|HX]] 289<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/kn/index.html?kn.php?convoy=308!~knmain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Convoy KN.308 |work=KN Convoy Series |publisher=Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date=6 October 2020}}</ref> from New York to [[Port of Liverpool|Liverpool]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hx/index.html?hx.php?convoy=289!~hxmain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Convoy HX.289 |work=HX Convoy Series |publisher=Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date=6 October 2020}}</ref> From then until April 1945, she took part in short-distance convoys in UK home waters.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/ports/index.html?search.php?vessel=KIELCE~armain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Ship Movements |work=Port Arrivals/Departures |publisher=Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date=6 October 2020}}</ref>

On 5 March 1946, ''Kielce'' was in the English Channel off [[Folkestone]], carrying a cargo of munitions from [[Port of Southampton|Southampton]] to [[Bremerhaven]], when she collided with the steamer ''Lombardy''. ''Kielce'' sank about four miles offshore, in water about {{convert|90|ft}} deep.<ref name=MCA>{{cite book |url= https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/851504/2000_survey_report_montgomery.pdf |title=Report on the Wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery |date=November 2000 |place=Southampton |publisher=[[Maritime and Coastguard Agency]] |access-date=6 October 2020}}</ref> 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 when their frames shifted due to the blast. Despite the immense amount of force that was generated by the explosion, nobody was injured.<ref name=MCA/><ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17513286|title=Does WWII wreck SS Richard Montgomery threaten Thames airport? |last=Sherlock |first=Peter |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=28 June 2013 |access-date=16 September 2013}}</ref><ref name=Sabbagh>{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/feb/14/bombs-dumped-in-irish-sea-make-bridge-plan-too-dangerous |title=Bombs dumped in Irish Sea make bridge plan 'too dangerous' |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=14 February 2020 |access-date=4 March 2020 |last=Sabbagh |first=Dan |author-link=Dan Sabbagh}}</ref>

There are claims that the explosion “brought panic to Folkestone’s town, and chaos to the beaches,” and a few sources alleged that it caused a “[[Tsunami|tidal wave]].” In fact, two employees of the salvage company that were in a small boat located only about {{convert|400|yard}} from the wreck witnessed only “a small ripple and some spray,” and it has been calculated that the resulting sea wave could not have been more than {{convert|2|ft|1}} high.<ref name=MCA/>

The explosion was recorded by 25 [[Seismometer|seismic]] recording stations, some of them up to {{convert|5000|mi}} away. From their recordings, the explosion was estimated to have been about 4.5 on the [[Richter magnitude scale|Richter scale]]. It left a crater on the seabed {{convert|153|ft}} long, {{convert|67|ft}} wide, and {{convert|20|ft|0}} deep.<ref name=MCA/>

==See also==
* {{SS|Castilian}} — WWII shipwreck in the [[Irish Sea]] containing explosives.
* {{SS|Richard Montgomery}} — WWII shipwreck in the [[Thames Estuary]] containing explosives.
* [[List of accidents and incidents involving transport or storage of ammunition]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Type N3-S ships|state=collapsed}}

*{{Coord|51|02|20|N|01|13|33|E|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kielce}}
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:Explosions in 1967]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1946]]
[[Category:Ships built in Beaumont, Texas]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the English Channel]]
[[Category:Steamships of Poland]]
[[Category:Type N3 ships]]
[[Category:Ships sunk in collisions]]