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A hard-hitting movie about Sheppey bomb ship Richard Montgomery will be shown on the 76th anniversary of its sinking this week.
Producer Ken Rowles said: "This is the public's opportunity to see the programme which the BBC and other broadcasters are reluctant to screen.
"I suspect the government may be influencing the broadcasters because my documentary doesn't pull any punches."
His company Action Plus Media and Swale Media Arts Centre will take responsibility for showing the 80-minute investigation into why the Second World War American munitions ship sank five miles off Sheerness and how dangerous it remains to residents on Sheppey and in Southend.
Mr Rowles, 75, from Sittingbourne, said: "I will answer questions after the show with historian Colin Harvey and others with knowledge of the ship. We will also be asking if it is safe for the Ministry of Defence to remove its masts."
The story of the wreck of the former liberty ship is told by 77-year-old actor Ian McShane, best known for being Lovejoy in the BBC TV series and Blackbeard in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
A Disaster Waiting To Happen has cost more than £100,000 to make and includes footage from the Montgomery’s sister ship the Jeremiah O’Brien and a revealing interview with Captain Mike Fagg who blew up the smaller Polish-built Kielce, which was also packed with explosives and sank three miles off Folkestone in 1944.
The explosion on July 22, 1967, created a shock wave which could be felt 5,000 miles away, formed a 150m column of water which flooded Folkestone and left a 6m crater in the seabed.
The Richard Montgomery, loaded with explosives, slipped beneath the waves on August 20, 1944, after dragging its anchor and breaking its back on a sandbank, spilling its deadly cargo onto the seabed. It still has 1,400 tonnes of bombs on board.
Now the Ministry of Defence is inviting contractors to hack off its rusty barnacle-clad masts in a multi-million operation.
The film will be shown at the Avenue Theatre, Central Avenue, Sittingbourne, on Thursday, August 20, at 7pm. Tickets are £5 (£4 concessions) from www.avenuetheatre.co.uk or call 01795 471140. The theatre is operating Covid-19 restrictions.
