SS Thistlegorm

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The body’s blood runs slow and deep at 4am. Outside it’s cold, dark and the sun will not show herself for another couple of hours. Most people, the sensible ones at least, are still in bed, wrapped in their duvets, wrapped in the arms of loved ones, wrapped in the bliss of sleep and dreams. And yet across Sharm numerous guests are shuffling bleary eyed to their hotels lobbies, breakfast boxes in hand and the feeling that somewhere someone is having laugh at their expense.

Why are people forsaking their beauty sleep and the warmth of their beds then? Easy. To dive the SS Thistlegorm.

Laying at 30 meters in the Strait of Gubal and forty kilometers as the crow flies from Sharm el-Sheikh (hence the early start), this British merchant navy ship has become, in a relatively short time, an icon of diving in the Red Sea, and is without doubt Egypt’s most famous wreck, if not one of the world’s most famous.

A Short History

The Thistlegorm belonged to the Albyn Line Company, a Scottish shipping company. The Albyn Line launched a total of 18 ships in their Thistle series (the thistle is the national flower of Scotland and the reason why the Albyn Line took the thistle as their company’s logo) and each were given a Gaelic suffix such as the Thistleroy (roy meaning red) and Thistlegorm (gorm meaning blue).

Launched on 9th April 1940, this three cylinder, triple expansion steam ship, capable of reaching an output of 1,850 Hp and an approximate speed of 10.5 knots was assigned transport duties of war materials for the Allied Forces at the beginning of World War II. To protect herself from attacks, she was fitted with a 4.7 inch light anti-aircraft gun and a 40 mm machine gun.

In May 1941, the Thistlegorm, with a crew of 39 men under the command of Captain William Ellis, left the port of Glasgow in Scotland and headed toward Alexandria in Egypt as part of a 16 ship convoy taking much needed supplies to the British 8th Army stationed in Egypt and eastern Libya (at the time known as Cyrenaica). Prior to this voyage, the Thistlegorm had successfully completed three journeys (to the U.S., Argentina and Antilles respectively) but this voyage would prove to be her last and final voyage.

Due to the Axis forces controlling most of the Mediterranean and, more importantly, the Strait of Gibraltar, the safest route for a convoy to travel to Egypt from Britain was around Africa, stopping at Cape Town and Aden to load water, food and fuel, before powering north through the Red Sea to the Suez Canal. The convoy successfully completed the first two stages of their journey and were sailing north through the Red Sea when they received orders to cast anchors in the Strait of Gubal and await their turn to pass through the Suez Canal which had been temporarily obstructed by a ship that had struck a sea mine. Approximately two weeks before her sinking, the Thistlegorm anchored in the lee of a large reef (Sha’ab Ali), a place designated as Safe Anchorage F and, until this point, considered a safe berth.

By chance during the night of 5th/6th October two German Heinkel HE 111 bombers spotted the convoy and targeted the Thistlegorm as she was the largest ship in the convoy. At 0:35 on the 6th October they attacked the ship dropping two 2 ton bombs on her fourth hold, near the engine room, and where the ammunition was stored. The explosion was powerful, violent, exploding most of the munitions on board and one of the ships boilers. At 1:30, having been split in two, the Thistlegorm sank to the floor, finally coming to rest upright and, with the exception of the stern portion, on an even keel. HMS Carlisle, which was anchored next to the Thistlegorm, was able to save most of the crew but four crewmen and 5 Royal Navy Gunners (the youngest being only 17 years old) perished in the attack.

Discovery of the wreck

In March 1955 while on his way to the Indian Ocean to carry out a scientific mission on board his famous ship, the Calypso, Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau discovered the wreck of the Thistlegorm, identifying the wreck from the ship’s bell. Despite the bomb damage, the divers from the Calypso found most of the cargo on the ship intact and using one of the first underwater movie cameras documented their amazing discovery. These scenes would later appear in the famous documentary, Le Monde du silence (“The World of Silence”), that Cousteau produced and co-directed with Louis Malle. Photographs and a long article in the National Geographic were printed in 1956 and, briefly, the Thistlegorm became an item of wonder before, again, passing in to obscurity.

Rediscovery of the wreck

The wreck was rediscovered in 1974 after an Israeli diver was taken there by a local Bedouin fisherman, but news of the discovery was kept secret and only known to a closed circle of divers. In 1992, Roger Winter started taking the first tourists to the wreck and in the same year an article was published in the Italian diver magazine Aqva, followed shortly by an article in the British diver magazine, Diver. With these two publications the word was out about this amazing wreck laying at rest in the Red Sea and the SS Thistlegorm rapidly became one of the most famous and sought after wrecks in the world.

The Dives

Generally divers make two mooring dives on the Thistlegorm. The first is usually limited to the outside, while the majority of the second dive is spent exploring inside the holds. Both dives are deep dives by recreational standards: the first is usually the deepest at 30 meters and the second approximately 25 meters, however the average depth for both dives is around 17 meters, so enriched air is strongly recommended. The wreck is also subjected to very strong currents which can make ascents and descents “interesting”, so only experienced divers with reasonable air consumption should consider diving the wreck.

Dive 1

Most divers start their tour of the wreck with the stern section which was almost severed from the rest of the ship in the attack and subsequent explosions. The stern is the only portion of the wreck not on an even keel, and lays on her starboard side at a 46 degree list. Here divers can explore the ships two gun emplacements, the propellor & rudder, before moving on to the bomb blast area of hold No. 4 which contained munitions and and several Universal Carrier MK II tanks (often referred to as “Bren Carriers” as they were armed with one or two 7.69 mm Bren Guns ), and trailers to transport the ammunition. Strangely the ammunition survived the blast and you can see 370 mm projectiles (stored in fours within metal containers with the individual projectiles production year still visible on their bases), Howitzer shells and several large MK 12 deep-sea mines. Also clearly visible is the ship’s propellor shaft which was snapped in two during the attack. From the bomb blast area, current permitting, you can then explore a Stainer 8 F Locomotive situated approximately 15 meters from the bomb blast area off the port side of the wreck. The Thistlegorm was transporting two of these locomotives, as well as two coal tenders and two water tanks for the Egyptian Railroad Company, the only items on board the ship not destined for the British troops. After the locomotive it is best to ascend to the upper deck of the wreck and explore the midship and forward area of the wreck. In these areas you can see the Captain’s cabin and bathroom, the aforementioned water tanks and coal tenders, lifeboat davits, the capstans of hold number 1 & 2, the remains of paravanes, the main mast and loading derricks. Air and time permitting, you can then continue on to the forepeak, which was used as a small workshop and then the ship’s anchor winch (the port side anchor is still in place on the wreck whilst the starboard anchor, which was deployed at the time of the ship’s sinking, lays about 200 meters away from the wreck).

Dive 2

The second dive usually begins with the lower level of hold No. 3, which was used for storing fuel and, as the ship was near the end of her journey, is mostly empty. From here divers can make their way in to the lower level of Hold No. 2 which contains trailers and motorcycles (the Thistlegorm was transporting approximately 100 motorcycles consisting of BSA W-M20s, Matchless G3Ls and Norton 16 Hs), covers for radial airplane engines, trucks (consisting of Ford WOT 2s, Tilling Stevens TS-19s, Bedford MWs, Morris Commercial CS 8s and Bedford OYs), Lee Enfield MK III rifles, sidecars for motorcycles, aircraft wings and boots. After exploring the lower level of Hold No 2, divers can ascend to the upper level of Hold No 3 and enter the ship’s galley, exiting in to the upper level of Hold No 2 where they’ll find yet more motorcycles, trucks and Morris jeeps. Once the divers have completed their exploration of the holds, they can continue their exploration of the upper deck of the ship, again air and time permitting.

Marine Life

The Thistlegorm isn’t only a shipwreck, it is an artificial reef and a wide variety of marine life exploit this. Usually you will find large numbers of fusilier fish around the wreck. Orbicular spadefish, snappers, lionfish, scorpionfish, groupers, crocodilefish, Napoleon wrasse, nudibranchs and morays are not uncommon. If you dive early enough, you’ll find a resident hawksbill turtle on the wreck. There have been sightings of sharks, barracudas and dolphins. At certain times of the year, you can find the wreck literally covered in silversides and watch frenzied trevallies hunting them.

So much more than a wreck

The Thistlegorm has so much to offer. She is a piece of history from, I hope, the most horrific time in human history. She is a war museum and war grave. An exceptional reef. She is also a piece of diving history with Jacque Cousteau’s association with her. It isn’t difficult to understand why she is she a popular wreck.

Death of a wreck

Unfortunately numerous factors have and are contributing to the continuing decline of the Thistlegorm wreck. In the early days of it’s discovery it appears many divers helped themselves to “souvenirs” from the wreck, such as motorcycle badges, petrol caps etc. and, seemingly, didn’t care how much damage they caused the wreck in obtaining their mementos. Severe damage has been caused to the wreck superstructure by either inexperienced or uncaring dive guides tying lines to unsuitable areas (ship railings, the last remaining paravane, the anti-aircraft gun, ladders etc.) which were simply not strong enough to hold a dive boat. The greatest damage caused by such actions is on the port sides upper fore-ward deck where one of the water tanks was used to secure a line. The water tank (which in effect is only a hollow cylinder) was dragged out of place and now hangs precariously over Hold No 1, causing the decks (upper and lower) to start collapsing. Other damage is caused by inexperienced divers being allowed on the wreck. In a perfect world such divers would not have the privilege of diving on the wreck but, alas, unscrupulous dive centers allow such things for the sake of making a few Euros. Other damage is caused by callous individuals who think it is clever to “ride” motorcycles or sit in the Captain’s bath. Finally, constant damage is caused by exhaled air which gets trapped in the wreck, forms air pockets and allows rust to develop. Short of insisting only rebreathers are used on the wreck, there seems little than can be done to stop this and divers should be aware that they are, regardless of experience, contributing to the demise of this historic dive site.