Thistlegorm

Red Sea - Egypt
Location: 27°42'00"N; 34°05'00"E
Description: Steam Freighter
Length: 126.5m
Width: 17.5m
Depth: 16 - 33m
Visibility: 20 - 30m

The Thistlegorm was discovered in 1956 by Jacques Cousteau and is the most famous wreck in the world. It sank on the 5-6 October 1941 when it was hit by a German bomb that blew a hole in the port side, igniting tank ammunition that was in the hold. The explosion ripped the roof of the ship backwards. The stern section of the wreck lies almost horizontal to the sea bed; the remainder of the wreck is nearly upright. Inside the wreckage, tyres, tanks, motorbikes, Bedford trucks, waders and wellington boots can be seen. Penetration is possible around the bridge and blast area. The large prop is still in position and the guns on the stern are in excellent condition. Artillery litters the blast area. A bath tub can be seen towards the bow and a toilet near the stern. The sea life is impressive with possibility of seeing tuna overhead the resident turtle. Expect this to be very busy, especially once the day boats have reached it; it is likely to be chaos both on the surface and under the water.

I dived it last in August 2006 and it truly is amazing. I did the dive with a group of re-breather divers and we managed two 1hrs20min dives back to back. If you really want to enjoy it make sure you take a flashlight with you. Most divers manage two 30 to 35 minute dives on the wreck. In rough sea conditions or current the descent is tough but once you penetrate the wreck it feels like another world, a time lost. On you rascent try go through the captains cabin on the deck you get a surreal feeling finning through.

Air permiting and always dive a buddy or guide try take a look at one of the locomotives which is around 100m away on the seabed port side in line with the the 10.3 inch gun on the Stern. Amazing