No wreck safari would be complete without visiting the SS “Thistlegorm”.
We were lucky enough to dive her four times on our Red Sea trip aboard Emperor Asmaa in July 2023.
At 32m the “Thistlegorm’s” four bladed propeller is the deepest point of the wreck.
Ian squeezes through the gap between the rudder and the prop.
The 4.7inch gun looms out of the blue on the “Thistlegorm’s” stern deck.
Crew toilet in the stern accommodation area
It baffles me how these shells survived the bombing, and did not go up with the rest of the powder keg!
Ian negotiates a narrow gap in the bulkhead, deep in the guts of the “Thistlegorm”.
“Six-packs” of Lee-Enfield .303 rifles may be found in Hold 1. These guns were made in the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield Lock – they were the mainstay of the British army in both World Wars!
Ian examines the rifle packs.
We encountered this Orange-lined Tambja deep in the lower holds of the “Thistlegorm”. This nudibranch feeds on bryozoans that only appear to grow in the deepest levels of the wreck.
There are two types of motorbike on the “Thistlegorm”. Each has distinguishing features, but fortunately each type was loaded on different decks. All of the bikes on the lower deck are Norton 16H models. Interestingly, they are not standard military issue, having exhausts that dog-leg up at the end.
The ranked cabs of these Fordson WOT3 trucks provide one of the most iconic images of the “Thistlegorm’s” cargo.
The more numerous BSA M20 motorcycles are found on the ‘tween deck of Hold 2.
Manufactured at the Birmingham Small Arms factory, they were specifically produced for dispatch riders at the front. Typically, five bikes are loaded on the back of a Morris-Commercial truck.
Our resident Biker Boy, Ian, scopes out a BSA M20 on the “Thistlegorm”.
Even Debbie got in on the action!
“Now, a dollop of WD-40, and I’m sure I can get it purring like a kitten!!”
A trailer and one of the many Wellington boots in the “Thistlegorm’s” holds. Over the years a lot of these boots have made their way to the surface, courtesy of a burst of air from a diver’s octopus (this is a little sad, as the stock of Wellies is definitely depleting!).
A hand trolley on the ‘tween deck in Hold 1. I could have done with this to lug my twinset around!!
Tucked away in a hidden recess of the “Thistlegorm’s” holds, one finds the most intact driver’s cab on the shipwreck. This is a Bedford OYC water tanker.
It was too good a photo opportunity to pass up! (Thank you Ian for wriggling into that impossibly tight space above the bonnet!!).
The huge winding gear on the deck between Holds 1 and 2. This would have been employed in loading and offloading the “Thistlegorm’s” cargo.
One of a pair of railway water tankers on the deck of the “Thistlegorm”. 3 Atmospheres of pressure have crushed the steel tank!
A broom-tail wrasse escorted us around the wreck. Here it swims over coils of rope in the chain locker in the bow.
“That’s a tight fit!”
Angela emerges from the for’d hatch, connecting the chain locker and the bow.
A ladder leads up to the foredeck, with its anchor winches, chains and hawsers.
A wash basin lies broken on the floor in the crew quarters, below the bridge.
The bathtub in the crew quarters is as full of silt as it is of water!
The captain’s toilet is faring no better! Eventually the “Thistlegorm’s” precious treasures will all be engulfed, or lost, as the decks collapse inwards. Ironically, our bubbles are accelerating this corrosive demise….
The History of the SS Thistlegorm
The “Thistlegorm” was built in 1940 by Joseph Thompson and Sons in the shipyards of Sunderland. A big ship, she measured 127m from bow to stern, displacing 4898 tons. Driven by a triple expansion steam engine, she was capable of speeds of up to 10 knots. Classified as an armed freighter, she carried a 4.7-inch anti-aircraft gun, and was later fitted with a heavy calibre machine gun.
Laden with supplies for the Royal Air Force (as part of Field Marshal Montgomery’s newly formed 8th Army), she sailed from Glasgow on 2nd June 1941, bound for Alexandria. Axis naval and aerial activity in the Mediterranean forced her to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, up the East African Coast and into the Red Sea. On reaching the Gulf of Suez, the convoy was unable to transit the Canal which was impassable after a collision, resulting in the wreck of the “Tynefield” blocking the entrance to the passage. Instead, the “Thistlegorm” was designated a mooring in Safe Anchorage F, behind Sha’ab Ali, and it was here that she dropped her anchor, late in September 1941.
At the same time there had been a build up of Allied forces in North Africa. Suspecting that a large troop carrier (possibly the “Queen Mary”) was operating in the area, German High Command dispatched flights of bombers from Crete to locate and sink the ship.
On the clear night of 5th and 6th October, a patrol of Heinkel H-111s was returning from an unsuccessful mission when it overflew Safe Anchorage F. Targeting the largest ship, two bombs were dropped on the “Thistlegorm”, scoring direct hits on her aft hold. This was where most of the artillery ordinance was stowed, and the ensuing cataclysmic explosion at 1.30am engulfed the freighter in a fireball so bright that sailors on nearby ships could clearly see the Egyptian shore and the Sinai mountains to the east!
The “Thistlegorm’s” stern had nearly been severed, her heart had been torn out, and nine of her crew were dead – she quickly flooded and sank at anchor.
Today, the “Thistlegorm” is one of the most famous wreck dives on the planet. Year after year her fascinating cargo of trucks, motorcycles, Bren Gun Carriers, bombs, rifles, aeroplane parts, Wellington boots and railway locomotives, attracts thousands of divers to explore her cavernous holds!
Recent research by Alex Mustard has helped to unravel and decipher the mystery of her manifest, so that now, more than ever, a dive on the “Thistlegorm” is one of the most exciting underwater adventures anywhere in the world!
If this sounds like it would be for you, visit our Trips page to find out when we are going next and come and join us!