Thistlegorm
Thislegorm Dive Site from Sharm el Sheikh
The Thistlegorm was built in 1940 as a merchant vessel being 126m long and 17.5m wide it was commandeered by the navy during the World War II. In October 1941 the vessel had made its way round Africa and into the Red Sea. Loaded down with supplies destined for North Africa. It anchored in the holding area before moving towards the Suez Canal. The anchorage is 5 miles wide between the Sinai Peninsula and the reef ‘Shab Ali’ where the sea bottom is flat at around 30m.
In the early hours of the 6th October two German bombers from Crete found her and other vessels anchored there. The bombs landed in number four hold, which contained ammunition, ripping the stern section off and folding some of the deck back on itself. The ship went down and landed upright.
The wreck was first dived by Cousteau in the 50’s. However its position was not rediscovered until the early 90’s. Since then it has become one of the best wrecks to dive. The holds are open and easily accessed showing the full range of cargo carried. Like trucks, motorbikes, plane wings and engines, trains and tenders, Wellington boots and waders!!, ammunition, armoured vehicles.
This trip is done as a very early start of 04:15 as the journey is about 4 hours. This gives enough time to do 2 dives on the wreck and return by 18:00.
Safety stops are compulsory on these dives and careful monitoring of air supply and no decompression limit are essential. (Medical facilities are 4 hours away!!)
