SS Thistlegorm
SS Thistlegorm was a British cargo steamship that was built in Sunderland, North East England in 1940 and sunk by German bomber aircraft in the Red Sea in 1941.She was a defensively equipped merchant ship (DEMS) with a 4.7 in (120 mm) mounted on her stern and a heavy-calibre machine gun for anti-aircraft cover.The ship's cargo included: Bedford trucks, Universal Carrier armoured vehicles, Norton 16H and BSA motorcycles, Bren guns, cases of ammunition, and 0.303 rifles as well as radio equipment, Wellington boots, aircraft parts, railway wagons[7] and two LMS Stanier Class 8F steam locomotives.[8] These steam locomotives and their associated coal and water tenders were carried as deck cargo intended for Egyptian National Railways.At the time Thistlegorm sailed from Glasgow in June, this was the Western Desert Force, which in September 1941 became part of the newly formed Eighth Army.[9] Two Heinkel He 111 aircraft of II Staffeln, Kampfgeschwader 26, Luftwaffe,[10] were dispatched from Crete to find and destroy the troop carrier.[9] The bomb and the explosion of some of the ammunition stored in hold 4 led to the sinking of Thistlegorm with the loss of four sailors and five DEMS gunners.For this reason, in December 2007 the non-governmental Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) installed 32 mooring buoys around the wreck and drilled holes in the hull to allow trapped air to escape.Common interesting animals around the wreck are tuna, barracuda, batfish, moray eel, lionfish, stonefish, crocodilefish, scorpionfish, and sea turtle.
United KingdomJ.L. Thompson and SonsSunderlandofficial numbercall signCargo shipdirection findingecho soundingsteamshipNorth East EnglandRed SeaRas MuhammadCounty Durhamtonnagesregisteredwireless telegraphyMinistry of War Transportdefensively equipped merchant shipGlasgowAlexandriaBedfordUniversal CarrierNorton 16HmotorcyclesBren gunsWellington bootsLMS Stanier Class 8Fsteam locomotivesEgyptian National RailwaysWestern Desert ForceEighth ArmyCape TownSouth AfricabunkeredHMS CarlisleSuez CanalAbwehrHeinkel He 111Kampfgeschwader 26Luftwaffe2.5 tonne high explosive bombsGeorge MedalLloyd's War Medal for Bravery at SeaJacques Cousteauship's bellNational GeographicSharm el-SheikhmidshipssuperstructureWestland LysanderBristol Mercuryradial engineBristol BlenheimPundit LightsThe Timeswreck divingrustingnon-governmentalHurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Associationbarracudamoray eellionfishstonefishscorpionfishsea turtleRoyal Photographic SocietyorthophotoAdmiraltyLloyd's RegisterSouthampton City CouncilRohwer, JürgenShipwrecksBlokshiv No. 1HMS GladiolusLingfieldHMS BroadwaterTower FieldJohannes C RussRFA DarkdaleCarsbreckHMS LatonaEnglish TraderHerta Engeline FritzenHMS CossackV 309 Martin DonandtUSS Reuben JamesHMS TetrarchHMS LiverpoolHMS GnatSeptember 1941November 1941Recreational dive sitesAkumalAliwal Shoal Marine Protected AreaAliwal ShoalAmed (Bali)Apo IslandApo ReefArrecifes de Cozumel National ParkBay of PigsBelize Barrier ReefBiscayne National ParkBohol SeaBowie SeamountBunakenBunaken National ParkCahuita National ParkCalve IslandCapurganáĊirkewwaCliff Villa PeninsulaCozumelDhilba Guuranda-Innes National ParkEdmonds Underwater ParkEl Ikhwa IslandsFalse BayGħar QawqlaGili IslandsGreat Barrier ReefGreat Southern ReefGuadalupe Island Biosphere ReserveHol Chan Marine ReserveiSimangaliso Marine Protected AreaSodwana BayJohn Pennekamp Coral Reef State ParkKadmat Island