www.ssthistlegorm.com ©2010 John Kean & Alastair Craig
Last Site Update 12th August 2010
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Diving The SS Thistlegorm
A trip around Thistlegorm today is like travelling through
time and many visitors experience high emotions during the dive. It is after all
a bomb site with highly visible signs of great destruction and loss. It's also a
giant underwater museum, a war grave, a unique piece of military history and an opportunity
to step into the past during a period when the free world was under threat from one
of the most tyrannous regimes of modern times.
Sunk by German bomber planes in World
War Two, SS Thistlegorm has lain at the bottom of the sea for over sixty years. Located
in the Straits of Gubal, Northern Red Sea this famous vessel has been the subject
of much activity and drama during its two lives as both a seagoing merchant ship
and as a world-class diving site.
Despite extensive public knowledge and interest
in Thistlegorm, it will continue to inspire a sense of mystery. Jacques Cousteau's
visit in 1955 remains the subject of much discussion and like the legend himself
Thistlegorm continues to attract speculation and controversy from beyond the grave.
Divers
can visit the wreck from Sharm El Sheikh by daily boat or during a week long safari.
Located on a bed of just thirty metres in good visibility this is the perfect wreck
dive where much of the original cargo still remains. The bow is just fifteen metres
below the surface and the propeller at twenty-seven. Measuring over four hundred
feet long, SS Thistlegorm often requires several dives to complete an extensive coverage,
inside and out.
Currents may occasionally be strong; however, mooring lines tied by
the guide allow divers to make a comfortable descent to the shelter of the wreck.
Once inside, divers can explore the ship's holds where time has seemingly stood still.
Motorbikes, trucks, guns and wartime cargo, never to reach its destination, lay stacked
where it was loaded back in 1941.
It must be said, that even after several hundred dives on Thistlegorm, such is the allure it holds for divers, that there is always something new to see. New wreckage has recently been discovered around the outer areas of the ship and includes sections of the railway engines, masts and other tenders.
Diving SS Thistlegorm requires certification as a trained diver, beyond entry level. Details of dive training and guided activities on Thistlegorm and in the Red Sea can be found here: www.liquidworldscuba.com
