considered one of the largest ships sunk by the Germans during World War II, where it was carrying a fleet and British war pieces, that ship is considered one of the most important attractions of diving trips in the Red Sea and the site of the shipwreck was chosen among the ten best diving sites in the world, by the Union of World Diving organizations.
Ship construction
The ship was completed on the ninth of April 1940 and launched on the Twenty-Fourth of June in the same year.
Ship voyages
In her career, the ship has completed three successful voyages :
The first flight was on the Twenty-Fourth of June 1940 to the United States to ship railway rails and aircraft parts.
The fourth and last flight left Glasgow on its last flight on the second of June 1941, heading to Alexandria, Egypt.
Targeting the ship
The ship was loaded with ammunition, anti-aircraft mines, rifles, mopeds, cars, wagons, tanks, equipment spare parts, medicines, rubber boats, tires, trucks, armored vehicles, ammunition boxes, rifles, as well as radio equipment, aircraft parts, railway wagons, steam locomotives, and coal. At the time when Thistlegorm sailed from the port of Glasgow the ship was the English naval force, which in September 1941 became part of the newly formed Eighth Army. The ship's crew was under the command of Captain William Ellis, and nine navy personnel to man the machine gun and anti-aircraft gun. The flight path was via Cape Town, South Africa, where it supplied another force before heading north to the east coast of Africa and into the Red Sea. When leaving Cape Town, the stern of the ship collided in the passage of the Suez Canal, she was unable to pass through the canal to reach the port of Alexandria and instead docked at the safe anchorage in September 1941, where she remained at anchor until her sinking on the sixth of October 1941. Another ship named Carlisle docked at the same Marina. There was a large mobilization of Allied forces in Egypt during September 1941, and German intelligence suspected the presence of a troop carrier in Egypt. It was for this that a German Discovery ship was sent to find and destroy the troop cargo ship. This search failed, but one of the Bombers discovered the ships moored at anchor. the ship was targeted by the Germans with torpedo shells
Shipwreck
The ship sank vertically at a location about 19.2 miles from Ras Mohammed and about 31.2 miles from Naama Bay, and the Germans dropped two bombs on the ship "Thistlegorm", both on the stern of the ship at 01:30 am on the sixth of October 1941, the bomb led to the explosion of some ammunition stored in Ward No. 4 inside the ship, and the water in that Ward flooded and Thistlegorm sank with the death of four sailors. Pick up Carlisle's ship survivors. For which captain Ellis, the commander of the Carlisle ship, was awarded the order of the British Empire for his actions in the aftermath of the explosion, and one of the crew members, Angus Macleay, was awarded the George Medal and the Lloyd's War Medal for Courage at sea for saving another crew member.
Ship protection
Almost half a century after the shipwreck, the wreck site has been named one of the top 10 dive sites in the world by the Federation of World Diving organizations. As a result of random diving, this led to the destruction of the ship, because the wreck quickly disintegrated due to rust. That is why in December 2007, NGOs called Hurghada Society for Environmental Protection and conservation installed 32 mooring buoys around the wreck and drilled holes in the hull. During this, he closed the ship's diving to protect her. By the end of 2009, diving was opened again for the ship. All boats are moored directly on the wreck again.
The best dive site
Some tourists are advised to take a guide while diving because the site is full of a wide variety of marine creatures such as batfish, Barracuda, grouper, sea Scorpion, and sea turtle.
Australian English
English
Español
Français
Italiano
Deutsch
Português
русский
-webp.webp "Sultan Hussein Kamel of Egypt")
-webp.webp "History of Ibrahim Pasha 1848")
-webp.webp "Biography of Tewfik Pasha/ Tawfiq of Egypt")
