Thistlegorm

The SS Thistlegorm is one of the most famous wrecks in Egypt. It sank on October 6, 1941 after being bombed by two German Heinkel HE 111 bombers. The ship was a steamship with a freight of war material, weighing 9009 tons. It had a length of 126.50m and a width of 17.70m. The shallowest point of the wreck is 16m, while the deepest point is 31m, with an average depth of 7.45m. The engine of the ship was a 3 cylinder steam engine with two cylinders. It was built by J. L. Thompson and belonged to the Albyn Line shipping company. The Thistlegorm was carrying locomotives for an Egyptian train company, as well as military vehicles and munitions for the Allied forces stationed in Egypt. It never made it to the Suez Canal, as it was mistaken for a troop carrier and bombed by the Luftwaffe. The ship sank due to a combination of the German bombs and the ignition of its own ammunition. Most of the cargo, including trucks, guns, motorcycles, and other military goods, remains inside the ship's holds. Two locomotives lie on either side of the shipwreck. Jacques Cousteau rediscovered the Thistlegorm as a dive site in the 1950s, and it became world-famous during the diving boom in the 1990s. The wreck is split in two, making it easy to view the cargo without wreck penetration. The site is a dream for wreck divers, and it also offers opportunities to see eels, barracuda, batfish, and the occasional turtle. Many Egypt liveaboards include dives on the Thistlegorm as part of their Northern Red Sea itineraries. Warnings: There is a chance of collapsing in some areas of the wreck.