| THISTLEGORM |
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| HISTORY OF THISTLEGORM |
The shipwreck of the ship Thistlegorm is one of the most interesting shipwrecks in the Red Sea. It is situated on the
northern edge of the Gubal isthmus next to the massif reef Shaab Ali. This 9000-ton cargo ship of impressive size (130m
long and 18 m wide) was built in 1940 in Sunderland in Great Britain. During the WWII., it served to the Armies of
Allies for transport of military material from England to northern Africa. On the 6th October 1941, it anchored near the
Shaab Ali and waited for reopening of the Suez Channel. It carried reserves for the British Army fighting in northern
Africa - arms, uniforms and military shoes, motorcycles, off-road vehicles, lorries, a locomotive with wagons, spare
tyres, a tank, even an airplane and plenty of other military material. At 1.30 o'clock, a German bomber attacked
Thistlegorm. It was a very easy target for the bomber. It threw a load of boms on the ship. Two of them hit the fourth
store full of ammunition. The hit caused an explosion that entirely separated the stern from the rest of the ship. The
ship sank in an erect position and so it lies on the sandy seabed in the depth of about thirty meters even today. In
this condition, it was discovered by Jacques Cousteau in 1956 on one of his first voyages on the board of the ship
Calypso. Recreational diving has been carried out on this shipwreck since 1991. |
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| EXPEDITION THISTLEGORM |
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The expedition Thistlegorm was organized by the base IGC DIVING PRAHA in
December of 2004 in close cooperation with the DIVE TOO – Egyptian diving base
in Hurghad. This provided the expedition with a big ship, which can sail even on
a tempestuous sea, when smaller diving ships cannot sail out. Only this way it
was possible that the members of the expedition were alone in the shipwreck and
were thus able to make an extensive film and photographic material in calm and
without unsettled sediments. However, tens of ships with hundreds of divers
usually park directly above the shipwreck, even at night, when there are still
Safari ships. Owing to its popularity and easy accessibility, there are
virtually constantly tens of amateur divers in the shipwreck, who make the
whole experience worse and essentially impede filming and photographing works. |
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