The Shipwreck site : A perfect place for diving
Cairo: HelloEgy.
Underwater photographer has discovered SS Thistlegorm, a British armed Merchant Navy ship sunk on October 6, 1941 near Ras Muhammad in the Red Sea during World War II.
The SS Thistlegorm set sail on her fourth and final voyage from Glasgow on 2 June 1941, destined for Alexandria, Egypt. The vessel’s cargo included: Bedford trucks, Universal Carrier armored vehicles, Norton 16H and BSA motorcycles, Bren guns, cases of ammunition, and 0.303 rifles as well as radio equipment, Wellington boots, aircraft parts, and two LMS Stanier Class 8F steam locomotives.
After over 70 years sitting on the sea bed, many interesting things still remain on the shipwreck that became one of the most famous diving sites. The ship sank due to German and Italian naval and air force activity in the Mediterranean.
Thistlegorm sailed as part of a convoy via Cape Town, South Africa, where she refueled, before heading north up the East coast of Africa and into the Red Sea. At that time, there were large build-up of Allied troops in Egypt during September 1941 and German intelligence suspected that there was a troop carrier in the area bringing in additional troops. Two Heinkel He-111 aircraft were dispatched from Crete to find and destroy the troop carrier.
This search failed, but one of the bombers discovered the vessels moored in Safe Anchorage F. Targeting the largest ship; they dropped two bombs on the Thistlegorm, both of which struck hold near the stern of the ship on 6 October. That was the story of the shipwreck.
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