SS Thistlegorm - Dive Sites on Waymarking.com

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

Water Type: Ocean Salinity: Salt Access: Boat (day trip) Maximum Depth: 40 Typical Visibility: Fair (26-40 ft) Has Reef?: no Wreck or Submerged Object?: Ship/boat Underwater Life: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
1) To log a visit, at least a picture taken at the surface, including any distinguishing landmarks or buoys if present, is required. While you do not have to enter the water, this is encouraged.

2) If you dive at the site, describe your visit including any details you wish to share such as weather, water temperature, visibility, bottom time, and anything of interest that you observed, living or nonliving.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   10/01/2014 simonsimons visited it