• Dive Level:

  Advanced

• Best Months:

  January-December

• Accessed By:

  Boat

• Maximum Depth:

  35m

• Water Temperature:

  24°C - 28°C

• Currents:

  Strong

Description

The Thistlegorm is a 126 meters long wreck and is the most famous and impressive in the Red Sea. The stern lies on its port side, separated by the damaged part of the hull. The main body is standing upright on the sandy ground in 30m depth.

The stern guns and the cargo (trucks, motor bikes etc.) in the hold are still in good condition. The marine life around the wreck is really impressive. Big schools of barracudas, tunas and trevallies surround the superstructures and chase fusiliers. Frequently huge napoleons pass by and down the stern, close to the huge propeller big groupers can often be seen. The currents can be strong, sometimes in different directions at the surface and at the wreck.

Scuba Divers can visit the wreck from Sharm El Sheikh by daily boat or commonly as part of a longer liverboard trip. 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 15 metres below the surface and the propeller at 27m. 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.

The wreck is rapidly disintegrating due to natural rusting. The dive boats that rely on the wreck for their livelihood are also tearing the wreck apart by mooring the boats to weak parts of the wreck leading to parts of the wreck collapsing. For this reason in December 2007 the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) a Non Governmental Organisation installed thirty two permanent mooring buoys and drilled holes in the wreck to allow trapped air to escape