function click { if 1 && ;return false} if 1 && ;return false} } if 1 } document onmousedown click; Wrecks THISTLEGORM THISTLEGORM by Shaab Ali / Egypt Nationality Type Year of construction Tonnage Sunk Position GPS data min depth max depth British Freighter 1940 9009 GRT 6 10 1941 Shaab Ali 27 48 51N / 33 55 12E 18 m 31 m The ship 127 metres long and 18 metres broad was equipped with a 3 cylinder steam engine with 2 boilers which supplied 1 860 HP and which gave Thistlegorm a maximum speed of 10 5 knots As armament it contained a 4 7"artillery cannon and a light anti aircraft gun from the 1 World war Very soon after launching it began to show the first problems with the outdated cannon and the steam engine which made repair work necessary In August 1941 the SS Thistlegorm started in Glasgow and should deliver important supplies to Tawfiq at the exit of the Suez Canal via Cape Town and the Red Sea It was actually only the fourth journey for the nevertheless still quite new ship The value of the cargo at that time is to have amounted to 7 million pounds the ship was cramed full to the upper deck with these supply stocks On deck were two British Stanier 8F lokomotives as well as two tankers and tenders of the railway were clamped securely below deck located in the holdings were different cars and lorrys At the same time in the second holding on the starboard side there were small army transporters of the Morris Commercial CS 11/30 type and the twotonner Ford WOT In addition to this on board are trucks of the Bedford MW and OYD type In order to save place motorcycles were carried on the loading areas of the lorrys These were two seat 350 ccm motorcycles of the Matchless G3L type and 500ccm Maschine mark BSA M 20 Towards the end of September the SS Thistlegorm arrived at the same time as other freighters and was under surveillance by the warship HMS Carlisle in the Gulf of Suez Since a tanker blocked the Suez Canal at this time one had to go to anchor and wait for some days Meanwhile in the late evening hours of 5 October 1941 two German Heinkel 111 fighters were likewise crossing the Gulf of Suez searching for the Queen Mary On the morning of 6 October 1941 both machines flew in search formation in a southerly direction Since the British admiralty had ordered the Queen Mary a higher speed this had already passed the point of interception with the fighter bombers some two hours before and was thus in safe waters During their search for the Queen Mary the machines met abruptly at 1 30 a m in the morning with the SS Thistlegorm which had been peacefully at anchor for ten days and turned immediately to attack There was no more time for return fire the anti aircraft gun was already too obsolete for hits and the consort ship HMS Carlisle had a wrong firing angle The first bomb release already led to a desired success Two bombs hit the SS Thistlegorm amidship and number four hit directly behind the bridge in the holding Today the wreck lies evenly on the sea bed between 16 and 31 metres deep The blown off stern lies at an angle of approximately 45 degrees directly behind the remains of the hull The bow of the Thistlegorm is still well preserved only behind the bridge begins a zone of the destruction If you want to know the position of the individual wrecks just click here