80th Anniversary of the sinking of the SS Thistlegorm

Published 5 years agoon October 6, 2021

In the early hours of the 6th October 1941 the SS Thistlegorm was sunk by a German bomber. Nine lives were lost in the explosion and subsequent rapid sinking of the ship which was split in half when ammunition stores blew up. Now it lies in 30m of water in the Red Sea and has become one of the world’s most popular wreck dives.

We mark this 80th anniversary with a gallery of images from a pre-pandemic Scubaverse and Dive Travel Adventures trip hosted by the Egyptian State Tourist Office and Camel Dive Club.

Inside the Thistlegorm, which is Gaelic for Blue Thistle, divers can still find the cargo of munitions, motor bikes, trucks, tanks, steam locomotives, airplane parts and clothing. It is also home to plenty of marine life. Making this a wonderful dive for everyone to experience. It can be visited on a day trip from Sharm el Sheikh, as we did, as long as you are prepared for an early start. This is well worth the effort though, as you can miss the liveaboard crowds by picking the right day to go and have the whole glorious wreck to yourselves.

However, it is its popularity that puts this wreck in danger. So many divers visiting the wreck each year and dive boats mooring directly onto the ship structure is causing damage year on year. But with the right protection this is wreck that will continue to be a favourite for all divers for many decades to come. We cannot wait to go back!

For more information about the history and conservation of the Thistlegorm, visit The Thistlegorm Project website by clicking here.

Nick and Caroline Robertson-Brown

Nick and Caroline (Frogfish Photography) are a married couple of conservation driven underwater photo-journalists and authors. Both have honours degrees from Manchester University, in Environmental Biology and Biology respectively, with Nick being a Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, a former high school science teacher with a DipEd in Teaching Studies. Caroline has an MSc in Animal Behaviour specializing in Caribbean Ecology. They are multiple award-winning photographers and along with 4 published books, feature regularly in the diving, wildlife and international press They are the Underwater Photography and Deputy Editors at Scubaverse and Dive Travel Adventures. Winners of the Caribbean Tourism Organization Photo-journalist of the Year for a feature on Shark Diving in The Bahamas, and they have been placed in every year they have entered. Nick and Caroline regularly use their free time to visit schools, both in the UK and on their travels, to discuss the important issues of marine conservation, sharks and plastic pollution. They are ambassadors for Sharks4Kids and founders of SeaStraw. They are Dive Ambassadors for The Islands of The Bahamas and are supported by Mares, Paralenz, Nauticam and Olympus. To find out more visit www.frogfishphotography.com