SS Thistlegorm: history and guide to diving the Red Sea’s most famous wreck

Oct 14

5 min read

Barco hundido SS Thistlegorm en el Mar Rojo

A few days ago marked 85 years since the night two German bombers sank a British freighter anchored in the middle of the Red Sea. Nobody imagined then that this ship, loaded with trucks, motorbikes and rifles, would become one of the most famous dive sites on the planet.

Today the SS Thistlegorm is a time capsule underwater: holds full of vehicles, motorcycles lined up just as they were loaded, and two steam locomotives thrown onto the seabed by an explosion. For many divers, it’s the wreck you have to see at least once in your life.

In this article we tell you its history, what’s inside, what diving it is like today, and why it deserves special care.

A freighter that never reached Alexandria

The Thistlegorm was built in 1940 at the Joseph Thompson & Sons shipyard in Sunderland (UK) for the Albyn Line shipping company. She was an armed freighter: a merchant ship, not a warship (which is why she carries the SS prefix rather than HMS), fitted with a 4-inch anti-aircraft gun and a heavy machine gun.

Her fourth and final voyage began in Glasgow on 2 June 1941. The destination was Alexandria, Egypt, and the route went around Africa via Cape Town. On board was material for the Allied forces fighting in North Africa.

On reaching the Red Sea, the convoy couldn’t cross the Suez Canal because of a blockage, and the Thistlegorm was left anchored in a waiting area next to the Sha’ab Ali reef, in the Strait of Gubal. There she waited, engines off, until the night of 6 October 1941 changed everything.

The night of 6 October 1941

German intelligence suspected there was a troop transport in the area. Two Heinkel He 111 bombers took off from Crete to find it.

They attacked the largest ship they saw. They dropped two bombs, and both struck hold number 4, near the stern, at 1:30 in the morning. The fire ignited the ammunition stored on board and the explosion split the ship in two. She sank within minutes.

Nine men died in the attack: four sailors and five members of the Royal Navy gun crew. The survivors were picked up by the cruiser HMS Carlisle, which was escorting the convoy.

It’s worth remembering every time you descend: it isn’t only a spectacular wreck, it’s also the place where nine people died.

What she carried in her holds

Officially, the manifest spoke only of motor transport. The reality was much more varied, and a great deal of it is still in place:

Category	What you can see
Vehicles	Bedford trucks, Morris cars and Universal Carrier armoured vehicles
Motorcycles	BSA M20 and Norton 16H, stacked in the holds
Weapons	Lee-Enfield rifles, Bren guns and ammunition crates
Other equipment	Wellington boots, radio equipment and aircraft parts
Railway	Wagons and two LMS Stanier 8F locomotives, carried on deck for the Egyptian railways

The locomotives were thrown clear by the explosion and now rest one on each side of the hull. They are probably the most recognisable image of the wreck.

Cousteau, oblivion and rediscovery

The modern history of the Thistlegorm has more layers than it seems. Sources don’t fully agree on dates, but the general story goes like this:

1950s: Jacques Cousteau located the wreck using information from local fishermen. His team recovered several items, including a motorcycle, the captain’s safe and the ship’s bell. She appears in his documentaries and books, and in National Geographic (1956).
Decades of oblivion: after that, the site was practically forgotten, except by local fishermen.
1970s-1990s: divers found it again. It was from the 1990s, with the growth of Sharm el-Sheikh as a dive destination, that it became famous around the world.

What diving the Thistlegorm is like today

Detail	Reference
Location	Sha’ab Ali, Strait of Gubal, about 40 km from Sharm el-Sheikh
Length	Over 126 metres
Main deck	Around 16-17 m
Seabed	Between 30 and 32 m, depending on the source
Visibility	Variable; averages around 15 m
Current	From mild to strong, depending on the tide
Recommended level	Advanced Open Water (or equivalent) and prior experience; operators usually ask for 20+ dives

The Thistlegorm can’t be exhausted in a single dive. The usual approach is at least two:

Exterior. An orientation dive around the hull: the stern, the anti-aircraft gun, the locomotives and the propeller. It helps you understand the size and layout of the ship.
The holds. The cargo dive: trucks, motorbikes, vehicles and ammunition. Since the hull broke apart, much of the material can be seen without penetrating. The holds are explored with a guide and very good buoyancy; if you aren’t trained in penetration, don’t go in, and keep in mind that some areas may be unstable.

The current can be strong, so good buoyancy is essential. If you want to improve it before you go, check our guide on how to improve your buoyancy in diving.

At these depths, nitrox extends your no-decompression time and gives you more margin to explore the wreck at an unhurried pace.

An artificial reef full of life

Over the years the steel has become covered in coral and sponges, and the wreck works as an artificial reef. Among the structures it’s common to see:

Schools of glassfish moving through the superstructure.
Batfish over the deck.
Barracuda, tuna and other predators at dawn and dusk.
Giant moray eels, plus scorpionfish and stonefish camouflaged on the metal.
Napoleon wrasse, which sometimes approach out of curiosity.

Photography on the Thistlegorm: wide angle and light

It’s a wreck that practically photographs itself: the scale, the rays of light entering through the hatches, the motorbikes lined up in the holds, the locomotives on the seabed.

The key is wide angle: get as close as you can and work the composition with the available light. Bear in mind too that at 25-30 metres, red and orange have already been lost from your images, so editing is what will bring the real colour back. We explain it in why you should edit your underwater photos and videos.

A wreck that needs looking after

The Thistlegorm receives a huge number of divers every day, and that popularity has a cost. Divers’ exhaled bubbles speed up corrosion of the hull, and for years the wreck suffered from souvenir looting. Today several organisations work on its conservation, but responsibility also lies with those who visit:

Don’t take anything, however small it seems.
Don’t touch or move the cargo or the structures.
Control your buoyancy so you don’t bump into anything.
Don’t rest on the cargo or the hull.

Remember that many of these pieces have been in the same place for eighty years, and that it is a war grave. Diving with respect is the only way for those who come after to see it too.

When and how to dive it

You can visit on day trips from Sharm el-Sheikh or Hurghada, but the most comfortable way to enjoy it is from a liveaboard. It lets you do several dives on the wreck and, with luck, arrive first thing in the morning, before the day boats arrive and the site fills up.

Dive it with us on Red Waters

The SS Thistlegorm is part of the route of Red Waters, our expedition to the northern Red Sea:

Dates: 20 to 27 March 2027.
Format: 8 days and 7 nights aboard a liveaboard departing from Hurghada, full board.
Diving: more than 19 dives across wrecks (Thistlegorm, Carnatic, Giannis D, Dunraven…) and the reefs of Tiran and Ras Mohammed, with nitrox 28-32% included.
Photography: wide-angle workshop and daily feedback on board with Borja.
Small group: maximum 10 people, accompanied by Borja and Andrea.
Minimum level: Open Water and 20 dives.
From €1,150 (flights not included).