The SS Thistlegorm - surprisingly hardcore
Trip Start
Aug 25, 2008
1
3
7
Trip End
Sep 15, 2008
Gulf of Suez,
Egypt
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The sea is ROUGH - there is a 50 day wind this time of year (called the Khamsa I think) and the descent line jerks violently as you edge down it. The rope is tied off close to the bridge of the boat, but it is rubbing afainst the sharp metal edge of the superstructure, and you can see its strands fraying and snapping, which is pretty worrying
Boat I
. On the way up you find out that it did, indeed, snap, and the dive boat has spun 180 degrees whilst still held by the line at the stern.The wreck is huge - a WWII British cargo ship carrying war supplies sunk by a bomb from a German long-range bomber. The bomb fell in the ammunition hold, tearing off the stern. The contents of the ammo hold are a jumble of metal boxes. A crate of shells protrudes, and the divemaster wipes the algae off the bright brass firing plate to reveal the serial no. and date (1921). At the stern are two large encrusted AA guns, guarded by a fat stonefish the size of my forearm. The propellor is considerably taller than me. On the deck to either side of the front cargo hold two railway wagons are laid up. At the bow there is a series of doors that give access to the winch room - you go in then exit through a narrow hatch in the ceiling. The divemaster's sign for "the bow" is a parody of the scene from the Titanic - arms spread out and head thrown back. Apparently some Israeli guys insisted on recreating the moment on a previous dive.
The water is so rough on the way up you have to hold on with both hands to the ascent line which wrenches you up and down through the water. Your mask starts to leak and you must let go of the line with one hand to clear it. Some guy further down the line loses his reg.
After a break, plus a much more appetising lunch (not all of the Muslim staff are observing Ramadan that strictly...) it's time to go inside the wreck. Despite the tons of metal over your head it's fairly easy to move around the cargo holds due to the sheer size of the space
Boat II
. There are racks of motorcycles, the glass of their headlamps encrusted but still intact. Although the roofs of the trucks and jeeps have rusted away, and their seats reduced to bare metal, their windscreens are largely in one piece. A dislodged inspection panel allows you to stick your head in to find that the engine and radiator complete with tubes and wiring are still inside the hull of a submerged tank.Weirdest of all you find a pile of rubber thigh-length boots in almost mint condition. If you rub the algae off the sole you can see the tread pattern is brand new, and the writing reads "Made in Canada", a size 10 (It would probably fit me). Looking out from the bridge is like looking out from a submarine - you can watch schools of basslets and other divers passing by outside the portholes. Back at the bow a large moray eel has taken up residence in an exhaust vent near to the anchor winch, grinning malevolently at you as you pass by.
Altogether a pretty awe-inspiring dive, though I later found out the other dive team had some issues with their divemaster. Mohammad from DDU had apparently let one guy in his group run out of air - despire the fact he had even signed only 30 bar left. That sort of thing just shouldn't ever happen, and unsurprisingly the guy who ran out of air didn't feel like entering the wreck on the second dive; I wouldn't want to try an alternate air source ascent from inside a wreck at 30m either! Ah well, on to Ras Mohammad...
Comments
Grey hairs
This is just the sort of story to cause grey hairs on your parents' scalps! Glad to hear that you survived the dive, though the conditions sounded distinctly dodgy. It certainly sounds like a very impressive wreck - we have found some great photos on someone else's travel blog.