SS Thistlegorm

SS Thistlegorm was a British Merchant Navy ship carrying supplies for Allied forces in North Africa — motorcycles, Bedford trucks, Bren gun carriers, rifles, ammunition and two steam locomotives lashed to the deck. On the night of 6 October 1941, while anchored in the Strait of Gubal waiting to join a convoy through the Suez Canal, she was hit by bombs from German aircraft and sank within minutes. The wreck was located by Jacques Cousteau's team in the 1950s and rediscovered by the diving community in the early 1990s.

The main deck sits at around 16–18m, with the holds and cargo dropping to 25–30m and the seabed at roughly 30–32m. Current can run strong around the bow and stern, especially later in the day once the tide turns — most operators aim for an early-morning dive. Visibility is typically 10–20m.

Batfish and jacks over the deck, barracuda in the blue, glassfish inside the holds, moray eels and lionfish in the wreckage, and — if you're lucky — an oceanic whitetip passing by. The wreck itself is the main event: motorcycles still lined up in the holds, truck tyres, rifle crates, and the two locomotives blown clear onto the sand.

A long day trip from Hurghada is the lighter commitment for one dive on the wreck. Our North Wrecks & Reefs liveaboard usually opens with the Thistlegorm, reached before the day boats arrive, often with a second dive later in the itinerary, plus Abu Nahas and Ras Mohammed on the same trip.