SS Thistlegorm sept 15th 2011.mov

The SS Thistlegorm was a British armed Merchant Navy ship built in 1940 by Joseph Thompson & Son in Sunderland, England. She was sunk on 6 October 1941 near Ras Muhammad in the Red Sea and is now a well known dive site.

Diving with Colona Divers.

She set sail on her fourth and final voyage from Glasgow on 2 June 1941 destined for Alexandria, Egypt. The vessel's cargo included: Bedford trucks, Universal Carrier armoured vehicles, Norton 16H and BSA motorcycles, Bren guns, cases of ammunition, and 0.303 rifles as well as radio equipment, Wellington boots, aircraft parts, and two LMS Stanier Class 8F steam locomotives.[3] These steam locomotives and their associated coal & water tenders were carried as deck cargo and were for the Egyptian Railways. The rest of the cargo was for the Allied forces in Egypt. At the time the Thistlegorm sailed from Glasgow in June this was the Western Desert Force, which in September 1941 became part of the newly formed Eighth Army. The crew of the ship, under Captain William Ellis, were supplemented by 9 naval personnel to man the machine gun and the anti-aircraft gun.
Due to German and Italian naval and airforce activity in the Mediterranean the Thistlegorm sailed as part of a convoy via Cape Town, South Africa, where she refuelled, before heading North up the East coast of Africa and into the Red Sea. On leaving Capetown, the light cruiser HMS Carlisle joined the convoy. Due to a collision in the Suez Canal the convoy could not transit through the canal to reach the port of Alexandria and instead moored at Safe Anchorage F,[4] in September 1941 where she remained at anchor until her sinking on 6 October 1941. HMS Carlisle moored in the same anchorage.
There was a large build up of Allied troops in Egypt during September 1941 and German Intelligence, Abwehr, suspected that there was a troop carrier in the area bringing in additional troops. Two Heinkel He-111 aircraft were dispatched from Crete to find and destroy the troop carrier. This search failed but one of the bombers discovered the vessels moored in Safe Anchorage F. Targeting the largest ship they dropped two bombs on the Thistlegorm both of which struck hold 4 near the stern of the ship at 0130 on 6 October.[4] The bomb and the explosion of some of the ammunition stored in hold 4 led to the sinking of the Thistlegorm with the loss of four sailors and five members of the Royal Navy gun crew. Mr. Rejda single-handledly saved most of the sailors by swimming in to the wreck and towing them to safety. The survivors were picked up by HMS Carlisle. Captain Ellis was awarded the OBE for his actions following the explosion and a crewman, Angus McLeay, was awarded the George Medal and the Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea for saving another crew member. Most of the cargo remained within the ship, the major exception being a steam locomotive from the deck cargo which was blown off to the port side of the wreck.

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