Thistlegrom - immersione al relitto

Il relitto del cargo Thistlegorm è il relitto più famoso del Mar Rosso, scoperto da Jacques Cousteau. Il relitto è così grande e ci sono così tante cose interessanti che si prevede di fare almeno due immersioni qui.

L'SS Thistlegorm è uno dei relitti più famosi al mondo. Costruito nel 1940, l'SS Thistlegorm era un mercantile inglese lungo 126 metri, che trasportava attrezzature militari durante la seconda guerra mondiale. Il relitto attira molti subacquei per la quantità di carico che può essere visto ed esplorato. Stivali e motociclette sono visibili nella stiva n. 1. Camion, veicoli blindati, motociclette, stivali da pioggia, fucili, ali, anelli di scarico del motore e cilindri sono visibili nella stiva n. 2. Verso il lato sinistro del relitto al livello dell'esplosione nell'area può essere trovata una delle locomotive a vapore che erano state immagazzinate come carico sul ponte e l'altra locomotiva è al livello del lato di tribordo con la stiva n. 2.

Da wikipedia :

La Thistlegorm era una nave mercantile britannica varata il 9 aprile del 1940 e affondata il 6 ottobre 1941 nel Mar Rosso, nei pressi della barriera corallina di Sha'ab Alì, nel Golfo di Suez, Sinai occidentale.

Lunga 126 metri e larga 18, è affondata praticamente intatta se si esclude la parte poppiera.
La stiva numero 4 infatti era carica di munizioni e la sua esplosione causò il sezionamento dello scafo. Nei primi anni cinquanta, Jacques-Yves Cousteau ne scoprì la posizione ma non ne rivelò mai le coordinate.
Il relitto è accessibile anche al suo interno, ove si trova ancora il carico di approvvigionamenti che trasportava, come ad esempio carri armati leggeri, armi, munizioni, camionette. Il carico è perfettamente riconoscibile, nonostante le incrostazioni coralline presenti.

La storia
Durante il 1941 era di fondamentale importanza per l'esercito inglese, impegnato nella campagna del Nord Africa, mantenere le linee di rifornimento aperte; ovviamente non si poteva raggiungere il quartier generale inglese (Alessandria d'Egitto) attraverso il Mediterraneo, poiché nonostante la forte presenza inglese (Malta e la costa Mediterranea dell'Egitto stesso) le forze dell'Asse avrebbero avuto vita facile sui convogli alleati. Per questo motivo si rendeva necessaria la rotta atlantica: la circumnavigazione dell'Africa, con scalo a Città del Capo, e l'attraversamento del Mar Rosso e del Canale di Suez.
La Thistlegorm era stata dapprima utilizzata sulle rotte verso l'America, compiendo diversi viaggi di rifornimento, nel quadro della legge detta "Affitti e prestiti". Nel 1941 un grande convoglio lascia l'Inghilterra verso il nord Africa; dopo il consueto scalo tecnico a Città del Capo, il convoglio si ferma presso la barriera corallina di Sha'ab Alì, (27°48'80" N - 33°55'25" E) perché la Royal Navy deve effettuare operazioni di sminamento nel canale di Suez.
La notte tra il 5 e il 6 ottobre un gruppo di bombardieri tedeschi (Heinkel He 111 - 27° Kampfgheschwader "Lowe"), decollati dall'isola di Creta, attaccano il convoglio: la Thistlegorm viene colpita da un'unica bomba sulla stiva 4, dove erano immagazzinati esplosivi, munizioni per obici da campo, fucili, stivali di gomma.
Si sviluppò un incendio e le munizioni presero ad esplodere, e ben presto un'esplosione spezzò la nave in due tronconi, inabissandosi rapidamente. L'equipaggio ebbe comunque il tempo di abbandonare la nave, anche se si dovettero registrare nove vittime.
La Thistlegorm fu l'unica nave persa dal convoglio, che fu attaccato nuovamente la sera seguente. La Luftwaffe perse un bombardiere.

L'immersione, date le particolari condizioni che spesso si verificano sul sito (forte corrente o scarsa visibilità), dovrebbe essere riservata a subacquei con esperienza ed in possesso di un brevetto avanzato. Normalmente la visita del relitto si effettua in due immersioni.
La prima porta ed effettuare il giro dello scafo, dalla grande elica (profondità 33 metri) e la poppa armata con due pezzi antiaereo, fino alla prua, passando dalla cabina del capitano (popolare tra le guide la visita alla vasca da bagno). Sui ponti di prua sono stivati due vagoni ferroviari e due dragamine; due locomotive, trasportate dalla Thistlegorm, sono state scagliate dall'esplosione a diversi metri dal relitto. Interessante il grande argano dell'àncora.
L'area di poppa, devastata dall'esplosione, è un confuso ammasso di materiali: cavi, scatole di munizioni (obici da 105 mm) e due carri armati leggeri BREN Carrier Mark III.
La seconda immersione, dopo un opportuno ed appropriato intervallo di superficie, porta a penetrare le stive del relitto. Le stive 1 e 2 (prua) sono occupate da una quantità di automobili Morris, autocarri Bedford, motociclette BSA pneumatici, generatori da campo, ricambi per aerei (presumibilmente Hawker Hurricane), brande, casse di fucili Lee-Enfield MK III, stivali di gomma. Nella stiva 1, in basso, due Rolls-Royce blindate, i cui marchi sono stati asportati. La profondità massima che si raggiunge all'interno delle stive è di circa 25 metri.

Lo stato del relitto
Il relitto soffre terribilmente delle migliaia di subacquei che ogni anno lo visitano, attirati dalla storia che rappresenta. Le bolle d'aria intrappolate all'interno hanno causato un serio deterioramento delle strutture ed il governo egiziano sta considerando di chiudere il sito alle immersioni ricreative almeno per un certo periodo, in modo da permettere la stabilizzazione del relitto stesso.

Collegamenti esterni
* (EN) Storia ed immagini, su red-sea-shadow.com. URL consultato il 29 aprile 2009 (archiviato dall'url originale il 5 aprile 2008).
* (EN) Storia ed immagini, su divemasterworld.co.uk. URL consultato il 29 aprile 2009 (archiviato dall'url originale il 6 gennaio 2009).
* Immersioni sul Thistlegorm, su sandrostrips.com.

Maggiori info sono riportate da Wikipedia in inglese:

Registrazione ai lloyds
https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/42/42b0872.pdf

General characteristics
Type
Cargo ship
Tonnage
4,898 GRT, 2,750 NRT
Displacement
c.13,000 tons fully loaded
Length
415.1 ft (126.5 m)
Beam
58.2 ft (17.7 m)
Draught
26 ft (7.9 m)
Depth
24.8 ft (7.6 m)
Decks
1
Installed power
365 NHP, 1,850 IHP
Propulsion
* 1 × triple-expansion engine
* 1 × screw
Crew
41
Sensors and
processing systems
* wireless direction finding
* echo sounding device
Armament
* 1 × 4 in (100 mm) low angle gun
* 1 × 3 in (76 mm) anti-aircraft gun[1]

Building
J.L. Thompson and Sons built Thistlegorm in Sunderland, County Durham, as yard number 599. She was launched on 9 April 1940 and completed on 24 June.[3] Her registered length was 415.1 ft (126.5 m), her beam was 58.2 ft (17.7 m) and her depth was 24.8 ft (7.6 m). Her tonnages were 4,898 GRT and 2,750 NRT. The North Eastern Marine Engineering built her engine, which was a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine rated at 365 NHP[4] or 1,850 IHP.[2]
Thistlegorm was built for Albyn Line, who registered her at Sunderland. Her UK official number was 163052 and her wireless telegraphy call sign was GLWQ.[4]
The Ministry of War Transport partly funded Thistlegorm. She was a defensively equipped merchant ship (DEMS) with a 4.7 in (120 mm) mounted on her stern and a heavy-calibre machine gun for anti-aircraft cover.[5]


Main gun on the stern of Thistlegorm
The ship completed three successful voyages in her career. The first was to the US to collect steel rails and aircraft parts, the second to Argentina for grain, and the third to the West Indies for rum. Prior to her fourth and final voyage, she had undergone repairs in Glasgow.[6]

Final voyage

She left Glasgow on her final voyage on 2 June 1941, destined for Alexandria, Egypt. The ship'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, railway wagons[7] and two LMS Stanier Class 8F steam locomotives.[8] These steam locomotives and their associated coal and water tenders were carried as deck cargo intended for Egyptian National Railways. The rest of the cargo was for the Allied forces in Egypt. At the time 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 nine naval personnel to man the machine gun and the anti-aircraft gun.
Due to German and Italian naval and air force activity in the Mediterranean, Thistlegorm sailed as part of a convoy via Cape Town, South Africa, where she bunkered, before heading north up the East coast of Africa and into the Red Sea. On leaving Cape Town, 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,[9] 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.[9] Two Heinkel He 111 aircraft of II Staffeln, Kampfgeschwader 26, Luftwaffe,[10] were dispatched from Crete to find and destroy the troop carrier. This search failed but one of the bombers discovered the ships moored in Safe Anchorage F. Targeting the largest ship, they dropped two 2.5 tonne high explosive bombs on Thistlegorm,[11] both of which struck hold 4 near the stern of the ship at 0130 on 6 October.[9] The bomb and the explosion of some of the ammunition stored in hold 4 led to the sinking of Thistlegorm with the loss of four sailors and five DEMS gunners. 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 the steam locomotives from the deck cargo which were blown off to either side of the wreck.[8]


Discovery by Cousteau
In the early 1950s, Jacques Cousteau discovered her by using information from local fishermen. He raised several items from the wreck, including a motorcycle, the captain's safe, and the ship's bell. The February 1956 edition of National Geographic clearly shows the ship's bell in place and Cousteau's divers in the ship's lantern room. Cousteau documented diving on the wreck in part of his book The Living Sea.


Rediscovery and recreational dive site


Diving on Thistlegorm
Following Cousteau's visit, the site was forgotten about except by local fishermen. In the early 1990s, Sharm el-Sheikh began to develop as a diving resort. Recreational diving on Thistlegorm restarted following the visit of the dive boat Poolster,[12] using information from another Israeli fishing boat captain.
The massive explosion that sank her had blown much of her midships superstructure away and makes the wreck very accessible to divers. The depth of around 30 m (100 feet) at its deepest is ideal for diving without the need for specialist equipment and training.
The wreck attracts many divers for the amount of the cargo that can be seen and explored. Boots and motorcycles are visible in Hold No. 1. Trucks, motorcycles, Wellington boots, rifles, Westland Lysander wings,[13] about twenty Bristol Mercury radial engine exhaust rings and a handful of cylinders[14] and Bristol Blenheim bomber tailplanes[15] are visible in Hold No. 2. Universal Carrier armoured vehicles, RAF trolley accumulators,[16] and two Pundit Lights[17] can also be found. Off to the port side of the wreck level with the blast area can be found one of the steam locomotives which had been stored as deck cargo and the other locomotive is off the starboard side level with Hold No. 2.[8]


Aft view of the walkway leading to the bridge of Thistlegorm
In 2007 The Times named Thistlegorm as one of the top ten wreck diving sites in the world.[18] The wreck is rapidly disintegrating due to natural rusting. The dive boats that rely on the wreck for their livelihood are also tearing the wreck apart by mooring the boats to weak parts of the wreck, leading to the collapse of parts of the wreck. For this reason, in December 2007 the non-governmental Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA) installed 32 mooring buoys around the wreck and drilled holes in the hull to allow trapped air to escape.[19] During this work, the ship was closed off to recreational diving. However, by 2009 none of these moorings remained as the blocks themselves were too light. Moored ships dragged them and the lines connecting the moorings to the wreck were too long (meaning with the strong currents in the area, people would find it impossible to transfer from the mooring to the actual wreck). All boats now moor directly to the wreck again.
Common interesting animals around the wreck are tuna, barracuda, batfish, moray eel, lionfish, stonefish, crocodilefish, scorpionfish, and sea turtle.
In February 2021 it was announced that Simon Brown was the winner of the General Science category of the Royal Photographic Society's Science Photographer of the Year for his orthophoto (aerial photograph adjusted to have uniform scale) of the submerged wreck of Thistlegorm, made from 15,005 merged frames.[20]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thistlegorm (ship, 1940).
* The Thistlegorm Project Archaeological and 3D Survey
* The Thistlegorm SS on the wreck site
* Diving the SS Thistlegorm
* Dive spot description plus underwater pictures and videos of the Thistlegorm wreck
* Briefing map, active dive centers, photographs, weather, and dive-logs
* The Plane Truth about the Thistlegorm
* Thistlegorm wreck dive site


Dal sito

https://ssthistlegorm.com/#top

Diving the SS Thistlegorm
A trip around Thistlegorm today is like traveling through time and many visitors experience high emotions during the dive. It is after all a bombsite with highly visible signs of great destruction and loss. It’s also a giant underwater museum, a war grave, a unique piece of military history and an opportunity to step into the past during a period when the free world was under threat from one of the most tyrannous regimes of modern times.

Sunk by German bomber planes in World War Two, SS Thistlegorm has lain at the bottom of the sea for over sixty years. Located in the Straits of Gubal, Northern Red Sea this famous vessel has been the subject of much activity and drama during its two lives as both a seagoing merchant ship and as a world-class diving site.
Despite extensive public knowledge and interest in Thistlegorm, it will continue to inspire a sense of mystery. Jacques Cousteau’s visit in 1955 remains the subject of much discussion and like the legend himself Thistlegorm continues to attract speculation and controversy from beyond the grave.
Divers can visit the wreck from Sharm El Sheikh by daily boat or during a weeklong safari. Located on a bed of just thirty metres in good visibility this is the perfect wreck dive where much of the original cargo still remains. The bow is just fifteen metres below the surface and the propeller at twenty-seven. Measuring over four hundred feet long, SS Thistlegorm often requires several dives to complete an extensive coverage, inside and out.
Currents may occasionally be strong; however, mooring lines tied by the guide allow divers to make a comfortable descent to the shelter of the wreck. Once inside, divers can explore the ship’s holds where time has seemingly stood still. Motorbikes, trucks, guns and wartime cargo, never to reach its destination, lay stacked where it was loaded back in 1941.

It must be said, that even after several hundred dives on Thistlegorm, such is the allure it holds for divers, that there is always something new to see. Very recently, a local diver claims that he stumbled across a newly discovered locomotive some one hundred and fifty metres from the wreck. The race is on to reach and photograph the engine together with the ship’s funnel, both of which, allegedly, are still attached to the deck blown clean off the ship by the explosion.
Diving SS Thistlegorm requires certification as a trained diver, beyond entry level, through a recognised scuba training agency. In any event, divers visit the wreck at their own risk.
…..
Crew Interviews
Excerpts from live interviews with actual survivors of SS Thistlegorm under attack in 1941:
Glyn Owen
“I heard a plane making what appeared to be a second run or at least sounded like a diving run and my training I suppose came out and I just flung myself out of my hammock on the deck beneath and crouched behind a winch and then there was just two explosions and a mass of flame and my hammock above my head caught fire.”
Ray Gibson
“…I was on watch behind the bridge, and next thing there was a big bang and I realised we had been either bombed or torpedoed, one of the two, but we’d been hit by enemy action…..”
Angus McLeay
“I made for the side to jump overboard and the rail was almost red-hot under my hand. I don’t know why, but, just as I was going to jump, I looked back and saw the gunner crawling along the deck on the other side. The deck was covered with broken glass and I had to take the bits out of my feet before I could carry the gunner through the flames, which came up to my chest in places.”
John Whitham
“I was on watch at twelve o’clock and about one o’clock we heard the sound of aircraft. We looked across to the Carlisle and there was nothing indicating from her and the sound of the aircraft got nearer and the first thing that we realised was that he was planting a few bombs on us, which, unfortunately, dropped in number four hold, possible number five, but number four I do know, because there was some flames shooting out from there and we……we’d quite a good fire going for a while.”
Denis Gray
“…it seemed like two or three minutes I would think, that this huge explosion took place and of course we were looking in the direction of the Thistlegorm at the time and shortly after the explosion there was a huge sheet of flame which lit up both sides of the Red Sea at that point, we could see it light up the Mount Sinai on one side and Egypt on the other side and all the ships and everything around and then all of a sudden there seemed to be a second explosion and still looking in that d irection we were amazed to see what turned out to be a railway engine and it was red hot with sparks flying from it and it was coming in our direction.”
SS Thistlegorm data sheet
Albyn Line: Formed 21st June, 1901
Built: January 1941, Joseph L. Thompson and Sons Ltd, Sunderland
Type: Steamship, single screw
Gross Tonnage: 4898 tonnes
Length: 415 feet/126m
Sale price: £115,000
Launched: 9th April 1940, by Mrs K.W. Black

Voyages
1. USA to bring back steel rails and aircraft parts
2. Argentina, returning with grain
3. West Indies for sugar and rum
4. Final voyage to Suez
Crew: 41
Bombed: 6th October 1941
Casualties: 9
Cousteau’s visit: 1955
Rediscovered: 1974 first known dive to wreck
Dive site: First publicised in 1992
Television: First TV documentary in 1995
‘Thistlegorm’s Last Voyage’ by Caroline Hawkins
Location: Safe anchorage ‘F’ in the Straits of Gubal
Depth: Deepest point at 30m
Shallowest point at 13m

Dal sito
https://thethistlegormproject.com/
Wreck survey
In July 2017 the first detailed survey of the wreck was carried out using digital photogrammetry and 360 video approaches. The aims of this survey are twofold. Firstly, an accurate archaeological survey is the first step in creating an effective management strategy for sustainable diving activity on the site. Secondly, the project is about raising awareness of the importance of underwater cultural heritage -the University of Nottingham, Ain Shams (Cairo) and Alexandria University are collaborating on 3D and virtual reality projects that bring submerged subjects to the surface and let everyone appreciate just what lies on the seabed.

Wreck history
The SS Thistlegorm was a British armed Merchant Navy ship which was sunk while at anchor in the Red Sea in the early hours of the 6th October 1941 by two German Heinkel He 111 bombers. It was waiting to enter the Suez canal, destined for Alexandria, and was carrying a rich cargo of munitions, ammunition, vehicles, trucks, motorbikes, aircraft parts and railway wagons and locomotives to help the Allied war effort in Egypt. Nine men (5 gunners and 4 merchant seamen) died in the attack but the rest of the 41 crew managed to escape the burning ship before the munition on board resulted in a massive explosion which broke the wreck in half and took it quickly to the bottom. Today it is considered to be one of the most spectacular dive sites in the world and is the best known and most popular wreck dive site in the Red Sea.

Wartime role
The vessel carried out three successful voyages after her launch. The first was to the US to collect steel rails and aircraft parts, the second to Argentina for grain, and the third to the West Indies for rum. Prior to her fourth and final voyage, she had undergone repairs in Glasgow.
She set sail on her fourth and final voyage from Glasgow on 2 June 1941, destined for Alexandria, Egypt. The vessel’s cargo included: Leyland and Albion lorries, Morris Commercial trucks, Universal Carrier armoured vehicles, Norton 16H and BSA M20 motorcycles, Bren guns, cases of ammunition, and Lee Enfield rifles as well as radio equipment, Wellington boots, aircraft parts, railway wagons and two LMS Stanier Class 8F steam locomotives.
The steam locomotives and their associated coal and water tenders were carried as deck cargo intended for Egyptian National Railways. The rest of the cargo was for 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 nine naval personnel to man the machine gun and the anti-aircraft gun.

SINKING
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 of II Staffeln, Kampfgeschwader 26, Luftwaffe, were dispatched from Crete to find and destroy the troop carrier.
The bombers failed to find a troopship, but one of the aircraft discovered the vessels moored in Safe Anchorage F near the Straits of Gubal. Targeting the largest ship the aircraft dropped two bombs on the Thistlegorm, with both striking hold 4 near the stern of the ship at 0130 on the morning of 6 October 1941.

The bombing set ablaze hold four. The fire spread quickly until the ammunition stored in the hold blew up, with the explosion tearing the Thistlegorm into two pieces and sinking in a V shape. An eyewitness from HMS Carlisle spoke of seeing the Thislegorm explode and sink in less than a minute, with the loss of four sailors and five members of the Royal Navy gun crew.
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 the steam locomotives from the deck cargo which were blown off to either side of the wreck.