Diving the Thistlegorm: The Ultimate Guide to a World War II Shipwreck

240 pages

Chris O’Flaherty

A lovely book, beautifully illustrated with over 300 colour images, and certainly full of informative surprises. I picked up this paperback expecting a traditional diving guide, but quickly became engrossed in the wealth of historical detail which forms its golden thread.

SS Thistlegorm was launched in April 1940, on the River Wear. Measuring 415 feet long, and with five cargo holds, she could carry almost 8,000 cubic metres of cargo. Taken over for war service, she was armed with one 4-inch anti-aircraft gun, and a heavy calibre machine gun, as well as .303 Lewis guns. Designated as a Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship (DEMS), her civilian crew of 32 was duly augmented by a detachment of nine Royal Navy sailors, who manned her armament.

Alongside in Glasgow, in May 1941 she loaded for her fateful voyage. It is here that the preserved historical value of the wreck begins, with surviving pages of her original manifest informing much of the description in the body of the book. She was destined for Egypt, carrying 16 crates of aircraft wings, 8 aircraft bodies, three ambulances, 12 cases of sewing machines, 140 bed sets, 108 motor cycles, trucks, ammunition and much more. Indeed, there are still two Stanier 8F railway locomotives, carried as deck cargo but which now form part of the wider wreck site (both are nearby, having been lost overboard during her sinking).

Towards the end of her passage, which routed around the Cape of Good Hope, she anchored in the Straits of Gubal to await the completion of a mine clearance operation that would re-open the Suez Canal. In bright moonlight, at 0100 on 6 October 1941, a pair of German Heinkel He111 bombers located the Thistlegorm and commenced an opportunistic attack. With the ship’s gunners caught completely unawares, the bombers scored a direct hit on Hold No 4 of the resupply ship. Within 10 minutes, a huge explosion ripped the ship in two, sending her to her present resting place, canted slightly to port.

She is now regarded as a ‘Wreck Under Threat’ due to a range of factors.  Her steel hull is slowly dissolving into the Red Sea, as can be expected of any metal wreck in oxygenated waters. Added to natural deterioration is the adverse effect of humans. Up to 15 dive groups per day moor to the eroding bollards on her foc’sle, with some divers breaking souvenirs off the wreck for their own aggrandisement and the detriment of others. The ‘before and after’ pictures on pages 20 to 22, taken during the official survey that underpins the book, starkly illustrate the acquisitive theft of artefacts and precious metals from both hull and cargo.

The historical detail in this book is delightful, as the authors describe both the current images of the vessel and her cargo, as well as the history behind each type of truck, aircraft, motorcycle, and even the porcelain in the bathrooms. Thistlegorm is duly an amazing time capsule of an era in history that sees plethora of research into many military events, but which can lose sight of the underpinning logistics. I heartily recommend this book to every land, air and naval historian of that era, who may need the occasional reminder that whilst tactics win battles, logistics (and resupply ships such as Thistlegorm) are vital to campaign sustainment and operational success.

As a postscript for this review, the book’s dedication provides an emotive reminder of the realities of conflict, and of many wrecks. On 6 October 1941, nine seafarers lost their lives during the attack that sank the Thistlegorm. Aged between 17 and 68 years old, their memory is now immortalised in this lovely volume.