"Thistlegorm" ( eng. SS Thistlegorm ) - British armed cargo ship , built in 1940 by the company "Joseph Thompson and Son" in Sunderland , England . On October 6, 1941, it was sunk by German aircraft in the Red Sea and is now a famous place for diving . "Thistlegorm" in Gaelic means "Blue Thistle".
"Thistlegorm" | |
---|---|
SS Thistlegorm | |
Trading ship "Tistlegorm" | |
Service | |
Ship class and type | Dry cargo ship |
Organization | Albin Line LTD |
Manufacturer | Joseph Thompson and Sons, Sunderland |
Construction started | April 9, 1940 |
Launched | January 1941 |
Removed from the fleet | October 6, 1941 |
Status | Sunk in Sharm el-Sheikh , Egypt |
Main characteristics | |
Displacement | 9009 t |
Length | 128 m |
Width | 18 m |
Engines | Multiple Expansion Steam Engine |
Travel speed | 10.5 knots |
Armament | |
Flak | 4.7-inch (120 mm) |
Content
Construction
The Thistlegorm was built at the Thompson and Sons shipyard in Sunderland for the company Albin Line LTD in April 1940. It was equipped with a 365-hp multi-expansion steam engine. (272 kW) . The ship was privately owned, but its construction was partially funded by the British government and the Thistlegorm was classified as an armed freighter. After construction, a 20-mm anti-aircraft gun and a heavy machine gun were installed on the "Thistlegorm".
Thistlegorm was based in Sunderland. At the beginning of the Second World War, 4 ships of the same type were built [1] .
After launching the vessel made three successful voyages. The first flight was to the USA, where steel rails and parts of the aircraft were taken on board, the second to Argentina for grain, and the third to the West Indies for rum . Before the fourth flight, "Thistlegorm" was repaired in Glasgow [2] .
Last flight
"Thistlegorm" took part in the secret operation "Crusade". The plan of operation provided for a convoy of 16 ships to be escorted around Africa, which were to deliver military equipment to the troops in North Africa. The path around the continent was much longer than the dangerous journey through the Mediterranean, but allowed the British transports to reach Alexandria without much risk. The task of the cargo ship was to deliver ammunition, equipment and equipment for the Eighth British Army , with 200,000 men, which was located in Egypt and Eastern Libya. In May 1941, “Thistlegorm” with a crew of 39 people left the Scottish port of Glasgow. Ammunition, bombs for various purposes, anti-tank mines, Lee Enfield MK III rifles , hundreds of BSA W-M20 motorcycles , Matchless G3L and Norton 16H , Bedford , Morris and Ford cars , trailers, portable electric generators, spare parts for airplanes and cars , medical supplies and rubber shoes. In addition, two light MK II tanks and two Stanier Class 8F locomotives, complete with coal and water tenders, were loaded onto the deck.
When the “Thistlegorm” completed its journey in the waters of the Red Sea, an order was received to drop anchor in the Gubal Strait, near the Shaab Ali reef, and to expect the opportunity to pass the Suez Canal , temporarily blocked by a ship blown up by a German mine. On the night of 5 to 6 October 1941, two German bomber Heinkel He 111 , sent from Crete to detect the British transports, found the anchored Thistlegorm. With a full moon, having come from the stern and not meeting anti-aircraft fire, they attacked him. The bombs hit the fourth hold, which was loaded with ammunition. The stern was torn off, the deck was inundated with debris. At 1 h 30 minutes the ship sank with a roll of about 45 ° at a depth of about 30 m.
Opening Cousteau
The first “Thistlegorm” was discovered in March 1955 by the team of Jacques-Yves Cousteau (GPS coordinates 27 ° 48′51 ″ N 33 ° 55′12 ″ E) during his expedition to the Indian Ocean on the research ship Calypso . Following the prompts of local fishermen, Cousteau was able to find the body of the sunken ship and picked up several items from it, including a motorcycle, a captain's safe and a ship's bell . These studies are described in detail in the famous book by Jacques Yves Cousteau In the world of silence [3] , and the scenes of underwater shooting of the sunken ship were included in the same documentary.
In 1993, the Air Force filmed the documentary Last Flight of Thistlegorm, and from that time the sunken ship became one of the most popular dive sites for divers from Hurghada , El Gouna and Sharm el-Sheikh [4] .
Notes
- ↑ National Maritime Museum (eng.)
- ↑ The SS Thistlegorm book (Eng.)
- ↑ In the world of silence, 1966 .
- ↑ Diver Magazine February 2006 (unavailable link) (English)
[one]
Literature
- Cousteau J.-I., Dumas F., Dagen J. In the world of silence; Living Sea. = Le monde du silence. - M .: Knowledge , 1966. - 462 p.