Steve Coren
Underwater Photographer

H.M.S. Thistlegorm

;

The immense ancient beauty of the Red Sea tends to obscure the fact that this area has also been the site of many wars which have left their relics.  During World War II, the route around Africa and into the Gulf of Suez was strategically vital in order for British ships to transport war materials to British troops in North Africa since U-boat activity made the Mediter¬ranean Sea route too hazardous. 

            In the early morning hours of October 6, 1941, the 415 foot, 5,000 ton armed merchant ship THISTLEGORM, lay at anchor with other supply ships at Sha’ab Ali Reef at the entrance to the Gulf of Suez.  The THISTLEGORM had sailed from Glasgow loaded with ammunition, mines, shells, trucks, boots and cloth¬ing, motor¬bikes, wagons, supplies and even a locomotive and railway tanker cars.  A German Heinkel He III on a raid out of Crete exploded two bombs on the stern (rear) deck and quickly sank the THISTLEGORM.

            As the years went by, the THISTLEGORM lay upright on the sandy bottom in over 100 feet of water and was gradually forgot¬ten.  Jacques Cousteau rediscovered the ship and filmed dives on the THISTLEGORM in 1956 and the ship was relocated at intervals over the years by divers.

            Since its sinking, the THISTLEGORM has been transformed into a living reef.  A silent sentinel sitting amidst strong currents, its passageways, holds, nooks and crannies have become home to many species of undersea animals. War materials and equipment remain neatly stored in the holds as if still hoping to be of use.  On one of my dives onto the ship, I was warily welcomed by a lion¬fish clinging in the sway of the sea to the underside of the deck rail¬ing, his fins and eye stalks bowed in the current.  It was like visiting a strange, alien city inhabited by creatures which, though watchful and cautious, per¬mitted me to peacefully explore their world.

More stories

 

U-Boat 853

U-Boat 853

One of the more interesting dive sites is on U=boat U-853. This submarine lies in approximately 120 of water about 8 miles east of Block Island, Rhode Island and is a well-known site for advanced divers. U-853, a Type IXC/40 submarine, was constructed in 1942 and saw action in the Battle of the Atlantic. She sank almost 6000 tons of allied shipping. In February 1945, she was sent to the Easy =coast of the United ad States to harass American shipping. On May 5, 1945, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. Karl Dönitz, recalled all U&-boats to return to their bases. However, U-853 either did not receive the message or possibly ignored it.

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Some of the best diving in the world is in the South Pacific. Destinations such as the Solomon Islands, the Philippines and Indonesia contain some of the lushest most dense coral reef systems found anywhere. Their reefs teem with sea creatures of all sizes and shapes and framed by gorgeous coral reefs.
For those who have some knowledge of World War Two history in the Pacific, the Solomon Islands were the focus of major land and sea battles between 1942 and 1943. Guadalcanal, the main island, evokes horrific memories of bloody battles as the US strove to eject the Japanese from Guadalcanal in order to capture the airport, called Cactus Field. This was the only island in the Solomon’s that contained the ability to handle large and constant air traffic. There’ve were smaller airports such as on New Georgia Island, but Cactus Field was the largest and most important in terms of depriving the Japanese of a significant air base and securing the base for American troops and materials to move westward. It was part of the plan for the US to hop-scotcvh its way westward form island to island to eventually press a large-scale attack of the Japanese mainland. The Solomons form parallel arms of three islands. In WWII, the sea between these two arms was called the “Slot”. This was a main focus of attacks of Japanese planes and ships as the US desperately clung to its beachhead on Guadalcanal, captured the runways and moved up the chain of the Solomons to Bougainville and onward to New Guinea.

Northern Egyptian Red Sea

Northern Egyptian Red Sea

The youngest of the seven seas, the Northern Egyptian Red Sea has some of the most developed reef systems in the world. It is surrounded by deserts and bounded by the Sinai Peninsula and Saudi Arabia. Reef building corals require warm clear water with a minimum of...