Finished up another dive video from the Red Sea. This one dedicated to the SS Thistlegorm.
https://vimeo.com/666943893
A defensively equipped merchant ship (DEMS), she was on a voyage from Glasgow to Alexandria with supplies for the British forces in Africa during WWII. 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, and two LMS Stanier Class 8F steam locomotives.
On October 6th 1941, while anchored just outside the Suez Canal, a German Heinkel He 111 Luftwaffe aircraft dropped two 2.5 tonne high explosive bombs on Thistlegorm. The bombs, and the explosion of some of the ammunition stored in hold, led to the ship sinking. Four sailors and five DEMS gunners were lost. She now rests at around 30 meters deep.
Not many people realize the extreme losses suffered by merchant navies during WWII.