The Thistlegorm, best wreck of the world ?

[glaterza]

Zenobia in front of Larnaca, Cyprus, is also a very good one, and very close to shore.

 

[passeparici]

What makes it the greatest?
Historically insignificant.
Badly damaged.
Constantly overcrowded.

It's not a bad dive in any sense, hundreds of divers that visit it every day are proof of that, but it's like calling a Disneyland ride the adventure of a lifetime.

It is not really historically insignificant as it's cargo is interesting to help understand what was happening in north Africa at this moment. It is on the contrary historically quite significant.
A part is badly damaged but half of it is in good condition. For a ship bombed during the war its condition is ok and allows to see things you don't see on many wrecks.
Constantly overcrowded : No I was on a LOB and we were 2 or 3 boats. Also we did not dive at the same time as the other boats so we were just our team on the wreck. It seems if you don't come on a daily visit from the shore it is much better as it was for us.
It might not be the greatest but your analogy with Disneyland is just...

 

[runsongas]

@passeparici many wrecks from the WW2 period weren't empty either. saratoga had fighters strapped to the deck during the testing. a couple of the japanese wrecks in chuuk have tanks/fighters/torpedoes. umbria was scuttled with 6000 tons of bombs onboard.

 

[happy-diver]

it's like calling a Disneyland ride the adventure of a lifetime.

Hey Vicko isn't it amazing that we are able to embrace our inner child if we permit ourselves the freedom

 

[LI-er]

We dived the Thistlegorm twice this past week during our Red Sea liveaboard trip.

Having dived Truk Lagoon this past December (I posted an extensive review about it here), my opinion is that the Thistlegorm is an interesting wreck, but aside from the crates full of motorcycles, a few cars and trucks (mostly deteriorated) as well as some rusted out deck guns, tanks and train cars that make this dive better than an average wreck, the Thistlegorm doesn't hold a candle to most of the wrecks we dived in Truk.

There were 7 liveaboards tied to the wreck along with us. At about 20 divers per boat plus 3 DMs that's about 150 divers on and off the wreck throughout the day. Given that each liveaboard attaches to the wreck with at least 2 lines, it's like a spider web down there in generally poor visibility thanks to the high number of divers with varying skills and experience.

The Thistlegorm is not nearly as large as most of the wrecks in Truk, and it's in bad shape due to the initial explosion plus a lot of deterioration over time. Except for the aforementioned highlights it's a big pile of debris with large expanses of nothing to see.

See attached photos of crumbling rusted out vehicles, crushed tanker train car, and the fairly well preserved train car and crates of motorbikes.

 

[Vicko]

Hey Vicko isn't it amazing that we are able to embrace our inner child if we permit ourselves the freedom

I don't need permission, a beer is enough.

 

[Lorenzoid]

... as well as some rusted out deck guns, tanks and train cars ...

Train cars? I thought this wreck had actual steam LOCOMOTIVES somewhere? Maybe they're on the seafloor? I always thought that would be one of the coolest things to see, which is why Thistlegorm has been on my bucket list for so long.

 

[Apeks Predator]

I thought this wreck had actual steam LOCOMOTIVES somewhere? Maybe they're on the seafloor?

There are two locomotives based on my dive briefings: one on the port side and one on the starboard side. Both resting on the sea bottom. I ventured out to the locomotive on the port side but didn't go find the one on the starboard side.

 

[passeparici]

Train cars? I thought this wreck had actual steam LOCOMOTIVES somewhere? Maybe they're on the seafloor? I always thought that would be one of the coolest things to see, which is why Thistlegorm has been on my bucket list for so long.

Yes it is locomotives not train cars. But they are in several parts and some parts are missing, you don't really recognize a locomotive

 

[LI-er]

Train cars? I thought this wreck had actual steam LOCOMOTIVES somewhere? Maybe they're on the seafloor?

We were told they're off the wreck on the bottom. We didn't see them, we spent our time on the main part of the wreck. But if they're in the same condition as the rest of the cars they're probably not recognizable as locomotives.

That much being said, we did another dive, it was a drift around an island on the site known as Shaabruhr Umm Gammar. In the briefing there was a wreck pictured (see sketch, lower right) but the DM said it was "too deep" especially since it would be at the end of the dive, so he avoided it. Well, that was my cue to then say "We'll do this dive alone as a buddy team rather than with the group".

We searched for the wreck off the wall to the left as we drifted and found it.. no big deal it's on a sloping wall/reef, our max depth was about 110 feet. In front if it appeared to be several locomotives, easily distinguishable as such, at least to me. I waited until the end of the trip to ask the DM about it (so I wouldn't get chastised for checking out the wreck) and asked if they were in fact locomotives. In broken English he indicated they were not, but he didn't seem sure and they sure looked like it to me.

I will post pictures or a video of when I get to those clips in my post-trip editing and ask if any other SB members are familiar with this wreck.