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

 

[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.

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

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

 

[Cornbread O'Malley]

But if they're in the same condition as the rest of the cars they're probably not recognizable as locomotives.

The locomotive on the port side is easily recognizable.

 

[lermontov]

Witch one do you like the most then ?

Ive done a fair few wreck and id break into into a few categories -a) historically significant - b) visually stunning - C) good penetration diving

The I1 japanese submarine whist being a crappy wreck dive is incredibly interesting due to the recovery of Japanese code books that changed the course of the Guadacanal campaign> The rainbow warrior also a ho hum dive but significant for New zealanders as this was a Greenpeace ship that protested the anti nuclear testing and eventually got bombed by two french secret agents ( in port and in peace time) caused a huge scandal here

visually its hard to beat the Aron ward in solomons - she's getting tired now but it sits upright in 70m and stil has the guns point out in the firing position as its went down - theres still boxes of ammo on the decks and earlier this year i discovered human remains in the rear engine room area- the US have a special task force that repatriate remains

the Mikhail Lermontov is by far the best penetration diving on a wreck Ive done- some easy and some very difficult -its my local wreck so ive dived it a LOT, John chatterton called it the Andrea Doria of the south, the zenobia is also pretty good penetration diving in the engine room and and auxiliary engine room areas.

Ive done a few video s on the Lermontov and other wrecks - you can enjoy here

peter taw

A video collection of wreck diving on the Mikhail Lermontov- a world class dive site situated in Port Gore -a remote part of Marlborough Sounds New Zealand. Access is by Via water taxi and road transport -GO Dive Pacific is the local dive operator, find him on the internet

www.youtube.com