Wednesday 7 December 2011
Это погружение может по праву считаться одним из самых интересных погружений на затонувшие корабли. Обломки Британского корабля Тистлегорм (Thistlegorm), потопленного немецкой авиацией 6 октября 1941 года.
Тистлегорм - транспортное торговое судно, построенное в 1940 году, грузоподъемностью 5000 тонн, длиной 131 метр, а шириной 17,5 метров. Во время Второй Мировой войны в октябре 1941 года судно перевозило грузы военно-морских сил Великобритании. В трюмах находился большой арсенал взрывчатки - противотанковые мины, артиллерийские снаряды, патроны и гранаты. На палубе корабля стояли два легких танка, два железнодорожных вагона и два паровоза.
Немецкие бомбардировщики, вылетев с Кипра, обнаружив его на подходе к Суэцкому заливу, атаковали его. Бомбы попали как раз в тот четвертый трюм, который был загружен боеприпасами. Корма была оторвана, палуба завалена обломками. Корабль пошел ко дну и затонул с креном около 45° на глубине около 30 м. Под водой остались: железнодорожные вагоны, локомотив, мотоциклы, грузовые автомобили, боеприпасы.
Обломки были впервые обнаружены Жаком Кусто в 1956 году.
Тистлегорм лежит на песчаном дне, на глубине 30 метров в южной части рифа Шааб Али (Shaab Ali) в Суэцком проливе.
В носовом трюме находятся винтовки, резиновые сапоги и ящики с медицинскими принадлежностями, а на самом верхнем уровне - мотоциклы BSA и автомобили "Morris". Во втором трюме расположены грузовики "Bedford", мотоциклы и автомобили. В третьем трюме находятся ящики с амуницией и ручные гранаты. В четвертом трюме - гусеничные MK II.
[fr] Mon odyssée sous-marine: Le Thistlegorm est un vraquier de la marine marchande britannique construit en 1940 par Joseph Thompson & Son à Sunderland. Il était armé d'un canon anti-aérien de 120 mm et d'une mitrailleuse.
Lors de son quatrième voyage, en direction d'Alexandrie en Égypte, il a été bombardé le 6 octobre 1941 près de Ras Mohammed en Mer Rouge par deux bombardiers allemands Heinkel He 111.
Le navire transportait des camions Bedford, des chenillettes Bren Carrier, des motocyclettes BSA et Norton, des Fusils mitrailleurs BREN et leurs munitions .303 British, divers équipements et deux locomotives LMS Stanier Class F8.
Dans les années 1950, Jacques-Yves Cousteau a découvert l'épave et est devenu un site très connu de plongée sous-marine.
[en] My underwater odyssey: The Thistlegorm was a British armed Merchant Navy ship built in 1940 by Joseph Thompson & Son in Sunderland, England. She was sunk on 6 October 1941 near Ras Muhammad in the Red Sea and is now a well known dive site.
She set sail on her fourth and final voyage from Glasgow on 2 June 1941 destined for Alexandria, Egypt. The vessel’s 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, and two LMS Stanier Class 8F steam locomotives. These steam locomotives and their associated coal & water tenders were carried as deck cargo and were for the Egyptian Railways. The rest of the cargo was for the Allied forces in Egypt. At the time the Thistlegorm sailed from Glasgow in June this was the Western Desert Force, which in September 1941 became part of the newly formed Eighth Army. The crew of the ship, under Captain William Ellis, were supplemented by 9 naval personnel to man the machine gun and the anti-aircraft gun.
Due to German and Italian naval and airforce activity in the Mediterranean the Thistlegorm sailed as part of a convoy via Cape Town, South Africa, where she refuelled, before heading North up the East coast of Africa and into the Red Sea. On leaving Capetown, the light cruiser HMS Carlisle joined the convoy. Due to a collision in the Suez Canal the convoy could not transit through the canal to reach the port of Alexandria and instead moored at Safe Anchorage F, in September 1941 where she remained at anchor until her sinking on 6 October 1941. HMS Carlisle moored in the same anchorage.
There was a large build up of Allied troops in Egypt during September 1941 and German Intelligence, Abwehr, suspected that there was a troop carrier in the area bringing in additional troops. Two Heinkel He-111 aircraft were dispatched from Crete to find and destroy the troop carrier. This search failed but one of the bombers discovered the vessels moored in Safe Anchorage F. Targeting the largest ship they dropped two bombs on the Thistlegorm both of which struck hold 4 near the stern of the ship at 0130 on 6 October. The bomb and the explosion of some of the ammunition stored in hold 4 led to the sinking of the Thistlegorm with the loss of four sailors and five members of the Royal Navy gun crew. Mr. Rejda single-handledly saved most of the sailors by swimming in to the wreck and towing them to safety. The survivors were picked up by HMS Carlisle. Captain Ellis was awarded the OBE for his actions following the explosion and a crewman, Angus McLeay, was awarded the George Medal and the Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea for saving another crew member. Most of the cargo remained within the ship, the major exception being the steam locomotives from the deck cargo which were blown off to either side of the wreck.
