SS Thistlegorm

A British armed freighter bombed at anchor on 6 October 1941, the Thistlegorm sank with a war cargo bound for North Africa: Bedford trucks, BSA and Norton motorcycles, rifle crates, aircraft parts, and rubber boots still stacked in her holds, with two locomotives thrown onto the seabed beside her. Nine men died in the attack, and the blasted stern shows why - the bombs detonated ammunition in the aft holds. Jacques Cousteau's team dived her in the mid-1950s; she was then largely forgotten until the early 1990s and is now the busiest wreck in the Red Sea. Current can run hard along the hull, mornings bring queueing day boats, and the holds demand calm, controlled finning over eighty-year-old cargo.

The moment you come for: Motorcycles still on truck beds in hold two; the anti-aircraft gun at the stern; locomotives on the sand; dense glassfish and batfish over the bridge.

Topography: Sand seabed at about 30-32 meters with the hull upright and the stern section torn open

Current: Tidal current along the hull can be strong enough to demand the lines both ways.

Entry: A long day trip from Sharm into the Strait of Gubal or a staple of northern liveaboard routes; descents and ascents run on fixed lines.

Hazards: Strong current on the lines, heavy boat traffic overhead, silt and sharp steel in the holds, and easy depth overruns at the stern.

Conservation: Take nothing. Decades of souvenir theft have already stripped much of the cargo's detail; artifact removal is illegal and mooring damage remains an ongoing concern.

Nitrox: Worth it here — profiles sit in the range where enriched air meaningfully extends no-stop time (with the training to use it).