DIVE EGYPTS SHIPWRECKS PT 1 - Sudan Border to Safaga

1

2

DIVE EGYPTS SHIPWRECKS From Sud an to Soll um a 2 5 y ear Jou rney

Part 1 -SUDAN BORDER to SAFAGA

PETER COLL INGS SSI PRO5000

3

FORWARD by J OHN WOM ACK I am Joh n Womack Snr, BSAC First Class Diver, Ad vanced In structor & own er of Otter Drysu its in Yorkshire, havi ng d ived the Britan nic, Prince of Wales, Repu lse and the Victoria p lus many more over the last 40 years I wou ld not go anywhere in the Red Sea without one o fPeter' s guide bo oks. I have been o n numer ous successfu l trips of Peter's in cluding wreck search ing in Truk Lagoon.

Peter's n ew book i s aweso me, th ere are so man y wrecks and to give detailed descriptions of all the wrecks themselves is great, it mak es you feel lik e yo u have div ed themalready . I remember doing a n ight dive on the Thistleg orm which was just fantastic it was pitch black with pin points of lig ht fro m fello w div ers lights.In the south, Peter, To mand my self went looking fo r th e wreck o f the Maidan on Ro ck y Island, we followed the d eb ris trail down to 6 5mtrs and there befor e us was the h uge shadow of the wreck h an ging o ver the ab yss starting at 80 mtrs. We cou ld only look down in wo nder, b ut we h ad foun d what we were lo oking fo r after 10 years.

Peter's trips are a must an d very much like hi s trips his books are a must read, Peter is a walking en cyclopaedia on all things diving and ship wreck s. A lot o fg reat ships wer e made in the No rth East and it comes as no surprise to me th at this is wh ere Peter came fr om too , we have b een friends/fel low wreck divers a lot of years and h ope to be sharing experiences an d b ooks fo r many mo re years to come.

John Womack MD Otter Water sports Yorkshir e.March 2018 Otter Dr ysuits , UK

Th is series of guides is respectfully d ed icat ed t o thi s great man. I am p ro ud t o have called him friend and shared his last dive. JOHN MICHAEL W OMACK 23 MARCH 1943- 3 0TH NOV.20 18

4

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION AREA MA P UKNOW N MA IDA N TIAW AN MOMA EL QAHER ABU S IAMMA TURBO/ATLAS ADAMANTIA K TUGBOAT ENDYMION HAMA DA , DACCA ZEALOT INDIAN ENTERP RISE NUMIDIA AIDA IBM BOTAOTA/AL LOALA MALDIVE TRANS PORT/KAREN VATIS AL KAFHAIN SALEM E XPRESS EL ARISH CLARK CHAP MAN WR ECK SARAH TABA PATRA/AL SALEEM 98 RONADSAY OTTOMAN TRADER

5

PAGE5 PAGE 6 PAGE 7 PAGE 10 PAGE11 PAGE 15 PAGE 16 PAGE 25 PAGE 29 PAGE 33 PAGE 41 PAGE 44 PAGE 48 PAGE 49 PAGE 53 PAGE 55 PAGE 5 6 PAGE 59 PAGE 6 5 PAGE 7 0 PAGE 7 1 PAGE 7 2 PAGE 7 6 PAGE 8 1 PAGE 8 7 PAGE 9 0 PAGE 9 3 PAGE 9 4 PAGE 9 5 PAGE 9 7

INTRODUCTION Although I had one pr ev ious trip to Egypt, a sh ore based foray that took me ,in a fishing boat, fo r the first time to Ab u Nu has, to “liber ate” ti les from a shipwreck (1979)this pub lication started some 30o dd y ears ag o-April 1 7th/14t h 1983 at Abu Nu Has as the Giannis D ran agro und an d began to sink. My first of ov er 50 0 livaboard ad ventures in Egy ptian waters fr om th e Su danese b order to the entrance(literally) of the Suez Can al and then b eyond in to the Mediterranean with land based foray s and ev en time spent living with lo cal fishermen on their t iny feluccas.

Its wor th n oting that o n n either of th ose trips was I aware of the Thistleg orm, Ro salie Mo ller, o r indeed any other of the 3 0+ wrecks we d ive in Egypt today. Yes we dived the Jo landa in 83 b ut she is n ow in the realms o ff extreme trimix. W reck s were not real ly on the agend a-it was th e sh ark s, reefs and marine life t hat, despite the in accessibility drew u s to these waters. My interest in maritime history ,b orn out of those earl y No rth East publicat ions, was indeed to d raw me b ack time an d ag ain .It h as been a life lo ng journey, and this I suspect wi ll be my Swan song!

It was th ough th e vision o f Chris Scott, who’s words back in the early 90’s, “ There’s a great futur e in livaboard d iving”, an d “ We co uld run a wreck safari”, mo ved my career away fr om teach ing u nderwater photogr aphy into wreck hunting.

By 19 95 I h ad formed the Red Sea Wreck Academy. Backed by the Red Sea Asso ci ation the in itial group of 10 was to gro w into a world wide team of d ivers, maritime histo rians, and archivists, all o f wh om have played a v ital p ar t in this wo rk.

Disco very followed discovery , many during the BSAC so uthern expeditions and then our fo rays in to the Gulf o fSuez The success d id n ot g o unnoticed-awards fro mAmerica and Egypt ackn owledged and endo rsed the d iscoveries. By 2005 o ver 30 wrecks h ad b een d iscovered , su rveyed and identified.

I’ve often b een asked h ow I discover wrecks. The an swer ran ges fro m Si descan to a flock of seagu lls, witnessing a sinking and living with local fish ermen, and I have included some of t hose stories h erein. So met imes truth out strips fiction!

Such success was bou nd to bring adv erse prop aganda fro m armchair experts who simply said I was wrong o r th e wrecks d idn’t exist, simply because o f wh o I was and not because o f fact . Th ey h av e been eliminated fro m all enq uiries and do n ot play any part h ere other than to have encouraged an d inspired me to succeed ! Funny though, they often cop ied my work !

The wo rk has g rown b eyond my wild est dreams-and will be published in 5 volumes.

Thi s th en is a free edited version Th e final two section s are my “ gift” to future generations o f d ivers and show a marked d ifference in the format of th e work. These two sections, the Med iterran ean coast co ntain a wealth of u ndiscovered wrecksdocu mented but u ndived. Th e first 3 volumes co ver the Egyptian Red Sea and Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba. Wh ere we have lo cated a wreck it is titled “ THE WRECK OF THE…..” an d where they are u ndived simply listed by their name at the time of sinking(if known).

6

It seemed lo gical to star t in the sou th at the Su danese bo rder an d work no rthward thro ugh the Fury sh oals, on to Safag a and Hu rghada, tak ing in the islands on the way, the Sinai region an d into the Gu lf of Su ez. Th e fin al two sectio ns then run east to west to the t an talizing b order with Lybia‌ While its my name on the co ver, so many people h ave b een involved over the years, Fro m sh ipwreck su rvivors to those wh o sp en d their d ays between d usty shelves of historic document s, my fellow memb ers o f th e RSW A (transient and enduring) and of course those wh o have sponsored the E bo ok g uide series. I hav e to thank them al l fo r their inspiration en durance an d most o fall friend ship.

S.S.= STEAMSHIP , M.V.=MOTOR VES SEL,M.Y.=MOTOR YATCH.HMS =BRITISH WARSHIP ,RO-RO=ROLL ON, ROLL OFF FERRY.

7

8

THE SUDANESE BORDER.

The CEDAR STAR, high and dry on the Sudanese border.

The bo rder between Su dan an d Eg ypt can ap pear rath er d isputed confusing and uncertain- depending on wh ich map y ou view, but on a recent exp ed ition to Sudan, it was made very clear the Egy ptian Navies point o fv iew. They consider that th e centre of ELBA REEF, and a 24 mile strip either side is a “ no go area”-we were no t p ermitted to dive within this perimeter. Thu s th e magn ificent LEVANZO was o ff limits. .She is south o f the line so would n ot have featured here an yway.

The area is at the far reach es o f Egy ptian li vaboards, visited b y the o dd 1 0 or 14day exp ed’ s. It stan ds to r eason, while we do n’t have an y current targets t here may yet be some new discoveries. Perhap s if tou rism mo ves so uth, may be if Berenise ever o pens up , then this area may o ne d ay b eco me a reg ular d estination fo r livaboards .

There are many as yet undived reefs and as such unti l a reef is dived we can’ t say there’s no wreck t here..th ey might just b e!

Ans so the journey begins in Egypts very souther n waters taking us north via th e Islands on the way to The n orthern o utskirts of Safaga.

9

UNIDENTIFIED WRECK It is rather iro nic that th is is only one of two wrecks whi ch remain unid enti fied th roughout the 40 or so l isted in these vo lumes. (The o ther b eing the “Clark Chapman wreck in Safaga p ort) The stern section of wreck lies in part on top o f th e reef with h er main hull sloping d own the reef int o d eeper water…………………

The en tire wreck h as beco me engulfed into the reef, suggesting she’s b een t here a while, an d th e wreck demands more research and indeed dives!

The o nly possible con tender fo r th is wreck (as far as ou r research h as taken us) is the

S.S AYAMONTE The S.S Ayamo nte was bu ilt in 1899 at BremerVulk an for th e Argo DG of Bremen , an d was 9 03 tons, 180 ft l ong with tr iple exp ansion engines. She remained in German o wnership u ntil1925 when she was so ld to Co wasjee & Dinstaw of London. According th to th e war diaries sh e was sunk o n Octo ber 4 1942, and the co ordinates given match th is location. However the cause o f lo ss was a co llision with th e SS NIRPURA who p icked up the survivors. It is feasible t hat the ship drifted ashore b efore sin king

10

The reef’ s f St John s lie to the north but t o d ate have not offered up an y wrecks. The n ext location to the north is Ro cky island, su rround by world class walls o f coral and sh ark enco unters, it offers technical divers a v ery ch al len ging d ive indeed .

THE WRECK OF THE SS MAIDAN

THE VES SEL

THE MAIDANERS At the en d of the 1 st World War only 6 5 o f the 1 000 men from the Liv erpool and Sco ttish Regi ment h ad surv ived. They b ecame known as the Maidaners, because off th eir association with th e ship. In insight in to life on board is recorded in the d iaries of Serg eant B.BROOKES .

See.www.L ondonscottish.org.uk

Built at Glasgow by W. Hamilton & Co, the Maidan was launched in March 190 2 .At 8,2 05 tons, and 5 00 long, 58 x 3 2 ft 74 7 nhp, she was o ne o f the b iggest ships o f her d ay. Her early career saw her o perating as a p assenger/ cargo sh ip b etween Europe and the far east. In 1 914, at the out break of war she was en gaged in troop tr an sp ort, notably the “ Liverpool Scottish Regiment” and the “ Queens Westmister Rifles” In 1 919, she un derwent a major refit, and a new 4-cylinder q uadruple exp an sion eng ine, built

Re volutionary quadr uple expansion steam engine fitted to the Maidan during he r refit, increasing he r spe ed and efficie ncy

11

THE FINAL VOYAGE In April 1923 the Maid en was in Calcu tta h av ing d ischarg ed h er cargo and reloading with an other. Head ing b ack to wards Europe her p rogress fo und h er in Cey lon to wards the en d of May and Bo mbay by early June. A short st op was mad e in Port Sudan, where she reb unkered an d took on ad ditional carg o befo re setting course for Su ez through the Red Sea. I t was the in ten tion of her captain to sail wi thin sight o f Zab ag ad (th en St. Joh ns islan d) to make an accurate fix. However over the next 140 miles the Maid en was to slo wly drift off course, an d b y late aftern oo n she was so me 3 miles west of h er th course. By the early h ours o ft he n ext day, the 10 , Zabagad was sighted dead ahead on the horizon. Th e calm waters hid ing the tell tale surf of a lo w lying island dead ah ead, Its sand y co lour bl ending in with that of the higher island behi nd and the p oor or little ligh t add ing to the d anger ah ead . By the time th e Captain an d second officer had discussed who was to blame shallow water was sigh ted ahead.

Desp ite evasive actio n th e Maid en g rounded onto the south west side of the island, th grin ding her keel i nto the jagged reef in the early h ours o f the 10 June 1923 By midday the 1 00 cr ew an d p asseng ers had safely made it asho re, to be later p ick ed u p by a passing ship the W arwick shire. 12 h ours after her g rounding the Maiden sl ipped back and tumb led d own the reef into th e deep wat ers of Rock y Islan d

THE SEARCH FOR THE MAIDEN One of the main targets o f th e earl y BSAC expeditions to Southern Egypt was the Maid en . She was well docu men ted but not located. Our first visits to Rocky Island failed to co me up with an y results and we resig ned ourselves to the fact that sh e must be beyo nd sport diving limits. We also surv ey ed Zab ag ad where we fo und two lifebo ats lying o n a b each-excitement gathered - they were English pump action typewere they from th e Maiden? On ou r return from examin ing th e lifebo ats we discover ed a small coastal v essel near the shore-but the l ifeboats were t wo b ig for her cradl es-where were they from. There was no record of th e Mai dens cr ew rowing to Zabagad was there an other wreck waiting t o be foun d? (cf TAIWAN) .It was to be an other 8 years befo re we were to solve the mystery

12

THE DISCOVERY JUNE 6 TH 20 03. Tipped offb y a report by the DM of Excel, Grant SEARANCKE, I organ ised a deep air div e to iden tify some wreck ag e at the base of t he reef o n th e south side of Rock y. My bud dy was to b e none oth er than Mr Jo hn Womack , o f Ott er Dry suit fame, and n o stran ger to wreck discov eries himself, and To m Fru henhimer, Germany’ s answer to Joh n Cleese. Our plunge down t he r eef face to 65mtrs fo und the tell tale sign that we were rig ht on targ et. Hawse wires stretched acro ss th e reef base and o ut beyond lay h uge I – beams cross members from a shi ps ho ld of immense size some 50ft acro ss.

Several lay strewn on th e sea bed and a hug e mast ran out into the shadowy glo om-an d the shadow of a vessel beyo nd.Wi th bo ttom time ov er in minu tes we left with a certainty we had fo und the Maidan- no other vessel could fit th ese dimen sions

The hull of the wreck, sta rti ng a t 8 0 mtrs is co vered in superb corals and reef fishes. A Nikon RSAF, the only SLR able to withstand these pressures were used to capt ure these unique images.

In October 20 03 Gran t Searancke made sev er al solo div es armed with the info rmation we had uncovered. At a depth of 80 mtrs Gr an t found the main body of the wreck , h er ster n u prig ht with h er hull sloping in to deeper water the bow hanging over a precipice th e general d epth of the wreck bein g in 100mtrs.Grants friend , Kimo Hagman joi ned Grant in a deep exp lorator y dive, taking some d etailed photographs. He repo rted that th e bridge and compan ionways h ad co llapsed.

So me repo rts suggested th at the wreck was not where we had claimed it was where we had claimed after the in itial d iscovery. It was no t un til lat e 200 4 an op portunity presented itself to retu rn to Rocky to d ive the wreck again. Ho wever after descending the wall we were able to lo cate t he wreck d irectly out from th e debri s field .It would appear from the d ebris tr ail and the position of the wreck that she has struck the reef side o n then tumb led down the reef to the b ase in 1 00mtrs, her b ow n ow sticking out into the blue overhanging a sheer wall-upside down in 120 mtrs. Impacting wit h a large rock on the way. Th e stern section sits upright while the main body o f th e wreck lies over on her port si de. The wreck is huge and ran ks alongside th e Numi dia as one of the largest steamsh ips to have su nk in the Red Sea. Her engine ro om, still co mplete with its 4 -cy linder quad ruple exp an sion en gine can be en tered b ared o pen b y a hu ge gape in the hul l but at these g reat depths requ ires technical skills b eyond sp ort diving.

13

With the main sectio n of th e ship torn from the b ow an d ster n, the huge tear s in her hull forward and aft hav e cau sed her carg o to spill out onto the seabed an d al so allowing access into h er vast holds. The forward hold is full of jut e gunnies-hessian sack s tied in bun dles, and d eep er down int o the wreck are what appear to b e the remains of bag s of cemen t.

The Ma idan at Liverpool d ocks.

The decks now vertical st ill bear all the usual fitt ings; winches, hatch co vers v entilation tub es, moo ring cleats and mast bases. A spare p rop eller sti ll r emain s bolted onto the ster n castle.

Although some of the wreck has co llapsed due to the journey to her final resting place, many o f th e hand rails and fittings, are ador ned wi th co ral s, sponges and deep-water hard coral sp ecies. Th e bridg e would appear to hav e separated from th e main body of the wreck, alon g with her tall straight funnel. There is a larg e debri s field and scattered aroun d are win ches, v en tilati on cowls, hatch co vers, hawse wires an d mast sections.

There are many hatch way s enticing the unwary and man y more di ves must be carried out before h er atti tude is fu lly understood The wreck is co vered in a very healthy g rowth o f soft corals as vib rant as a reef in shallow water, with th e deep water white whip corals everywhere.

THE BELL Located by rebreather diver An dy Ab ery, the bell was r aised by Grant , aft er he had witnessed a group of Italian divers pillaging the wreck of the Zealot on Daedalus.

Fearing th ey wo uld target the Maidan next t he b ell was cleaned, ph otographed and it is ho ped it will find its pride of place in the Liverpool-Scottish Mu seu m. A fi tting memori al t o a great sh ip and the brave men who lost their lives i n the Great war . The current location of the bell is u nknown to th e author

14

THE WRECK OF THE S.S . TAIWAN

W hile search ing for th e Maid an during those early expeditions we dived extensively aro und Zabagad Island. No ting potential dive sites. During an encounter with a school o f Hammer h eads we noticed a cargo sh ip in 70 mtrs below us. She was a fou r hold v essel ap peared u pright an d fairly intact. She was well bey ond our reach. We su rmised, wro ngly that she must b e the Maid an . Following th e positive id o f the Maidan we have an other mystery wreck to id entify.

Built in German y in 1 924 by Du etshe Werft AG. Hamgur ghs for the No rth African Au str ian L ine (WilhelmWilhermsen,Tonsberg,Norway the 55 00 TONS,426 ft long general cargo v essel was o n a vo yage from Basra to Go thenburgh, when she struck Rocky Island, she was refloated , b ut l ater abandoned and sunk close t o sh ore on Zabagad Island on 14 march 195 0.

The wreck is br oken in two, starting at a depth o f 60 mtrs down to 90 mtrs very close to shore and is ideal a a t rimix o r reb reath er div e.Th e location offers sheltered co nditions fo r such an advanced dive.

15

WRECK OF THE “MOMA” CLASS SURVEILAN CE GATHERER AKA THE RUSSAIN WRECK

A d iver ho vers o ver the st ern o f the Momar class Survei llance vessel at Zabagad Island .Th e da ma ge f rom th e explosion can clearly b e seen in the sta rboard hull.On the aft deck are th e win ch es for towing t he so nar arrays.

THE DISCOVE RY Durin g the early BSAC exp ed itions to Southern Egypt, o ne of ou r main targets was to l ocate th e wreck o f th e MAIDAN, as well as explo ring the u ndived sites of the so uth. Cruising aro und Zab ag ad we fou nd two lifeb oats lying on t he shore. We th ought they mig ht be from the Maidan and spen t the next day diving the outer reefs o f St Joh n’s or Zabagad island. Enco untering a schoo l of hammerheads we noticed a larg e freig hter in d eep water (7 0mtrs) below u s. Beyond o ur remit , we co uld only speculate that thi s mig ht be t he Maidan, indeed we no w know she is lik ely to be the TAIW AN. We d ecid ed to check o ut 2 lifeb oats-English pump action type- lying on the shore and in doing so stumb led across a car go ship-her rad io and comms mast ju st below the surface. At first we th ought the lifeb oats were from this sh ip, b ut again we were t o b e pro ved wrong.

The initial d ive was a h urried one – the last day of th at years exped ition. Th e initial ap pearance o f the shi p was that she was simply a small carg o v essel which had run ag round- quite recentlyn ot much co ral and in deed a p ainted emblem o n her funn el.

Electron ic eq uipment lay all around the sh ip- much more than the usual array o f masts co ils and cables. Russian lettering o n notice p lates were everywh er e, h er comp ass originating fro m Denmark . An intact helman d b ridge p rovided a fascinating d ive- if anyo ne had been here b efore th ey h ad left her undisturbed .

As we sailed away we were all excited at the find and speculated over the two wreck s with lots o f un answer ed q uestions. My su ggestion that this little cargo ship was indeed a Russian spy ship was met with ridicule – I was t old I watch ed too many Bo nd films. My instincts wou ldn’t let g o.

16

I returned to the wreck whenever our schedule allowed. The mo re I div er her, the more conv inced I was abou t my th eo ry. On 8 th Jun e of 2003, the day after Joh n W omack (OtterWater Sp orts)and myself fo un d the Maid an ,I too k an electronics exp ert deep into the Russian wreck-showing him th e rack s of batteries-an d the schematics at the end o f each ro w. Although I couldn’t un derstand h is technical jarg on through his mou thpiece I g ot t he g ist of what he was g ett ing at. All these b atteries could only mean one thing. The shi p needed a clean power so urce for her purp ose. Her usual gen erators would give of radi ated and transmitted noise-batteries wo uldn’t. He traced the cab lessome end ed wh ere a piece of equ ipment had been remov ed through an access panel in the h ull. Other cables ran for ward and we were no t to disco ver their destination for anoth er year. David you see is “ rotund” an d couldn’t quite sq ueeze th rough the ducting! .We ev entually had to drag him away fro m“ all that electronic stuff” I b ecame an expert in electro nic jargon after th at dive ; “ switch mode”, “ mu lti phase”, “dirty” and “clean” power. Ano ther convert for my theory.

THE UNDENIABLE CLUES.

SYNCHRONIZA TION 1 TYRE S 1G 2 T YR ES 3G 3 EL ECTR ICAL CU T OUT 4 S5 TYRE S 2G

Thro ughout the ship we fou nd ev idence of elect ronic su rveillance equi pment. One roo m, located b elow and behind the bridge was a commu nications centre. Desk s packed wit h el ectro nic gauges, d ials, knobs and switch es-desks for 6 -1 0 personnel. The switches were all labelled in Ru ssian-some examples on the left with their tr an sl ations.

The wo rd TYRE h as 3 meaning s in Ru ssia- a car ty re, a su rgical sp lint and an electric b uss-or distribution b oard so metimes kno wn as a b uzz b ar.

TEN SIO N & FREQUENCY S.P.B 1 EL ECTR ICAL CU T OUT 2 TY RE A S 3TYRE VS 4TYRE AB

The b attery ro om con tained over 2 00 b at teries in 4 section s each with a schematic at each en d. The cab les traced back into the communications room.

The HT lead ru nning ashore was armo ured and mult i co red-leading to a soli d base- on t he islan d-no doubt for a fixed array.

The Co mms mast had huge multcore cab les running through it-far more th an a co astal vess el or a trawler wo uld n eed .Sev er al directional fi ndinganten na were also located clo se by.

INSTAL LATION & MAINTAINANCE FOR NA VIGATION SHIELD

17

The plate opposi te was located on the wi nch-and w hen translated reveal ed some crucial evi dence.

Machinery Code (pos. index) 6-4 Anchor Cable 31mm works no. 155 dat e of manufact ure 1973 act ual weig ht 3200 kg (OTK ) mechani cal control

Astrakhan SSZ im. 10-iy Go d. Oktyabrskoy Rev o lyut si i, Astrakhan

The ‘Moma’ class electronic surveillance sh ip (Project 861M) The Moma (Pro ject 861) was and is a costal sur vey ship. They are also used as buo y t en ders. Th e co nv erted Mo ma (Pro ject 861M) is an Electro nic Intelligence (ELINT) gathering ship converted fr om Moma class su rvey ship/buoy tender s. These ships carry SSV (Commu nications Vessel) n umb ers on the bow Specifi catio n Russian Designation: SSV (Co mmun icatio ns Sh ip) Build er: Stocznia P olnocna, Gd an sk (P oland) Role: ELINT Year ad op ted: 196 7 Number in Class: 2 8 sh ips total (production fro m1 968 – 1 974) Operational St atus: Russia: Sti ll in active service Displacemen t: 1 ,58 0 tons full load Length: 73.3 meters. Drau gh t: 3 .8 meters.Beam:10 .8 meters Crew: 41 – 120 Officers and Sailors (dep ending on the miss ion) Engi ne: Max Speed: Sensor Suit e: Sonar:

2 x Zg oda/sulzer 6T D48 diesel engines deliveri ng 3,600 hp 17 Knots Range: 8,700 N autical miles at 11 knot s 2 x Don-2 navig at ional radars Bronza arrays

18

Electronic Warf are:

Intercept and DF arrays

THE WRECK TODAY The wr eck lies up right in 24 mtrs in the western bay of Zabagad Island. Her b ow and small ho ld have b roken off and lie o ver to p ort, fu ll o f the o bligatory g lassfish. Th ere is no evid ence of any carg o. She is otherwise in tact, with a stern su perstructure and engin e room. Access to her b ridge, comp lete wi th instrumen ts, en gine room and g alley along with co mpanionway swim- throughs is easy an d excitin g.

Eng ine ro om hatch co vers deliberately removed, Divers swim p ast the en trance to the pump room. The b ridge is just in front of her funnel. Her radio mast almost b reaking the su rface.

Her instru men t p anel and h elm are lo cated in the bridge b ehind which is a navigation roo mand stairs d own in to the accommod ation and g alley ar eas. Evidence o f beds, tool boxes and every day items are scattered thro ughout the in teri or. Larg e diameter corrug ated h oses l ie in her stern and h er single forward ho ld. All her deck fittings are visible, an d intact including the empt y li feboat davi ts, stern winch, cable drums fo r the towed arrays and “ toadstool� v en tilator tops. Her central comms mast almo st br eaks the sur face. Comp ass posts sit at each side of the fl ying bridge. Access to the engine roo mand h er acco mmod ation area can b e gained fro md oors si tuated o n the rear deck.

The rear section o fth e ship can also b e explored fro m the large h oles in h er hu ll. It is possible with care to enter the engine room this way and then exit v ia the rear doo rways or h er sky lights. In front of the wh eelhouse is a co ntrol ro om for wh at appears to be pip ing and v alves for liqu id fu el. The lack of depth (max 24 mtrs) mean s t he wreck is usually b athed in strong sunlight, the clearer water b eing the up per lev els as th e sandy bed often becomes cl oud y if a swell is presen t. The stern sitting bo lt u pright is an impressive sig ht and is very photogenic.

19

The bo w sectio n lies over to starboard, the bow itself h ard i nto the reef, and th e central raised walkway h aving broken of fro m the main section by the deckhouse. Near the winch is an u pright structure p ossibly a crane o f some kin d an d access to the hold is open or though o ne o f two serv ice hatches on the deck o r fo r th e less ad venturous thro ugh a h e gash in her starboard side. Fromth e walkway a forward comms mast runs out almost horizontal an d is h ome to man y small reef fishes and so ft co rals.

The bo w section lies o ver to port and has broken o ff from the ma in section of the ship (LEFT) The a ft d eck ha s many fittings rela ting t o th e vessels purp ose.( RIGHT) Small co ral gro wths have now established themselves o n the wreck and antheas adorn the fun nel along with sev eral li onfish p atrolling the perimeter.

The su rrou nding area is l ittered with DF masts and several antenna, and radio sets lie off towards the sh ore among st th e corals- all distinct ly Russian.

20

The lack o f d ep th a llows for strong n atural light over the wreck. The b ri dge and comms mast a re on ly a few meters b elow the su rface.

THE ENIGMA It is clear fo rm all o fth e evidence that this vessel was used as an “ intelligence g atherer”, but what was she do ing tucked away i n a bay in a quite corner of Egy pt near the Sud anese border? Some time between 1974 and 1 985 –the co ld war perio d Had sh e si mply pu t in for rep airs and the ensueing exp losion sunk her? If so why had all th e watertight d oors b een cut at the h inges, p reventing them from b eing refitted Why the HT a cables and fu el pipes running ash ore? The R ussians were o perating out of the Dallak Island s (Eritria) dur ing the cold war . Sh e may be o ne such vess el. They also had stro ng co nnections with th e Egyptians and there are sev eral Russian built Egyptian shipwrecks from the Arab co nfli cts. However there is n othing on the sh ip to suggest she was an Eg yptian vessel o r ind eed have an E gyptian crew. Was she watching shipping fo r bo th Ru ssia and Egypt?Perh aps the clo uded past o f the co ld war wil l keep her full story a secret.

One final en igma i s this sign- the onl y one fo und in English

21

The bridge co mplete with telegraph, radar and controls can be a ccessed from both port and starboard d oor ways(above & below left).The engine room is accessable from the skylig hts above(below right)

22

23

Intact h ard co rals are n ow well estab lished on th e wreck , The forward comms mast has fallen over and has turned into aliving reef. left;Aerial view o f th e bow section. The shallower water o ffers th e clearest v isibility.

Righ t:fu ll stern sh ot of th e wreck

24

THE WRECK OF EL QAHER (ex HMS MYNGS) Th e bord er po rt of P ort Berenice, sheltered by the lon g curving nose of Ras Ban as, must have seen some nau tical comin gs an d goi ng o ver the last 2000 years.

Th e bo nes of many sh ips will no doubt lie seep in the sand-The scant remains o f the stern of the Alt as seem to dimin ish as the years g o by. Sev eral other wrecks lie here too, but diving th em is very d ifficult and heavily restricted.

In 195 5 the Roy al Nav y decommission ed several of its “ Z”(ZAMBESI) class destroyers. Th ese were fast (35k not) vessels, sleek and manoeuvrable an d d esigned primarily as su b ch asers. While man y of the v essels were scrapp ed 4 were sold on-Two to Egypt-HMS MYNGS (to b ecome th e AL QAHER), H.M.S.ZENITH (to become the AL FATHA ) an d two to ISRAEL , HMS ZEALOUS an d HMS ZODIAC( to be renamed ELATH and YAF FA respectively) ELATH IS FEATURED IN CHAPTER 10.

Built b y Vick er s Armstron g, o n the Ty ne and launched in 19 43, HMS MYNGS(R 06) saw actio n off th e Norwegian coast, She was fitted with turbine engin es an d drum b oilers, cap ab le o f some 3 5 k nots ,they had a d isplacement of 171 0 tons, and were 36 0ft long, si milar in man y ways to th e su ccessful “ C” CLASS .Her armament inclu ded; 4×1 14mm gu ns (4×I-DP) 3 40mm can non, 20 4 0mm pom po m, an d 8 to rpedo tubes

Sol d to Egypt in 1 955 and renamed the E L QAHER, serving in the Egyptian Navy she wen t th rough a major refit in 1969- 70, with upgraded electro nics (Russian) and had returned to her base at P ort Beren ice to continue her d uties. Th is was th e period of the “ phoney war”- between the 6 d ay war an d Yo mKip pur wars.

25

Emb lems of the Israeli air for ce d urin g Operation Keshet Avira I n MAY 1970 12 F4 Phantoms of 201 squadron based i n Hattor and 69 Squadr on (The Hammers) armed wit h MK117 bombs attacked the vessel in Operation Keshet A vi ra (Ariel bow) while it was at anchor.Bristlin g with ant i ai rcraft guns

and a new firing tracking sy stemh eld off several attacks d esp ite bein g hit by sid ewinder missiles and countless rounds from the p lanes in wing can nons. With a rang e of 80 0 miles th e aircraft co uld sustain a pro longed attack over the target. With a still d ecimated air force th e Israelis carried on the relentl ess attack un hindered fro m th e ai r .Fires sp read thr oughout the vessel and internal explosions raked the ship. Eventually the 300 ft destroyer sett led by th e stern , her en tire sup erstr ucture ablaze.

As she san k sh e swung ro und on her anch or and g rounded on a co ral shelf rip ping her bow p lates op en -her dr au ght only 3 mtrs. Thu s leavin g her for e- section and superstructure ab ove water.

The wreck sits p erch ed o n a large rock, h er bo w and fo re gu ns st icking out o f the water. It i s po ssible to swim un der her aft keel an d view th e twin props and ru dders ado rned with so ft co rals maximum depth 2 7 metres. En dless d ives can be mad e swimmi ng thro ugh her accommodatio n area, co ntrol ro oms and view the twin torpedo tub es and stern guns, submerged, comp lete with sh ells in the breech, barrels p ointed skyward... she went down fig hting.

26

Scattered all aroun d the seabed , are p arts of the sh ip blow off d uring the attack Th e sea b ed o ff th e wrecks p ort si de sug gests the missiles came in from th e sou th—the rad io room, firing solution tower and an ti aircraft gun s are all blo wn off the sh ip an d lie on the san dy plateau.

LEFT. The sleek lines o ft he destroyer can be seen in th is sh ot of her knife edged bowwhich helped h er cut through the water at 35 kn ots.

BELOW LEFT; Part of her su perstructure, thought to b e the firing rang ing an d solution cen tre lyi ng on the seabed.

BELOW RIGHT.A h igh voltage warning sign, still visibl e, indicates that this st ructure was her radi o ro om an d co mms mast, perh ap s the first targ et fo r the incomin g figh ter pl an es.

27

Man y ar ea’s of the shi ps interior can b e explored , rev ealin g a liv ing museum of war. Cau ght off g uard, all the water tight do ors are open, and ev eryday eq uipment litters th e wreck-ear d efenders rad ios, telephone hand sets, side arms and many spent rounds.

ABOVE; Narro w b y d efinition of her sleek h ull the interior is well li t b ut demand s gr eat buo yancy skills-especially as the floo r slopes u pwards drawing the div er in to shallow water.

LEFT Toilets, wash hand, b asins an d a shower block, all remin ders o f ev eryday life o n board sh ip.

BELOW; Hanging over the seabed the keel drapes with soft co ral s and sponges, her twin sh afts termin ating in 3 b laded pro pellers

28

Perch ed o n a h uge ro ck and h eld by its anchor chain. The keel is susp en ded a bove the sea bed an d it is possible to swim under her tw in rudders and propellers. The keel is covered in a heavy growth of soft corals.

A site wo rt h d iving for; Left One o f the stern gu ns still points skyward defiant to th e last . A diver ho vers o ver one of th e anti aircr aft g uns. Unused ordinance sits o n top o f g un

THE WRECK OF THE TRAWLER ABU SIAM MA

A TYPICAL FISHING TRAWLER, S IMILAR TO THE ABU SAIMMA W HICH NOW LIES A T THE BASE OF THE REEF AT MIKALAWA ISL AND.

The san dy Island of Mikalawa or Saranaka as it is so metimes k no wn lies to the south of Ras Ban as and is an d i deal ov ernight stop over. It als o p rovides us with a sheltered deep dive close to shore. The island also has an interesting selection o f birds.

29

When first div ed a few years ago thi s small wreck o f a fish ing trawler was perched in 30 mtrs, no w she i s slowly sliding d own the slope into d eeper water, with her bow now in 55 mtrs. Little i s known ab out the wreck, local information t ells that she had engine trou ble, put into the lagoon fo r rep air s, struck the reef and sank. although it is clear that an abo rted salvage operation took place. She lies v ery close to the reef, do wn a steep slope wit h her stern in 30 mtrs. Nets festoo n the prop an d rudder, and the k eel has now dug into the seabed with the bow her deepest p oint. Th e bo w is quite d ramatic and the clear water allo ws for a g reat v iew o f the trawler t owering abov e. Although the wheelhouse is starting to co llapse, i t is possibl e to explore th e en gine ro om and her hol ds, as well as co mpanio nways an d accommod ation areas. The wood is now begin ning to d eter iorate and holes are ap pearing in t he d eck ing and superstructure. The deck fittin gs ar e still in place an d a resident famil y o f batfish patrol the vessels gan tries.

By tak ing advantag e of the wrecks attitude, d ivers can enjoy a deep dive with a slow ascent up th e slop e to the reef.Mo st if not all o f th e captains I wor k with h ave fishing backgr ounds and the n ame ABU SAIMMA has b een offered b ut so far is u nconfirmed The reef b ase starts at 15 mtrs an d o ffers an id eal off gas after exp loring th e wreck.

Someti mes called the Saranaka wreck .Th e sandy Island o fMik alawa o r Saran aka as it is sometimes k nown lies to the south of Ras Banas an d i s and ideal overnight stop over.

It als o prov ides u s with a sheltered d eep di ve close to shore. The island also has an interesting selection of bi rds.

Wh en fir st d ived a few years ag o th is small wreck of a fishing trawler was perched in 30 mtrs, now sh e is slo wly sliding down t he slope in to deeper water, with h er bow now in 50 mtrs.

Little is k nown abo ut th e wreck, lo cal in formatio n tells th at she h ad eng ine trouble, p ut in to the lag oon for rep airs, struck the reef and sank. Although it is clear th at an abo rted salvage op erati on took pl ace. Sh e lies very close to the reef, down a steep slope with her ster n in 30 mtrs. Nets festoon the pr op and rudder, and the keel h as now dug into the seab ed with th e bo w her deepest p oint. Th e bo w is quite dramatic an d the clear water allows for a great v iew of the trawler towering above.

Although the wheelhouse has co llapsed, it is po ssible to explore the engine ro om and her h olds, as well as compani onways and accommo dation areas. E ntrance to th e stern hol d is through a covered d oorway an d the entire enclosed area i s fu ll o fg lass fish. The wood is now beginning to deteriorate and h oles are appearin g in the decking and superstructure. This allows li ght to p enetrate down t hrough the floo r.

Th e clarity o f the wat er a llows fo r so me g reat wreck sh ots. My buddy Dave Bletcher caught as he leaves th e wreck-n atural light at 30 mtrs

30

Th e deck fittings are still in p lace and a resid ent family o f b atfish p atrol the v essels gantries. By taking advantage of th e wrecks attitude, divers can enjoy a d eep d ive with a sl ow ascen t up the sl ope to the reef.Most if no t all of the captain s I work with h ave fish ing b ackgrounds and the name ABU SAIMMA h as been offer ed but so far is unco nfirmed.

On to p of the reef are a series of tall co ral to wers with some excellent su n lit cav er ns to swim through. These o ffer an alternative dive o r i ndeed an id eal opp ortunity to off-gass aft er a deep d ive. Th e reef is alive with man y sp ecies o f red sea fishes and in vertebrates. The cav es and overh angs plus th e san dy bottom o ffer many different h ab itats. In Less than 20 mtrs this plateau offers a very safe lon g dive, and sn orkelling opportunities.

31

Commented [pc1]:

32

THE WRECK OF THE S.S.TURBO THE SHIP Bu ilt at Sunderland in 1912 by J.D.LAING fo r the Anglo Saxon Petroleum Co. the 490 0 ton, 374 ft “co ntemp arar y p lated, fit ted for carrying liquid fuel in b ulk, machinery aft”. Th e record s also sho w her eng ine sp ecificati on, b uilt by DICKINSONS at the Deptfo rd Yard as “ 3 cylin der triple expansion engin e”, with cylinder dimen sio ns o f 2 6”,4 4”,72” and o ut-fi ttings by R. CRAGGS of HARTLEPOOL . Sh e was a typ ical Centre Island v essel with sealed holds fo r an d aft of the Islan d. Her en gine roo m was situated at the stern of t he shi p. The ind icated ho rse p ower was 210 0, n ominal being 4 43nhp. Sur viving the Ist wo rld war sh e continued her trade until 194 0 when she was put u nder Admiralty serv ice. Her weath er deck, abo ve the steering quad rant was adap ted into a g un deck. She was armed with a 4” g un and 4 Hotchiss.

She carried ou t num ero us mission s b etween Port Said, Haifa,Piraeu s, Aden and Istanbul

The ships engine plate, which was to help di sprove our earlier Ide ntifi cation of t he wreck. In all 3 diffe rent plates of this type were recov ered. The other t wo bore the names of her builder and her outfi tters- JD LAING and RC CR AGGS. These are unique pieces of evidence and ov errul e any speculative c onclusions.

THE ATT ACK th On Au gust 2 0 1 941 she was attach ed b y German aircraft while en ro ute from Haifa to Alexan dria wit h a car go of 7 500 tons of Admiralty fu el. The crew including 3 n aval th and 7 military gunner s numbers 5 2.The ship h ad left Haifa j ust b efore dark on the 19 Augu st 1 942 Captain J.B.JONE S

33

“ W ea ther on the afternoon of the 2 0t h was fine with light air and we stea med at 71/2 knots steering a westerly co urse, zigzagging on n o. 10. At 1745 A .T.S 3 5 mi les from Damietta, we sighted two twin en gine b ombers heading towards us from the west out of the su n, which was then 2 points o f o ur port b ow .Th ey were ligh t b lue, 50 ft above the water a nd flying one b eh ind the o ther.

W hen they were in range we commenced firing with the Hotchiss, two o f wh ich were fixed o n the bridge ,o ne forward and one on the f’o ’csle head. We could not bring he 4” to bear at this stage.

The first plane when about ¾ mi le off the starboard b ow, dropped a torpedo which I saw app roaching and I swung the sh ip hard astarboard. Th e vessel answered the helm and the to rpedo ra n harmlessly a long the starboard side.

Mea nwhile the secon d aircraft made a wider ci rcle round the starboard side until he was ¾ mile on o ur starboard quarter, when he relea sed h is torpedo. The ship was still swinging to starboard. I saw the wh ite wake a nd a secon d later it struck the vessel hal fway b etw een the bo w and stern on t he starboard side. Th ere wa s a terrific exp losion, a cloud of black smoke a nd a column of wat er was t hrown at least 95ft, but there wa s no flame. There wa s a strong smel l of cordite” “W e cou ld now b ring the 4” to bear and were a ble to g et o ff o ne round a s the pl ane f lew off .W e continued to fire th e Hotch iss g uns u sing a ll o ur a mmunition excep t for 25 rounds. The planes co ntinued to circle at a d istance of 2 mi les then flew off. 10 minutes later two of o ur o wn fighter a ppeared.

The p lanes were Italian S79 t yp e Bomb ers adapted to ca rry Torped oes” SAVAOIA MARCHETTI S79 TORP EDO BOMBER

“Th e ship rocked so badly a fter the explosion that I thought the ship was going to break in two, so I stopped the en gines .The pump room and nos 3,4 a nd 5 holds were flooded, the deck was buckled on the st arboard side between 3 and 4 tanks a nd t here was a large hol e in the ships side some 4 0ft fore and aft. There were cra cks in the starboard side runn ing from t he ma in shear strake d own to the bilge keel THE Turb o h ad su rvived the attack , at slow sp eed th ey co ntinued the voyage, and the cap tain foun d that b y increasing her sp eed to 6 k nots she sto pped rocking, and they safely arriv ed at Po rt Said on the 21 st August. Here p art of her cargo was discharged and she co ntinued through the Canal to d ischarge her remain ing cargo . st Her armament was remov ed and she left S uez on Apri l 1 1942 for Karachi in tow of the GL ADYS MOLLER (sister-ship of the Rosalie Mo ller) d estined to be u sed as a fuel storage hulk.

34

On the 4 th Ap ril as they neared Ras Banas (repo rted position puts them app roximately 15 miles no rth) the ship broke in two, presumably fro m the d amage sustained in the bombing, and “ cast adrift because of hea vy weather. forepart su nk as it was a danger to navigation.

Afterpart is presumed to have foundered”. Lloyds war losses “While proceeding towards Aden, as a hulk , SS TURBO b roke her b ack in a heavy th sea Gla dys Moller stood by, stern cou ld no t be b oarded du ring th e ni ght o f th e 5 all conta ct with the stern was lost and the bow section su nk by g unfire on the night of the 5 th by a n unkno wn vessel und er in structi on form th e Admira lty at Port Sud an ”BT381/1919 Cred it fo r the d isco very of this wreck g oes to the Skipper of Lad y M. They call ed it the half wreck because it consisted of a stern and superstr ucture and o ne very large h old. At first we thought thi s was th e Hadia, which h ad been described as a tanker in some record s, b ut en tering h er eng ine roo mrevealed a large sin gle triple expansion steam en gine, no t a diesel as in th e HADIA. In side th e eng ine rooma plate with R.C. CRAGGS emb ossed an d a works nu mber wo uld iffact prov e to be so mething of a red herring in her id entificati on., but wit hout this knowledge to hand we set ab out looking for the missing section o f the ship; the other half in fact. We were to search i n v ain…the bow lies in deep water so mewh er e to the north.

Th e stern lies in 2 7 mtrs o n sandy seabed and i n good conditions affor ds a sp ectacular view o f this W W2 sh ipwreck . The hu ll lies clo se to t he shore, where it presumably struck after d riftin g away fro m its tow.

The hull n ow l ies on a san dy Bed in 28 mtrs very close to the reef face o n i ts Port side.

The st arb oard side is in ab out 18 mtrs while the p ort side almost touches the san d. The st ern faces no rthwest. Th e break in the hull is fro m t he rear of t he centre isl and which san k wi th the fore section . The raised walk way run s aft to th e en gin e room and accommodatio n island an d the cross members are co vered in co rals and home to multitu de of fi sh . Th e helm direction indicator is i ntact and stands p roud on her aft deck an d although her r udd er was removed the pro p can still be seen partially buried in the sand

35

The en gine room is hu ge, easy to explo re and totally intact. It is p ossible to exp lore three fl oors d own into the heart of the ship Gauges, valves piping, dials notices, (one read s “ water 1/3 ab ove combustion when show in glass in all engines�) g ratings and hand rails are all intact. There are man y sto rer ooms off to the sides with tools and other equipment, much o f which is co ncreted in to p lace. an d a workshop co mplete with lathe, ev en o ilcans an d wat ering cans! The en gine room is very atmo sp heric with g ood light filtering th rough the sk ylights, although the ang le at wh ich she lies can be so mewhat d is-orientating. Her rep eater telegrap h still hang s waiting for the next co mmand . Forward of the en gin e room is h er boiler rooman d the fun nel casing, again al l her fitt ings, g au ges and valves are in situ. The stern area und er the weath er deck is an ar ea o f g reat interest with more st ore ro oms, wheel barro ws, sp are v entilation cowls and some g reat swi mth roughs. A raised walkway supporting the vessels piping is ho me to a multitude o f life forms fr om spo nges to li onfish and th e cross b raci ngs mak e a g reat swim th rough and p hoto backdrop. The deck is an intricate latticework o f pipes v alves and fittings, used to t ransfer th e bul k liquid fuel to her tan ks in a d elicate balancing act. The vi ew inside the engin e room is sp ectacular. The huge cavity above the chamb ers is illuminated from the op en skylight ventilator s from ab ove. 3 fligh ts of stai rs ru n do wn into the workshops. These are qu ite narro w but accessible wi th care training and the right equip ment. Th ere are several sto re roo ms where ev eryday i tems of life on board can be fou nd, each wi th their story to tell.

Ov er th e years a coat of g olden concr etion h as cov ered mo st o f the metal surfaces an d th e colo ur i s rev eal ed under ar tificial light. This mak es the scen es very pho togenic bu t a d eli cate b al an ce of stro be lig ht is requir ed to get the right colour temperature of the co ncrition.

I n th e lo wer levels ther e are work benchescheck ou t the vice-,th e repeater telegraph, machinery an d access lad ders to valvi ng. The intactness of the en tire engine room is staggering, evid en ce that slavage divers h ave no t rap ed the wreck.

Care needs to be exercised with many ov erhead pipes, flywheels an d cab les. A goo d torch is essential d espite the str ong. ambient light.

36

There is so much to explor e in th e engine roo mand alth ough t he attitude o fth e wreck can be dis-o rientating the large dimensions of the ship and the k ind depths make it great to exp lore for those adequ ately eq uipped an d trained The stern lies listing to port partially buried into the san d, Th e gun mo unts are still visible on the gun deck -sadly th e guns were remov ed p re sinking, o ne cen tral and the o ther offset to starbo ar d. Th e direction ind icat or still sits in its b innacle. The pho to sh ows the attitude of th e wreck.

Belo w the g un or weather deck, are the remains of store ro oms an d crews accommo dation, th e bu lkheads of wood lo ng since g one. Access h atch es run down into the stoke h old where an old wh eelbarrow sits wai ting fo r its n ext load

The pip e bridge runs from the aft su perstructure right to the b reak in the hull and like the many valves on the deck ar e co vered in en crusting life and inv er tebrates.

Lifebo at d avits, handrails and stairwells provide alternative b ackdrops fo r p hotography.

Fascinating marine life including vast numbers of th e P ixie Hawkish, a rare sighting anywh ere else but h er e the Major Domin us of the wreck . Swimmi ng alo ng the p ipebridge leads to the abr upt en d o f th e wreck -where she b roke in two an d its easy to make ou t the con struction and layou t of the wreck where she is literally sliced in half. Th e sectio ns o f her tan ks can easily b e seen.

It to ok us y ears o f research to solve the mystery of the h alf wreck.

Alth ough the visibility is less th an stun ning, the encrusting, macro and fish life and general intactness are a great incentive to dive h er mo re than once. S ad ly th e aft mast which used to reach up close to the su rface has b een snapped in two due to thoughtless mooring by di ve masters Fortu nately this wreck is no t visited v ery o ften most say it d oesn’t exist 37

presumabl y b ecau se can’ t find the wreck. Perhaps that i s what makes th e wreck so very special . Darwinism at wo rk!

MISTAKEN IDENTITY Ov er a 3 y ear period we n ot only search ed for t he o ther h alf o f the wreck , but for an id en tity. The first clu e was a p laque with RC CRAGGS o n stamp ed o n in- and in deed a y ard number. On ly one vessel built by Crag gs an d in deed a tank er whi ch was r eco rded as sink ing in the Red Sea was the ATL AS (her n ame at the ti me of si nking).

Further l research into the ATL AS listed her as a British built, 4000ton 3 45 ft lo ng steamtan ker, u nder Greek reg istration at th e time o f h er sin king, Built in 1909 by R C CRAGGS, Smiths Do ck , Midd lesborough, sh e was to rpedoed on Sept 6 th 1 940. by th e Italian su bmarine Guglielmotti off th e Yemen . So h ow could her stern section be 400 miles north? The answer lay in p art with anoth er tanker-the Inverlan e – She h ad been mined off Sun derlan d, where her stern still lies, but h er bow section was repaired an d towed over 400 miles of the North Sea to end up in Scap a Flow- and I k new the man resp onsible for that amazing feat!-Jim Devely n- I had i nterviewed Jim man y years earlier as he lived locally and h ad also been i nvolved in salving many n orth east E ngland wrecks, dur ing and after WW2 .

When I wen t b ack to question Jim ab out the Atlas h is first comment was “ I wo ndered when some on e wou ld get round to that o ne.” Jim recal led h ow th e ensuing explosion bro ke the ships back and as she settled by the bow sh e b roke in two. With war materials at a p remium a daring salvage attempt was made an d Jim was th e man for the j ob. The ster n section made watert ight and th e long journey to north to Alexandria beg an using 38

the two tu gs which Jim descri bed as “ liberat ed r usting tubs” were chri sten ed Hercules and Golliath.”. (Hercules was ev entually to find h ere back in north eastern waters where she end ed up sinking off the Ty ne), an d it would seem they were bor rowed or as Jim put it “requisitioned fo r th e greater g ood of th e war effo rt.” Wh ere they came from Jim would never el ab orate, bu t I suspect that tale would make a great sto ry!

Amo ngst Jims papers wa s this mono of the salvage tea m prepa ring the stern of the A ltas for th e lon g journey north. “Saving h alf a ship wa s b etter than no ne. The o il wa s a bonus and h elped her stay afloat We h ad d one a similar job on th e S .S.Inverlane in the No rth S ea, taking her from Bl yth to S capa Flow.This sh ould h ave b een easy” Jim went on to recall that the project went well u ntil in Jims word s “ they reached RAS BANAS” .At this point the p revailing winds whipped u p the sea from the n orth and the ung ainly h ull was caught a –beam o f th e waves the to wage was bro ken and the stern sectio n fou ndered and san k after d rifting for sev eral ho urs. .

Jim’ s acco unt plus the sh ips plate we h ad found seemed to con firm the wrecks identity.

Ind eed we were so su re o f the facts we wen t to p ress with t he b eliefwe h ad id entified the “ Half wreck”. Then , wh ile explo ring th e “ half wreck ” we fou nd another manufactu rers plate th is o ne was in scrib ed “ JOHN DICKINS ON LTD, SUNDERLAND” 1 912 and inscr ibed with a yard number-conflicting evidence indeed.

After Jims death I was g iven an insight into more details o f th e salv age. Jims d iary stat ed th at the fo undering took place “ AS THEY NEARED RAS BANAS”.

His no tes and d iaries were to be a great help in filling in some of th e missing questions abou t the Atlas After many years of searching , tracing lo st record s and t he inv aluable help of the TYNE/WEAR ARCHIVES an d th e GUILDHALL LIBRARY the “ half wreck ” has now been positively identified .But what of the Atlas?

THE WRECK OF THE S.S ALTAS THE VES SEL Th e Atlas b egan life as the Co nrad Mo hr, built in 19 09 on the River Tees at Midd lesb orough by R.C Cragg s and Sons. She was 3 45 ft long, with a 48ft beam an d 28 ft drau ght. Describ ed as a 4000ton steam tan ker, fitted for b ulk liquid fu el Her triple expansion engine was b uilt by North East Marine Eng ineering Comp any an d record s sh ow h er cylin ders as 25 ”,41 ” & 67.”,325nhp. In 1 935 she was renamed the Irin i, then finally the Altas, owned by the So c. Anov . Helleniq ue Maritime Transp et rol.

39

FINAL VOYAGE Sailin g u nder th e Greek flag the Atlas h ad left Abadan bo und for Su ez wit h a cargo of fu el oil.

LL OY DS WAR LO SSES SEPT 6TH 1940 page 122.

“Atlas to rp edoed by Italian submarine Gu glielmo tti, 14 miles no rth of Jebel Tier. Crew lan ded at Aden”

Th e Italian submarine Guglielmotti, wh ich torpedoed the Atlas. She W as a Brin classdeisel electric boat, b uilt in 1 938.She wa s 1247 tons, 22 28ft long, had a maximum diving d epth o f 6 0 fathoms and carried a 3 .9inch gun+13mmA.A..She h ad 8 -21inch t ubes Hav ing eliminated the ATLAS as th e “ half wreck” at Sataya El Bara, we set about locating the ATLAS herself. Referring back to Jims d iaries, his n otes stated that the hul k was cast adrift as it began to founder as they neared Ras Banas described as a “ sandy headland surr ounded by coral reefs”. “ Our attempt to mak e Port Ber en ice to make repairs failed an d t he hulk was cast ad rift until it grounded in a sand y bay, her engin e house still above water” There is a fu rther referen ce in Ji ms d iaries that th e su perstructur e was su bsequently removed to the waterline and “the h ull left totally flo oded an d d eemed lost as more pressing matters were at hand ”.

A rou gh sketch in Jims d iary sh owed us the ro ugh area in which the h ull has sank- in 12mtrs of water in a sand y b ay withi n the restricted area o f th e Por t Berinice.

Initial brief div es (unauthorised!) have shown the hull co mplete with cen tral walkway, pip es running the length of the hul l to the br eak , v alves and other deck fittings still in place. The su perstructure h as gone an d what was not salvaged seems to have fallen into the en gine room. Th er e is evid ence o fd ebris buri ed in the san d and the visibility seems very reduced, d ue mai nly to the lack o fco ral and pr esence o f san d.

The sh allo w secti ons of the walkway with its vertical su pports and cross beams are covered in spo nges and sea squ irts as o pposed to corals, ag ain p resumably due the amoun t of sand an d are h ome to a v ast numb er of shoaling fish and man y ray s were seen on th e surro unding seabed.

I in ten d to return at least on ce to the wreck – to place a memorial to a v ery remark ab le man –Jim Delyln, salvage d iver extro rdinaire!

Once again fat e h as shown truth is often st ran ger than fiction –two tan kers built 30 miles and 3 years apart end up only a few miles apart within 2 y ears of each ot her, and then on ly their stern secti ons!

40

A comb ination of the in itial evid ence had lead to th e misident ification o f th e “half wreck ” not only Jim Devlyns verbal report bu t the p late fro m R.C CRAGGS. An other tanker belonging to the Angl o Petroleum Comp an y was also wreck ed i n the Red Sea, far to the no rth at Ras Gharib in the Gulf of Su ez. Thi s too had outfittings by R.C.GRAGGS of Hartl epool. The similar ity between the two vessels did n’t h elp eith er The Tu rbo was a mer e 29ft lon ger and h ad an addit ion tonnage o f 9 00 ton s-built 3 y ears an d 30 miles apart considering we only had halfa wreck to deal with i t is easy to see how we were deceived!

ABU GALAWA, FURY SHO ALS Abu Galawa ( Father of t he p ools) is a series of several reef pa tches, lying wit hin the FURY SHOALS , a v ast expa nse of reef systems just to the north of Ras Banas. There are several picturesque wrecks wi thin the area, a nd although not deep each o f the wrecks ha s a special quality- and a ll are surrounded by stunning hard cora l fo rmatio ns, and the wrecks themselves are in sheltered positio ns.

Attention in this a rea ha s always centred on reefs a nd not wrecks, a nd to this day many operato rs still claim “the south ha s no wrecks” . With the recent explo sion in hotel development in the south there a re now day boats o perating the area, so as the coa st line b eco mes more familiar perh aps so me new discoveries will b e made. For i nstance

THE WRECK OF THE ADAMANTIA K

th

Sh e ran agrou nd o n the north side of Gotta Abu Galawa on 2 5 Jan uary 1958 while in ballast from Port Sudan to Piraeus. He bottomrip ped out sh e q uickly filled with water and was deemed a to tal construct ive loss. Over t he y ear s she h as bro ken up and is now wel l di sp ersed into the surrounding reefs.

41

Built in 1919 as the Marienburg, this 844ton freighter was fitted with 3 cylin der triple expan sio n en gine by Stettiner oderwerke. In 1 947 she became the Ko holyt a year later th e Kastoria, with one more n ame change as th e Teti Nomicos. Sh e finally became the Ad aman tia K owned by Dimitrios Kopsastis in 1 953

The steam engine stands up above the w reck, alm ost t o the surf ace

The b ow lies hanging over the reef flat, where her anchor chain can still b e fo und. The foc’ s’ le is ho me to a schoo l o fsweepers. From here what was o nce th e fo rward h olds is merely flat ten ed p lates, on top of wh ich is h er boilers an d th en th e single triple expan sio n en gine standing proud to within a few meter s of the surface. The anatomy of wh ich is easy to see. Th e pro p sh aft can b e traced aft to the stern where the steering q uadrant, ru dder and prop are be foun d. Masts and fitting spi ll o ff from th e shallows in to the san dy amp hitheatre below.

P ortholes still remain cov ered in a th ick co ating o f co ral and steam gau ges can still be seen in the stern. Although not a substantial wreck , she is a great rummage dive and the su rrounding seascap e. The remain s of the wreck have b eco me a playground for all types o f Red Sea fish es, and giv en the shallow depths ( max 12 mtrs) an d clear water it is an id eal spot for photography. The ar e several field s of anemo nies comp lete with colonies o f d omino fishes living in harmon y with the clown fish

42

43

THE WRECK OF THE TUGBOAT Very little is known ab out the history o f th is tug boat. Th e engine room has failed to g ive an y clues in terms o f her id en tity. There i s strong evidence th at she was converted from coal bur ning to oil, and that a pair of barges lying of Siyul Island and local skippers claim th ey were her ch arg e. She has b een connected with the Ad miralty tug Tienstin, h owever th e tyres u sed as fend er s date back to th e 60’s some twenty years after the Tienstin sank.

R estin g on the edg e of the reef , h er keel in the sa nd a t 14 mtrs this small wreck is great fo r ph otography, bu t large groups can hi nder the exp erien ce. Th e na tural light at this d epth is superb a nd wit h a wide len s the entire shipwreck can be cap tured. Note the “cave” u nder the keel, picture right. rd

The tu g b oat serv es as a g reat 3 div e after a day’ s d iving o n the d eep er S.S. TURBO. She li es prop ped u p against a circular reef ridd led wit h cav es, her bow just awash, and h er stern lying on the sandy flo or some 1 4 mtrs belo w. The k eel fo rms a ni ce haven for b atfish an d an ideal location for a cleanin g station .Th e wreck h as a slight lean over to starboard and is totally i ntact. The wreck is to tally covered i n a coating of both hard and soft corals. All of her wood en d eck ing has rotted away an d this allows access into her small aft h old and hu ll. Forward o f this is the en gine roo m and then another small forward hold leading to the fo’ c’sle. Th e engi ne r oom is co mpact b ut i t is possible to explore two floors down with care.. The eng ine roo mhas the ad ded bonus o fa sch ool of glassfish.

44

The en gine room is totally intact, complete with wa lkways, gauges, val ves and stairwells co nnecting the 2 floors. And there is access forward to the small hold in f ro nt of the superstructure.

The forwa rd h old has lost a ll its d ecking, leaving a skeletal framework which lends to some great images, wh ich light shining through from a bove. Access into t he i nterior can be gained from here with ca re. ..

45

The aft ho ld is also accessible with all the Deck st ructure missing, and the natural light offers so me great p ho to opportunities.

THE S.S. CHARICIA. A stea mship built in 19 44 this 19 9ton vessel sank in the F ury Shoals o n the 3rd Feb 195 4.She has no t, to da te b een located.

46

47

THE WRECK OF THE M.Y.ENDYMION Abou t I mile to the n orth o fth e tu gboat is th e wreck of a small sailing y acht, lying o n its starbo ard si de i n 1 8 mtrs o f water, in a sandy chan nel between t he reefs of Ab u Galawa North . The history of the vessel is as y et no t k nown, b ut the coral growth wo uld indicate sh e is o nly a few years o ld.

Giv en th at th e wreck is only 30 mtrs lo ng it do es no t tak e very lo ng to exp lore. The h ull is intact and the wreck at th e base o fa reef o ver to starboard. Co ral is beginning to co lonise the wreck th e interior is full of sweepers and h atch ets, with the obl igatory red mo uthed groupers p atrolling the sh oal.

The wreck can be fully explo red in 10 minu tes, h owever her elegan t lines and attitude d o provide the p hotographer with some g reat material.

A sho al of g lassy sweepers fi ll the in terior of the wreck , wh ich can be exp lored with care. Th ese fish swirl and engulf the diver, and pro vide en dless p hoto opportunities.

What makes this a special d ive is the scen er y lying beh ind the wreck. By en tering a can yon 5 0 mtrs from t he b ow flan ked on either side by h uge h ard co ral s, and foll owing the n atural course the diver is lead to a hu ge san dy b owl where wh ite tips rest . The surro unding scenery is o fh uge hard co ral fo rmations- some o f th e best in the Red Sea. Th e scen ery is qu ite staggering an d sev eral routes through valleys can be taken, return ing back to the yacht wi th a maximu m d ep th of 18 mtrs.

48

Back o n th e co ast at Abu Gosoon is a fascin ating wreck just south o f the phosphate por t-Our b ase for 6 weeks b ack i n 199 5.According to on e lo cal d ivemaster he discovered this wr eck the “ Abu Gosoon” in 2 012….

THE WRECK OF THE M.V.HAMADA The M.V HAMADA was a small carg o shi p o f 6 54 GRT built at Joh n L ewis & Sons Ltd. (Yard No. 3 47), Aberdeen, UK for the P & O sub sidiary comp any General Steam Nav igation Co ., Ltd. The sh ip was launched on 1 5 March 1965 as the Avocet (Registry No . 651 078) and was comp leted on 12 June of t hat same year with a length of 6 5.1 0 meter s, b eam of 1 1.0 7 meters, an d draught of 4.05 meters. Propulsion was pro vided by a sin gle 1 ,470 bhp MN17 t ype diesel manufactu red by British Polar Eng ine Ltd ., Glasgow, Scotland, an d a sin gle p ropel ler fo r a sp eed of 1 2.5 k nots.

From the time of her launching in 1965 u ntil late 1 971, the Avocet was o perated in the co astal waters of the UK b y th e Gen er al Steam Navigation Co. On 01 October 1 97 1 man ag ement and operation of th e ship was tran sfer red to ano ther P & O sub sidiary co mpany call P & O Sho rt S ea Sh ipping L td. Then, on 01 Decemb er 19 72, o wn ership o f the shi p was transferred to General St eam Navigation (Trad ing) Lt d. Management an d o peration wer e tr an sferred o nce again o n 3 1 March 197 5 to the P & O Ferry Line u ntil 16 June 197 6 wh en ownership was transferred to P & O Ferry's General Euro pean Ltd. On 22 Jun e of that same y ear the sh ip was so ld to Stavros Elias Li akos Mariti me Ltd., Cyp rus, an d renamed the Afroditi H, and then was resold to the Euromaster Navigation Co. Ltd. , Cyprus.

In 1 98 2 th e ship was renamed Samarah and then was sold to Leghor n Shipping Co. Ltd. , Cy prus in 1983 where she operated for n earl y two years before bein g so ld yet again.

In 1 98 5, the ship was sold to th e Chaldean Shipping Co. Ltd., Cyprus and renamed Hamad a. A year later , in 198 6, the Hamad a was sold to t he Ph emios Shipping Co., Valetta, Malta.

There are d ifferent versio ns o f the Ha mada's loss. One report indicates that she caught fire and sank i n d eep water. The P & O file states th at the ship struck an "submerged obj ect" in heavy weather at po sition 24.42N/35.25E off o fRas B an as while en route on 28 Jun e 19 93 from Jeddah to Su ez and subsequen tly foundered

49

THE DI SCOVERY Discov ered by the au thor on 2/8/95 du ring the BSAC southern exp ed itions. I was urged on by my sk ipper’s incessan t mu mbling s abo ut a “ drowned ship”. his E nglish far better than my Arabic. I scann ed the co astline an d fou nd a cigar shap ed reef which looked strangely out of place… th is was my drowned sh ip. Hitting th e water at a ru n b efore th e safari boat had stopped, I slipped b el ow th e waves and th e stern of a ship app eared ahead H-A-M-A-AD-A spelt ou t her identity.

No thing is mo re exciti ng! Head ing for the b ridge was a sho rt journey passed her en gine ro om

Ent ering the wh eel h ouse it was app arent that no one had been here befo re-the h elm, radar, an d teleg raph (alb eit n ot the traditional style) were all still in pl ace. A telephone sat in its cradle an d the chart draw still co ntained the navigation maps.

We n oted later a charred mattress and bu rned wo od lying in a pile which had amassed as the sh ip cap si zed. Evidence o f a delib er ate fire i n th e wheelhouse!

THE ENIGMA. The Hamad a was a small co astal general carg o v essel, wh ich was carrying a cargo of plastic g raduals, o ut of Yambo Sau di Ar ab ia. The offici al repor t stated that she caught fire and sank in deep water. Ho wever an other repo rt states “ No.2 h old wa s flooded as bot tom shell plating came in to contact with su bmerged o bject.”- So why the charred mattress?. Her cargo do ors were wide o pen and all personal effects an d tools h ad gon e………………………….

50

THE WRECK TODAY Lyin g in o nly 12 mtr s of water half a mile sou th of t he ph osphate termin al of Abu Gosoon, the wreck is n ow broken in two with her hol ds facin g the reef a few meters away . The ho lds are begin ning t o co llapse The stern sectio n, comp lete with superstructure h as slip ped further away fro m the reef. The in terior can b e penetrated and it is possible to exp lore th e mess room, acco mmod at ion and the engin e room, alt hough th e latt er needs g reat care.

Over the y ears soft co rals have taken ho ld and the port co mpani onway is smothered in lush so ft corals of p urple, red and orange.

Th ese in turn supp ort a healthy mixture of reef fishes and invertebratessev en sp ecie of nu dibranchs wer e no ted by one bug hun ter.

Her po rt side is awash at low tide and the water can be as much as 31 degrees ab ove her hul l in summer. Some of her car go, bagg ed p olythene g ranul es, a by pro duct of the petro-ch emical industry, remains in t he h old, in an eternal struggle to reach th e surface.

The bow section h as broken away fro m the aft sectio n an d lies slightly further down the reef fro m i ts orig inal position is quite imp ressive comp let e wi th an ch ors and the fo’ csle contains a forklift truck as well as the ancho r windlass and win ches.

Another wh eeled bu t ty re-less vehicle lies u pside d own in the san d, b etween the wreck and the reef. It app ears to be an other type of fork lift tru k. The masts lie restin g in the reef slop e complete wit h cables and pulley s Marin e life is slowly movi ng in to the wreck , hard co rals hav ing established themselv es in the hull, masts and deck, visibility can b e do wn after strong winds, due to the sandy, shallow bottoman d t he site is subject to swell. It is h ow ever an excellent dive when the right conditions apply..

51

Desp ite the high temperatur es of th e water, soft corals have thri ved and totally co lonised the wreck, n o mo re so that the u pper co mpanio nways, st airways an d hatches. It is a li ving reef and h ighly populated with man y sp ecies o f reef fishes and v isiting hunters. Being so shallow th e co lour are vib ran t, an d the entire wreck is simp ly a ph oto studio. The visibility can b e reduced

dur ing windy conditions due to the san dy sea bed. However the cond itions are usually favo urable, an d afford wide angle op portuniti es. With the emergence of sho re based dive cen tres, the wreck attracts less qualified divers, o ften diving the wreck from the sho re.It tends to be th e fin al d ive in our wreck safari befo re the long barren drag back to Port Galib The stern app ears just as it did back in 1 995, while th e fo re sect ion has b roken off ad slipped d own t he slope sl ightly. It is a magnificen t sig ht, bathed in strong n atural ligh t 1 0.5mm lens is a mu st!

Sk et ch o fth e wreck, loo king fro mth e shor e.

52

CHAPTER 2 DAEDALUS AND THE BROTHERS Off shore there are sev eral islands o ther than Zabagad an d Rocky, th ese are Daedalus and The Brother Islands, part of the Natio nal p ark . The are reno wned for their st u nning walls o f co ral an d sh ark activity. Visited only by li vaboards, they offer some world class div ing with very deep water all aroun d. Both sport light houses wh ich are wo rth a v isit, an d are testimo ny to the wreckings which h ave o ccu rred o ver the centu ries. Th ere are sev er al wreck s of no te

WRECK OF THE S.S DACCA

THE VESSEL Built at Pointhouse in 1882 by A&J INGLIS of Glasg ow th e 3909 ton brigg ri gged steel h ull steamship was 390 ft lon g,43 ft in th e beam and had a 27 ft d raught. fitted with twin-inver ted co mpound steameng ines delivering 500 nhp, sh e had 6 bul kheads She was d esigned mainly as a passenger ship, b ut also had an emigration certificate often carrying immig ran ts as far as Australia, as well as th e usu al spice ru n to Bomb ay and Calcu tta- an “ E ast Indiaman”. Owned by th e British Indian Associated Steamship Co. , and managed by ES Dawes o f L ondon. Her original co st was £90,000 an d insured for £3 6,000.S he h ad eight b oats, one of which was a steam launch and also a life raft. Sh e was fitted with th ree comp asses. She was u nder the co mmand of W Burkitt (Mast er)

53

THE FINAL VOYAGE After an eigh t year serv ice un der the co mmand of Mr Dugard Stewart (master, RNR), th and Chief o fficer James Tait (RNR), sh e left Lon don o n the 29 April, bo und for Queensland, Au stralia. She h ad a cr ew of 9 1 all told including the master, 5 o fficers and 5 eng ineers with 4 64 passengers . She l eft Gravesend on the 30 th After a stop at Nap les, sh e had safely navi gated her way in to the Egyptian Red Sea v ia and th e Suez th Canal, leav ing Suez at 00 20 on the 15 May , 13 hrs later she entered the red sea proper, making stead y progress south in the good conditions, passing close to Shad wan Island, markin g th e end o f the n arrow Gu lf of Su ez, o pening into the mu ch wid er Red Sea. and by 22 00 she was appr oaching the Brother islands – wh ich was used to g et an accu rate position fix. Her new cou rse “S34E by standard compass”south should have taken her wel l clear o f Deadalus Shoal, the cap tain exp ecti ng curr en ts to push the sh ip westwards and clear of th e sho al . Ho wever in th e early hours o fth e next morn ing as dawn broke the Daealus lig ht was sp otted dead ahead. The reef shelf extend s almost h al f a mile nor th of the lighthouse and with n o wind o r swell the su rfli ne would b e no ne existent.

The first action to steer away from the reef was i n effect ive and by th e time action was taken t o steer the sh ip clear, the Dacca ran agro und at full speed ont o the reef to the west of th e ligh thouse. Th e glancing blow caused a b reak in the h ull an d the v essel began to t ake on water. The captain mano eu vred th e vessel until her bow once again was over the reef. Usin g the l ifeboats, th e assistan ce of a passing ship, the ROSARIO and with some jumping d irect ly onto the reef all of th e pass engers and crew were saved along with mo st of their p ossessions.5 hours after she stru ck the reef the Dacca was seen to ” g o do wn in v ery deep water”. The p asseng er s were transferred to the PALAMCOTTA , owned by the same co mpany , while the crew stayed on board the ROSARIO an d tak en to Port Said . rd At th e cou rt of enq uiry on the 3 Ju ly 1890 Judge Marsh am declared “ the chief officer is al one in d efault a nd the co urt suspends his certificate of compancy as ma ster for 12 months” THE WRECK TODAY On th e no rthern tip of Daed alus at arou nd 40 mtrs the remains o f the wreck tumble down into 60 trs ,fused and well d ispersed into the reef wall. The wreckage is q uite substantial, with large sections o f plating an d pipework. Mo re wreckage exists d eep er down the reef, the existence of which lead to some confusion as to th e location of the next wreck. Th e cu rrents here can be v er y stro ng as they sp lit

Fou nd away fromth e wreckag e of the Zealot adebris field starting a t 45 mtrs tumbles down i nto the depths –right where th e Dacca grounded.

54

WRECK OF THE S.S ZEALOT During the BSAC exp ed itions of the earl y 9 0’s we came acro ss wreckage in 4 0 mtrs on the north east side of Daedalus. Initial resear ch sug gested this could be the wreck of a Dutch East Indiamen , th e Dacca. Explo ring d own to the limi ts of sp ort diving only revealed lo ng lengths of iron p ipi ng. We were certain a wreck existed but never got the chance to div e any deeper. Th en in September 2004 I r eceived an SMS fro m the staff on board M.Y. HURRICANE. A German d iver h ad fo und some cro ck ery with the words “Helme Par k South Shields”.

When the SMS came in I was o n my way to the l ocal archives, an d within an hour Caroly n Durki n had produced a b ill o f sale for the v essel from Read heads t o the owner William Wright, and then a b ill o f sale t o th e second o wn ers Joh n Glynn and Sons of Liverp ool. F rom this docu men tation, the en tire sto ry of the wreck was in my possession-before Marku s Lo hr, who found the plate had disemb ar ked Hurricane!

From the nam e lifted from the piece of crockery, Carolyn Dur kin w as able t o produce the actual bi ll of sale whe n the shi p was handed ov er to he r ow ners.

Th e Zealot began life as the HE LME P ARK, a 13 28 t on 243 ft long “spar d eck ed do uble skinned i ron h ull screw steamsh ip”, built in 1873 by John Readh ead and Co at the P ilot street wo rks in Sout h Shields, ship # 9 1. She was fitted with a 2 comp oun d I.D.A. 120hp steameng ine, which cou ld d eliver 12 knots. William Wrig ht had commissioned the ship to mo derni se his renowned fleet o f sailin g vessels. Her master was H. Breham. W right sold her a year later t o J Glynn & Co of Li verp ool, who chan ged her name to Zealot.

THE FINAL VOYAGE th

Th e fin al vo yage began on 2 6 Septemb er, 1 887 b ound for Bomb ay .Th e Zea lot was cap tained by J A Best an d was carry ing cargo worth £24,700 described as g eneral, 790 cotton bales, 9 1 cases, an d 100 tons o fir on” She had a crew of 53 , mai nly Lascars and two passen gers o n board.

The journ ey d own th rough the Mediterranean and t he Suez Canal took until the 12th Oct ober, and after su ccessfull y navigating the straits of Gobul she sailed south to wards the Brothers ( h er best sighting of lan dfall) befo re altering to a co urse which would take

55

her clo se to Daedalu s fo r ano ther sighting, and t hen south intending to pass to the east of Zab agad on her journey southward..

As they closed t owards Daed alus the light ap peared d ead ahead and not ab eam, the in exp erienced first mate Jonath an Ru ssel reacted to o slo wly in tak ing action and the vessel struck a co ral ridge rip ping out h er bottom and she qu ickl y b egan to fill with wat er. The crew and passen gers were pu t in to the boats an d the captain ran the bow ont o the reef en ab ling the remain ing crew to jump asho re. The v essel then settled and san k in to deep water, rolling onto her side spilling out cargoes sh e tumbled down the reef. Th e Iron pipes, originally thought to have b een ru bbish from the b uilding of the ligh thouse are the first clu e of what lies below in v ery d eep water.

The crew an d p assengers were tak en abo ard a passing ship bound for Suez.

At th e bo ard o f trade enq uiry the cause o f lo ss was attributed to the first mates lack of navig ation skills, b ut apportioned so me o f th e blame wards the master. Captain Best's ticket was su sp ended for six mo nths.

The wr eck starts at 82 mtrs sloping down to 119 mtrs o n the west side o f th e island.

Fro m an i nitial d ive, she appears to be intact fro m amid ships aft. However Grant Seacran ke later fo und the b ow section and describes it as “ CARNATIC LKE BUT FLATTENED�. Judging fro m th e repor ts th e wreck is spread over a larg e area. As the Dacca s ank in the same area , it is po ssible that both v essels lie together- b oth would be very similar v essels an d sank only 10 y ears apart.

Sadly a grou p of Italian div ers fou nd the wreck early in 200 5 an d p illaged many artefact s from th e wreck, claiming they were lo oking fo r evidence to h er id entification.

Vital clu es may n ow n ever co me to lig ht and the Location o f the Dacca nev er revealed.

But who knows- the Zealot surprised us all!

------------------------------

THE S.S. INDIAN ENTERPRISE

THE SHIP . Built at Su nderlan d by the Shipbuilding Corp (Wear Bran ch ) fo r the Ministry of Tran sport as th e Emp ire Mombassa Sh e was a si ngle screw steamship, with triple expansion en gines an d was 7319 tons,431 ft lo ng and had a 5 6 ft beam.

She h as a sp eed o f 1 1 k nots. Her engines were amid sh ips with 4 holds fo rward and two aft. Seven transverse b ulkhead s divided her to eig ht wat er tight compartments, and h er d ouble bo ttom d ivided in to eig ht water tig ht tan ks ext en ded almost th roughout the v essel. She had a crew o f 7 2, h er Captain was Peter Sinclair Camb ell. She was o wned by the In dia Steamship Company of Calcutta and managed b y Stelp an d Lieghtons of Lo ndon.

THE FINAL VOYAGE In May sh e loaded 3852 tons of gen eral carg o at Bemen , 18 25 tons at An twerp and 28 53 tons at the Royal Albert Dock. Special h olds were fabri cated for the rest o f her carg o- a magazine- as the cargo was explo sives in cluded 2969 r ocket moto rs (127tons) Q.F car tridges,, 21 /2 tons of filled shell and 1 80 p ounds o ffuse and b urster.

56

Sig nal flares, sign al ro ck ets and targ et rock et heads were also loaded in there sp ecial compartmen t u nder the fo’ c’sle h ead . A case of smoke generators were loaded onto the fore d eck with drums of acetic acid and ethychloride were stowed on deck, aft. As the rocket motors were lo aded from a lighter rusty brown liquid was seen d ripping from the crates. Despite this the vessel was issued a safety certificate an d papers to p roceed on her jou rney. rd

The In dian Enterprise sailed from Holehaven o n t he evening of 3 June 1 950. She call ed at Po rt Said on 1 7th Ju ne to take on 635 tons of coal. On the 18 th she left P ort Said p assing through the can al and do cking at Su ez to off load a sear ch light, leaving at 02 .20.continuing her jo urney south.

THE SINKING At abo ut 2020 (GMT), midway b et ween the Brother Islands and Daedalus light the M.V H. Westfal-larsen an d the S.S. Lake Ch illiwack both reported seeing the Indian Enterp rise exp lode in a ball o f flame. There record ed position was 23 30 N 35 27 E. Both ships immediately began to search for survivors, joined later b y o ther vessels and aircraft. Only o ne person survived NUR HOSSAIN, a win ch man on the Indian enterprise.At 0930 h e came up on deck fo r a smo ke and was talking to crew members sitting on the bollards on the starb oard qu art er. He heard the wo rds “ THE MAGAZINES ON FIRE” there was an explosion and h e was thrown over board, when he awo ke h e was surrounded by floating burning d ebris and both sides of his body had bee bad ly burned . th At th e cou rt of enq uiry at th e Law Co urts in London on the 18 Jan 1 951, having rules out the possibility of sab otag e and striking a mine, the court concluded that the cause of the sin king was instantaneous combu stion.

57

58

THE BROTHER ISLANDS

Th e Broth er Islands are a pair o f iso lat ed b arren ro cks rising from t he d ep ths of the Red Sea. Ev idence of their volcan ic o rigin can b e seen o n the b eaches. Th ey are su rrounded by some of the best cor al walls in the Red Sea and the sh ark p opulation of Little Brother is renown ed. Big Brother plays host t o ar guab ly one o f the best wrecks i n th e world‌the Numidia, o r train wreck as she was lab elled b efore her id entification.

THE WRECK OF THE S.S. NUM IDIA.

THE VES SEL. A British cargo sh ip, b uilt in Glasgow in 1901 by th e Hend erson Co. who operated h er u nder th e An ch or Line Ship ping Comp any. At 6399 tons and 140 metres lo ng she was a larg e v essel, po wered by a 3-cylinder t riple expansion steam en gine. This gave h er top speed o f 1 0 Kn ots. On 28th Feb ruary 1 901 th e Numid ia left h er homepo rt o n h er Maid en vo yage, an u neventful return trip to Cal cu tta. This was to be her only co mpleted voyage

59

FINAL VOYAGE On 6th Ju ly 1901, She set o ut fro mLiv er pool carry ing a gen eral car go of 7,000 ton s an d a crew of 97, under the comman d o f Mr Jo hn Craig, bound for C alcutta. By the early ho urs o f 19 July she had cl eared Su ez, passing Shadwan Island that evening arou nd 1900 h rs. Just b efore dawn next day Big Brothers Island was sigh ted off the p ort bo w. The Captain altered cou rse thinking is wou ld t ake the ship over o ne mile to the west of the Islan d. He then left t he Brid ge l eav ing instructions to b e called wh en th e Light was abeam. At abou t 2 .10am the ship ran agrou nd on Big Brothers Island – no rth of the Lighthouse!

Aft er two h ours o ftry ing to get o ff the rocks the eng ines were stop ped. By this time the shi p was taking on co nsiderable water, but the situation was getting worse although t he pu mps were cop ing. By no w the sea was building At 7.30am the S.S. Rhip en s came in answer o fth e Numi dia’s distress call, followed by other vessels in an attempt to salvage the ship. abandoned the v essel an d although other ships arrived to help refloat the Nu midia, she was beyond help. For the next 7 week s mo st of th e cargo was removed, Jo hn Craig supervising th e operat ion, befo re the Numid ia fin ally sank.

DIVING THE WRECK The v essel lies on a very steep slope at th e very north of th e Big Bro ther plateau, star ting at 10 metres and plu mmeting down out of reach of spo rts divers- her k eel dig ging deep into a rock y ledge, p reventing her from slip ping away into the depths below. Stro ng curren ts often sweep the wreck bu t there is alway s sh elter within the wreck in which to o bserve the patrolling Grey reef and hammerhead sh arks.

A di ver hov ers ov er t he pr essure cham bers of t he Numidia’s huge triple expansion steam engine.

Intact and bathe d i n an eeri e blue light, the engine room plumme ts down to 46 mtrs. E vidence of her working li fe is everywhere; tools, gauge s valve s and switches. This downward poi nt ing shot belies t he steep angle of the w reck

60

The int act hull offers prot ection fro mth e curren ts and it is possible to enter the star board side compan ionways, adorn ed with soft corals. Portholes are barely discernable due to the carpets o fco ral. Descendi ng d own through these co rridors to the aft of the b ridge superstructure is often halted b y t he wrecks resident lionfish, which reluctantly mo ve t o allow the d ecent to cont inue. Th e op en d eck ahead marks the safe limit o f diving dept hs alth ough h olds and deck fitting s belo w beckon the unwary.

Snap per, jack s and Travellies ho ver in th e company o f barracuda an d the aforementi oned sh arks p atrol the p erimeter. Antheas ad d a haze o f or an ge, h overing over every coral co vered structure such as th e haunting emp ty lifebo at d av its .

At this po int (4 0mtrs) th e ret urn jo urney to the su rface b egins; it is po ssible to ent er th e eng ine roo m, blue lig ht filterin g th rough the sk ylights above, illuminating an intact and fascinating en gine roo m. The steam cy linders sloping ever u pward, as if still driving the sh ip asho re! St airs beckon d own into h er lower en gine ro om ad orned in an eerie light wh ere gau ges still remain in place an d d oors lead of in several directions, some l ead ing back to the co mpanionways o thers to acco mmodatio n ar eas and eventu ally the b ridge.

Overhead a large shoal of glassy sweepers ar e disturbed by ascending bubbles.

At the deepest p oint o f th e engi ne ro om a d oo rway allowing for an easy exit poi nt and overhead the galley straddles the width of the su perstructure. Th e range still hol ds p ot and p ans!

Mo st of th e woo den floo rs h av e long been eaten by marine wo rms allowing more access an d light into the interior as the to ur continues ever upwar d, out through the fun nels p ort at 2 0mtrs an d back i nto the b rilliant sunlight, an amazing cont rast t o the engine room’ s relative gloom.

The colours and formatio ns of soft co rals are rivalled nowh ere el se i n th e Red Sea, save fo r the n eighbouring wreck o f th e Aida. The metal stru ct ures of her framework, at such a steep angle offer some u nique photo o pportunities and th ere are alway s local inhabitants to fill the frame!

Th e engine ro om is h uge and can b e con fusing due to the ang le of th e wreck -Th ere are many rooms run ning off th e main sectio n an d at least 4 levels to exp lore.Alt hough natural light percolates through a goo d torch is essential to reveal many of the eng ine roo ms features. A div e in its o wn right.

61

The wr eck end s abruptly at 14 mtrs, exiting o ut onto a su perb coral plateau fused with wreck age, co vered in so ft co rals and man y fish, Stro ng curr en ts flow o ver these shallows.

THE CARGO. For 7 week s th e cargo was remov ed fro m the ship until she fin al slipped down the reef. All that now remains are iro n rails-minu s their sleep ers, wh ich h av e slid down into the stern, an d several replacement bo ilers, scattered on the reef so me in 60 mtrs next to h er starboard h ull.

The ico nic imag e of th e coral co vered bogies graced the reef to p for many years, unt il a moro nic d ivemaster decided to tie o nto it, dragging it off, sn ap ping the mooring and the art efact plummeti ng into the depths

62

The reef has man y o verhangs an d cav es- and groupers like this one are commo n place. Many grow to massiv e pro portions

Su perb h ard coral trees line t he reef. By swimmin g with the reef on the left th e ro ute brin gs the div er into calmwaters fo r pi ck up.

Enro ute is a jou rney t hrough an aquariu mo f Red Sea life

The su rrou nding reef is a v ibrant h igh en ergy wo rld-thriving in th e strong currents an d al ive wit h ev ery reef fish, corals an d inverteb rates. Go lden antheas swam like bees, and p red itors su ch as Jack s, trav eli es and tuna hunt th e reef.

63

64

THE WRECK OF THE S.S. AIDA

HISTORY The Aid a was bu ilt in France by A &Ch de la Loire, Nantes an d launched in 1911.

She was a much smaller vessel th an the Numidia, 246 ft long, with a 31 ft beam and 13 ft d raught , d isplacing 1,428gross tonnes and was powered by a sin gle 3 Cylinder triple exp ansion engi ne p roviding a to p speed of 10 Kn ots. She had a compliment of 63.

Originally intended fo r the E gyptian P orts and Lighthouses Ad ministration, sh e was later transferred to Eg yptian Mari na and used to ferry troops. Her first sinking occu rred dur ing world war two when she was bombed by Heinkel 111, howev er she was salvaged and pu t back in to service, and this is o ne possible reaso n she is often called AIDA 11 Lloyds Losses “S. S.AIDA was sun k a t Za farana Anchorage be HE.1 11 which crashed at the same time a fter hitting Aida’ s mast. Aida can be salved” THE SINKING On the so uth- east facing coast o f Big Brothers Island , is an old jetty u sed by the Egy ptians stationed on the island for up to two months at a time. Naturally, they require a co nstant supply o f p rovisions in addi tion to a ch angeover o f p erso nnel.

On 15 Septemb er 19 57, d uring h eav y seas the Aida attemp ted to unload h er cargo on the jetty and in d oing so struck the ro cks and quickly began to sink an d the Capt ain h ad little opt ion but to ab andon ship. A Tu gboat resp onded quickly an d took off 77 personnel, the Aïd a drifted a few hun dred meters nort hwest b efore h er bows finally embedded themselves in to the reef. As th e stern san k, it came to rest at an extremely steep angle on the reef, the bo w sect ion break ing o ff an d ev en tually b reaking up on the reef top.

Part o f her eng ine also ended up on t he r eef.

The d ay the Nu mid ia got h er “twin sister.”Aida strikes Big B rother. Hopes d ashed f or t hose exp ecting to leave the ro ck after a 3 mon th stint

65

DIVING THE WRECK Alth ough smaller than the Nu midia, this wreck is mo re d ifficu lt to dive, not because of current s but becau se it starts at 2 8 mtrs an d g oes down t o her stern and prop in 6 2 meters. Ho wev er currents are milder and the sit e-2 00mtrs north of the jetty is more sheltered Ag ain this wreck lies at a very steep angle an d it is amazin g that it hasn’ t slid any fu rther do wn the r eef, ou t o fr each of no rmal spo rt d ivers. At ti mes you could b e fo rgiven for thinking y ou were back o n the Nu midia

The first sig ht of the wreck is th at she h as sh eered of at her fo c'sle back as far as her su perstructure. It’ s like looking at a cr oss section al plan. This giv es easy access to her eng ine room with its large sh oal o f glassy sweepers. Cob alt blue light filters d own through her 4 sk ylights, o nce providing light an d air, now a gr eat backdrop fo r so me amazing pho to images. The engin e ro om is cav er nou s- becau se her en gin e is missi ng! Gau ges, valves and pipe work ar e still in place, and her g ratingwalk way s plummet d own to 40 mtr s where access to her rear carg o h old is gained. Deck beams criss-cr oss the hold an d again ligh t filters th rough. Th e beams are cov er ed in soft co ral growth an d form a frill aroun d the ed ges

66

!

LE FT . At 52 mtrs the st eering wi ndlass stands out agai nst t he shadow of the wreck above.

R IG HT . The superst ruct ure is t otally enve lope d in a ri ch grown of soft c oral s

Emerg ing at the st ern the handrails and flag staff are smoth ered in red orange and pu rple trees of soft corals. Over t he rails and under her fan tailed stern is the reason she’s still there a ledg e sticki ng out, with her keel dug well in is the amazing sight of the steering bi nnacle co vered in mar ine gro wth, yet st ill clearly discernible. Lionfish glid e effor tlessly by, co mplementing the staggering vi sta above as th e true b eauty of the wreck comes in to view. Her en tire metal frame structure is ad orned in lush soft coral gro wths of red s, pu rples an d every h ew between. Anthea’ s ad d a sp lash o f o range to the scene as th e ascen din g route leads to co mpanionways flanking the ship. Doorways beckon , often blocked by the wrecks resi dent g roupers, un- perturbed by visiting divers.

The accommodatio n area and bridge ab ove are easily accessible ~ p ortholes still in place, alb eit cov er ed in soft co rals. W ith all the wo oden structures gone, ag ain only the steel fr amewor k r emain s affo rdin g easy access and an i deal su bstrate fo r marine gro wths which seen t o increase i n density in the shallower regions of the wreck. The wreck abru ptly en ds where her fo re secti on should b e.

Even a deck winch becomes a p hoto subject.

Alan Monk, a member of o ur great research team d escends o n a pho tographic mission

67

The trip le expansion engine rest on top of th e reef in shallow water cov ered in coralTh e Starb oard side off the shi p is starting to co llapse in t owards the engine roo mcasing , expo sing b ar e rusting metalno d oubt this will be co vered over in d ue cour se.

The companionways point the way to the surface covered in so ft cor als they make a sp ectacular backdrop for an accent.

Leaving th e wreck at 28 mtr s do es not sign ify the end ofth e d ive as a sup erb reef; run ning under the pier awaits the d iver. An ideal place to off-g as an d let the comp uters do their work

68

!

The reef is ridd led with caves, smo thered in coral a nd p ulsating with f ish life

69

CHAPTER 3 SAFAGA Thi s chapter deals with the busy areas of Safaga, the Red Sea’ s man i p ort for pilgrim ships and cruise liners, The port of Safag a was fo und ed b etween 2 82 BC and 2 68BC an d was originally called Philotera b y th e Greek Egyptian Pharaoh Ptolemy 11 Phi ladelphus, who n amed the town in th e honour of h is dead sister.

Safaga is the major Egyptian seaport on the Red Sea, a naval base, ferry an d cru ise ship terminal. It I also a pho sphate termin al and major po rt for pilgrims bound for Mecca.

A tremendo us amou nt o f traffic moves between Safaga and Sau di Arab ia carrying pilg rims. It is inevitable t hat so me of these h ave b eco me shi pwreck s. More than some.

After a life worki ng in the No rth an d I rish Seas, many ferries th en spen d their later years cruising the Mediterran ean and Aegean seas. Well passed their sell b y date they end up as p ilgrim carriers, adapted to carry more p asseng er s, o ften top heavy, with no commercial vehicles in the lower decks. Add to this o ld and failing electrics and you have an accident wait ing to happen. Nine and counting…..

Within this g uide th ere are several su ch stories, and others outside our geographical sco pe- an d depth. The Pride o f AL Salam (discovered b y the author ) an AL Qamar (aka the Ho spital ship).There are o ther sev eral cases o f “ unexp lained ” sinkings. We have in fact fo und n o less than thr ee wreck s in “ Scuttle Alley” as our team tag it . An o ld Russian bul k carrier has g rou nded t wice, an d is now a wreck sadl y in deep water wh ile the Yamak 11 has settled in sh allow wat er (what a wast e of a go od wreck ! ) The area is no t recognised fo r its wr eck s but its system o f reefs ly ing close o ff sh ore.

Ind eed while recen tly training a gro up o fRo yal Marin es to dive, we asked a local dive cen tre to t ak e us to a wr eck. We were to ld it didn’t exist. Wh er e have I h eard that befo re? Read abou t it in t hese pages.

IBN BATAOTA (OFF SAFAGA)

Built in 1973, a g eneral cargo vessel o f4 932 tons carry ing a cargo of 59 00 tons of silica sand, sank after a co llision with th e OXL SULTAN 2 4/3/09 while 35 miles ou t from Safaga, b ound fo r th e UAE.

AL-LOLOA (ALLOLOA) A Panamanian RO-RO Ferry ,2593 t ons,92 x14 mtrs, b ound for Jed dah from Suez to collect pil grims, caugh t fire an d sank ,13.07/94, 6 miles n orth of Safaga.Uss Bri scoe attempted to co ntain t he fire whil e USS Con olly rescu ed the crew.

70

.

S.S.MALDIVE TRANSPORT A British S teamsh ip b uilt at W Gray & Co Ltd Hartlep ool in 195 2 for Maldives In vestments (Lo ndon L td) sh e was 4 29ft long 56 ft beem,3 6 ft d raught., 4 097 tons The Mald ive Transpo rt left Ban gkok with 2 605 tons of raw jute for Safag a and 100 0tons o f maize th for Aqu aba Jordan . On th e 29 Ap ril 19 72 fire brok e out in no. 3 h old and spread to the en gine room an d superstruct ure. The sh ip was b each ed and ab an doned 3 miles south o f Safag a. The v essel th en dr ifted 2 miles fu rther sou th co ming ashore again completely gutted

M.V KAREN VATIS A Greek b ulk carrier moto r v essel, built in 1973 b y the Geo gi Dimitrov Sh iyard, Varna.2 2114 tons, 210mtrs lo ng, 28 mtrs beam, 1 5.6 mtrs draug ht. Owned b y Vages Comp ania Maritima. Hu lland machin ery valued at ÂŁ4.2 m FINAL VOYAGE Her fin al vo yage was from Liverpool to Kan dla, north west In dia.S he passed t hrough the Suez canal on the 14 th No vemb er 19 85. Two days later she began to tak e on water into her double bottom tank s, and then her en gine ro om, wh ile near MARS AZEBARA, RAS EGELA, so uth of Safag a. Th e 27 crew were recued buy Egy ptian n aval vessels after p utting in to the lifeb oats, and landed at Po rt Beren ice.

71

THE WRECK OF THE MV AL KHAFAIN

THE SHIP.

In 196 7, three new car ferries wer e d elivered to Coast Lines to up date their Irish Sea

Built b y Camell Laird i n 1 967 at Birkenhead for the Belfast Steamship Co Ltd., working on the Belfast to Liv erpool serv ice.

A 11 5mtr lon g 6000 ton Ro Ro passen ger car ferry with 428 b erths, compri sin g 4 d eluxe do uble cabins, nd 288 first class an d 140 2 cl ass berths. and 5 94 deck p assenger cap ability, she was p owered by 2 12cy linder Pielstick tur bo charged diesel eng ines b uilt by Cro ssley Broth ers with 2 co ntr ollable pitched pro pellers. Her ser vice speed was 17 kno ts.

serv ices. The Ulster Prince and Ulster Queen rep laced the pre-war motorsh ips Ulster Prince an d Ulster Mona rch on the Liverp ool-Belfast night service o f the Belfast Steamship Co, and Lio n to ok over the Ar drossan-Belfast day service of Burn s & Laird . Coast Lin es were pur ch ased by P &O in 1971, and the Liverp ool boat s appeared in P&O Fer ries colours with pale b lue fun nels.

Fro m197 1, the service was mark eted as P&O Ferries, altho ugh registered o wners only ch anged to P&O in 1978. The Liverpool-Belfast serv ice clo sed in 1981, and Ulster Pri nce was lai d u p at Oosten de.

1n 1982 she was sold to the P angloss Shipping Co an d sailed under t hree n ames (ME D SEA, AL KHERA, AL EDDIN u ntil 2000 when she was so ld to the Helenic Medi teranean Line sailing as the POSE INDONIA and LA P ATRIA. In 2004 she o nce again became the POSEINONIA, under the Posedonia Shipping Co . flag. In May 2 005 she came un der Sau di Arabian o wnership and was renamed the AL KAFHAIN, reg istered in Panama. After a mak e o ver sh e sailed to Safag a to pick up her first passengers u nder the n ew ownership Her first voy ag e was to t ak e pilgrims to Mecca. The v essel was refused her safety pap ers and depart ed with only crew o n board

72

FINAL VOYAGE

Divers inspect the b ow section of the Al Kafhain.

Air tra pped in her upturned h ull caused her to rise

On the 2 d nov 2005 the Al Khafain l eft Hurg hada bound for Jeddah .Off Giftum Island Fire broke o ut in the en gine r oom and swep t through the su perstructure. Th e 58 crew ab an doned ship, so me by life b oats o thers b y passing v essels. One crewman was in jured. The shi p was t ak en u nder tow but capsized due to t he weig ht of water in her up per d eck s. Th e to w was lo st and she d rifted o nto the n orth ern side of Sha’ ab Sheer n ear Port Safaga a nd fal l in the swell.

Ph oto taken 2 d ays a fter she sank.

TH

On No v 7 2 005 Peter Collings was in the area wit h members of Scarborough Sub Aqua C lub an d su rveyed the wr eck . Th e bow section-gleami ng white in th e strong sunlight seemed to be buoyant-possible because of trapped air, and could be seen rising and falling in the swell-an in cr ed ible sig ht- 6000 tons of steel, th is h uge bo w rising to the surface and fallin g back to the reef-p oun ding the coral. Bo th n ames “ ULSTER QUEEN” and “ AL KHAFAIN” were easy to read-even up side do wn! No one can dispute this id en tification! A helico pter p ad cou ld be seen just forward of the bridge a circled H p ainted on her fored eck . Amid ships the gleaming white h ull g ives way to a scor ch ed superstructur e-ev iden ce of her fire-wind owless and dang er ously beckoning-it would have been foo lhardy to enter with the sh ip in such an unstable condition-already there are signs of the superstructure col lapsing the smooth wal ls fo lding inwards.

73

“The so und of the ship’s d eath thro ws re minded m e of the Gianni s D’s sinking back in 1 983.The sound of met al twisting and grinding could be heard long before the wreck came int o v iew. It’s a sound y ou nev er forgetthe last gasps o f a once proud ship” .

A d iver ho vers u nder the helicopter p ad

The scorched bridge

The bridge in terior .Her h elm hangs d own, W indows melted away wi th the inten se heat

remain s o f a smashed life boat

Her fun nel ap pears to be digging into th e seabed an d appears to be all that is preven ting her from tu mbling down the reef. Life bo at d av its are al l swung out their pul ley sy stems dan gling d own towar ds t he seabed. Towards the stern are h er registration details-Panama- and h er IMO nu mber. The st er n section h as so far avoid ed an y damage, with her stairwells, h an drails and steering gear still in place.

Abov e the twin ru dders and v ariable p itch props lie in sh allow water, b athed in sunlight an d provide a superb photo subject.

Glynn & Dave, fro m Lowestoft BSAC

The stern do ors of the ferry 74

Inspect one of her p rops, framed by The twin rudders

The ship appears to b e bedding into The ledge at the b ase of the reef.

The a ft steering h elm

The b ridge, v iewed from th e h elico pter deck, totally g utted by fire an d d evoi d o f h er new co at o f p ain t

As I writ e, the wreck con tinues to b reak u p, the weight of the h ull crushing down on the weaken ed stru cture, makin g p enetration very d anger ous. The wreck will co ntue to be p ou nded b y the relentless seas which crash onto this reef

75

THE WRECK OF THE RORO SALEM EXPRESS

Fred Scamaro n Nuits St. Georges

Sa lem Exp ress THE VESSEL Built in 1964 at La Seyne in France as the FR ED SCAMARON,

by C.N.I.M. Sh e was 47 70 to ns, 100mtrs long 1 8 mtr beam and 5 mtr d ra ught ., NUITS ST . GE ORGES, LORD S INAI and AL TARA . In 19 88 She wa s registered to the SAMATOUR LINE and re na med the Sa lem Eexpress. She wa s powered b y four 8 cylinder “L’Atlantique” diesel eng ines.

The ship now lies o n a b arren sea Bed in 30mtrs. The wind ows in her bridge are larg e enou gh to gai n access into the navig ation deck .Much of the electrical instrumentation can still be seen- the helm, ra dar sco pe, radio transmittersand PA units.

76

THE FINAL VOYAGE On December 15 th 1991 one o f the g reatest maritime disasters of recent t imes o ccu rred a few miles fro m the Port of Safag a on Hy ndman Reef. The 100m long passenger ferry, SALE M EXP RESS was returning with her decks cro wded with p ilg rims from Mecca.

Official n umbers q uote 690 pass enger s but there are repor ts that as many as 1 600 p eople were o n b oard .

Her final voy age began at Jed dah, as normal h er du ties were to ferry pass engers to and fro m Safag a.

On th is particular jou rney there were strong winds and r oug h seas. Ap pro ach ing Safag a, th e Cap tain decided to take a short cut to the south of Pan arama reef leav ing the safety of deep an d o pen water fo r a shallow passage riddled with reefs.

Th e ship struck an unseen reefwith a glancing blow, ripp ing a great h ole in the forward section of th e hull on her starbo ard sid e. Th e sudd en in rush of water caused the o uter bo w do or to b urst o pen allowing more water t o en ter the alread y listing vessel. As the car d eck filled with water she ro lled o ver on to her starboard side and sank in 3 0 mtr s in less than 20 minu tes . Man y o f those on deck were t hrown into the water and died when th e corrugated sh eeting, u sed as an awnin g, fell on th em. Only 180 survived, many by swimmin g asho re

DIVING THE WRECK. At ov er 10 0mtrs l ong the wreck is certainly wo rth 2 dives, b ut even if there is only time fo r on e div e there is still much to see an d with the u pper reaches of the wreck in onl y 1 2 mtrs and the use of nitro x (36 % @1.5 ) g ood long d ives are po ssible, even without decompression.

At the bow th e ou ter door can be foun d – no w almost clo sed again, an d above and below are the two an chors- stil l in place. Swimmin g alon g the seab ed pass ed the fored eck with its winches an d anchors the br idge co mes into view a few meters above.

The lar ge wind ows permit access, an d a rear do or allows the to ur to continue, coming out at a haun ting site.

A pa ir o f lifeboats sit sid e by side, u pright o n th e seabed. A seren e remind er of th e tragedy which b efell th ose th ey were meant fo r. Th e seabed is still littered with suitca ses, radios an d sheets of corrugated roofing .Little or no coral grows here.

Reach ing the stern the twin pr ops come into v iew, an d her stern door, still closed sways on its h inges, t he r ubber g ask et n ow rott ed away, allowing for movement in any swell.

Her e pipefish swim over a lig ht growth of algae.

Ascending slowly forward o ver th e aft deck several doors lead into th e cafeteria ru nning fo rward and tak ing up the en tire beam of the d eck . P iles o f chairs have fallen in to the d ep ths, while tables stick o ut at right angles. Straight ahead is the service cou nter- and an exit d oor o ut to th e compani onway ab ove (port side) The por t comp anion way still b ears many of the seats p ositioned alo ng its lengt h, an d florescent li ghts, recessed in the ceiling now stand vertical. Juv enile lionfish , scorp ionfish and ev en a solitary frogfish sh el ter in th e walkway.

77

Beca use o f its history the wreck have provo ked much debate over whether it shoul d be dived or not . The sight o f perso nal belongings o n the sea bed is very sa ddening, but if the wreck is dived with respect then it is no dif f erent to walking t he batt lef ield s of the World Wars.

Some people ma ke a holiday out of that.!

Along the d eep er p ar ts of the su perstructure some large soft co ral s have develo ped recently.

Their delicat e colours standing out ag ain st a bland b ack ground. At 14 an d 2 6 mtrs, the d istinctive twin funn els reach o ut into o pen water.

Hang ing v er tically between them is a gantry which sup ports the co mms mast. The mast is co vered with barrel sp onge and there i s a scho ol o f Anth eas alo ng its len gth. Th e intact han drails are also no w sho wing signs of co lonisation. Unlike ot her recent wrecks (Gi an nis D, Million Hope) th e ad option o f th e wreck as a h aven b y marin e organ isms have b een v ery slo w. Ind eed, co nsidering h er size she h as a small fish pop ulation. There is a resid en t sch ool of st ripped g oatfish near th e lifeboats, with an o ccasion al visit o f Fusiliers, jacks an d Travelies. Th is is th e only wreck in th e Red S ea wh ich does n ot have a shoal of glassfish!

P erh aps the metal o f whi ch the sh ip is mad e from has something to d o wit h it, but an encru sting sea sq uirt would seem to be one of the more successfu l immigrants.

The fun nels b oth bear the co mpany emb lem an S with lau rel leaves, and the name of the sh ip in b oth En glish and Arabic can be spotted i n several p laces o h er h ull an d superstructure.

78

A d iver investi gates the steering helm

One of several D.F a ntenn ae o n the wreck

79

Divers Swimu nder the b ow towards the starboard anchor. Soft co rals are n ow begin ning to co lonise th e wreck. The wreck is home to many giant mo ray eels, an d its n ot unusual to b e con fron ted b y one free swimmin g.

On e of the man y swim th roughs. The main cafeteria can be accessed fro m the rear doo r. The chairs h av e all fallen in to the lo wer section.The ceiling is to the left of the picture!

80

THE WRECK OF THE M.S EL ARISH Imagi ne findin g a wreck wi th l ifeboats marked “ El Arish”, a bell marked “ El To r” and embo ssed letters o n the hull read ing “ EL ARISH EL TOR”…just another day at the o ffice!

THE SHIP

MS El-T or Buil t 1981 A/S B erg ens, Norway Di mensions 105 x 17.3 x 4.12 12 C yl D iesel - 6620 kW 19 K not s 1025 Passeng er s, 328 berths, 150 cars IMO: 7719820 1981 - D el ivered to Misr EDCO Shipping , Alexandria, Egypt 1991 - R enamed El-AR ISH -EL-TOR 1999 - S old to S ayed Nasr N avi gation Li nes, Cai ro, E gypt. renamed E L-AR ISH

Her sist er ship was orig inally cal led t he EL ARI SH, HIS TORY AS FOLLOWS

81

MS El -Ari sh B uilt 1980 A /S Berg ens, Nor way D imensi ons 105 x 17.3 x 4.13 12 C yl diesel - 6714 kW 19 Knots 1350 Passengers, 328 berths, 150 cars I MO: 7719818 1980 - Deli ver ed to EDCO Shipping Company, Eg ypt 1991 - Renamed DA NIA M ARIN E 1992 - Sol d to Si ci lia Regionale Mari ttima, I taly Renamed VIT TORE CA RPAC CI O 2006 - Sol d to Usti ci a Lines, I taly Renamed GI ANN I MOR ACE I n service between Tr apini - Swit zerl and S ister ship to El -Tor

T HE FINA L JOURNE Y

“ last voya ge January 200 1 fro m J eddah to Sava ga 24 Ho urs B4 Sa va ga Port Ha ppened Fa ir Insid e eng ine ro om electric ca ble a utomatica lly clo se the doo rs and tu rn o ff the f air during high technology in ship equ ipments a nd berthing ship to repa rse the cable after reparse a ll th e cro w mak e arrest from J anu ary 2001 up to 2 7/11/203 sunk arrested from the salary crowas my in formation throw the crow stolen th e free shop The Go ods Inside more th an $100,000 And so me sp ea r Pa rts” Sayed Nasr,owner el arish Th e Fina l vo yage of the EL ARISH too k her fro m S uez to Jeddah to p ick up p ilgrims destined for Safaga, ab ove is her loading co ndition plan on a rrival a t Jeddah.

Th e g ossip columns said I had inv ented this wreck -an “ exp ert” no velist claimed it did n’t exist, and yet there she was a very r eal intact car ferry lyin g on her side 12 mtrs below the surface, un dived untouched, bell an d co mpasses sti ll in p lace righ t under th e n oses of several lo cal dive cen tres!

The ship lay at an chor fo r sev eral years, b ecoming a lo cal lan dmark -passed b y every d ay b y local fish ermen an d ch arter bo ats. I rememb er seeing her in the o ld days when we h ad to trav el to Marsa Alam by coach-often thinking to my sel f-“ that would make a g reat wreck” Then one morning sh e was gone. Did anybody not ice, d id anyb ody care? Most p robably assumed she ha d sailed away.

82

THE DISCOVERY

Three skip pers three n ew wrecks in on e da y…..Every time I men tioned the wreck t o a skip per th e response was a lways the sa me ”No we cant go there we’ll get a rrested .Until one d ay a willing skipper took me to where I t hou ght sh e wa s(finding the “Cla rk Cha pman wreck” on the wa y.). It wa s no t difficult to find-105mts of ship l ying on its side,12 mtrs below the surface………

For whom the bell tolls; still in place, pretending to be a P.A Horn, her bell was located

by Mike a nd Sue Rountree .An attempt to st ea l it la ter by a British co wboy d iver was thwa rted b y a timely p hone call to the a uthorities-(yes JC it was me who shopped you! !!)

83

Mo re clues to h er identity; the sh ips reg istration papers in the b ridge a nd the shipping compa nies logo on the fu nnel.

The wreck is to tally intact, h er gen tle journey to the sea bed on ly cru shed the port lifebo ats as sh e rolled over onto her side and settled into the san dy bottom, 30 mtrs below the su rface. Her h uge bulbous nose, bow thru sters and stem are h eav ily covered in huge soft corals and point towards the shore, a gig full of images co uld n ot captu re t he scene. She makes no attemp t to hide her id entity-the bow adorn s her n ame ,as do the lifeb oats, l ife belts and her bell, albeit u nder a thin l ay er of silt.

Her starbo ard an chor chain i s draped over the bow thru sters, dro pping d own to the seabed an d is also covered in a fo rest of o versized soft co rals. Rounding the b ow h er flagstaff p ost and lamp preced e a very short foc’ s’ le, fitted as yo u wou ld think with huge winches for her two fo rward an ch ors.

84

Further evid en ce to su ggest our dives were th e first on this great wreck; h er wing navig ation co mpasses one in its gimbal a nd t he o ther hanging loose-sadly stolen in Jan 200 7

.Th ere are en dless swimthroughs, a long co mpanionways corridors a nd promenades Huge corals drape the ro of supports The 4 story high superstructure reaches o ut with her coms mast and dir ectional antenna disappeari ng into the gloom. Wh at app ears to be a P A ho rn sits central ab ove th e first row o f win dows, covered in algae, well at least most o f u s thought that-but not Mike and Sue. Inscribed with “ EL TOR ALE XANDRIA 1981”,the sh ips bell was still in place-and still there wh en we left. Her navig ation bridges both sported compasses, one hang ing by its wire and the other still in its gimb al and en try into the navi gation bridge, although restri cted by an exercise b ike, produced the ships certifications, still in glass frames. Her electro nic navigation equipment was still in tact - a mere co atin g of thin silt obscur ing the d etails. At the risk of repeating myself ag ain,” it would seemth at no had been here b efore” Swimmin g aft, alon g h er lifeb oat d eck the boats still with their Day-Glo orange paint repeat her name, not the n ame on her b ell but h er thir d an d final entry in the Lloyds register “ EL ARISH” Reach ing the aft section , 105 mtr s fro m the b ow, a complex arran gement of st airwells and rails linking 4 lev els afford themselves to more g rowth and beyond is a magnificent sight-2 huge propellers an d rudders covered in soft corals over 2 mtrs lon g-the b iggest I have ever seen in any part of th e Red Sea. Anot her g ig full of memories. Photographic d elights at bot h en ds of the wreck !

At a conv enient depth of 20 mtrs, th e return journey to the star t po int can be mad e alo ng her promenade d eck , the lattice work of su pports for the sunshade canopy are festoon ed in mo re soft corals and it is easy to examine her fun nel an d it s shipping l ine emb lem. Even pl astic notices marking muster p oints still remain in place, as do fire hoses and lifebelts.

What a find -an in tact 100mtr s wreck in 30mtrs,diveabl e in all conditions suitable for all levels of div ers, guess I must h ave imag ined it after all.

85

WRECK OF THE M.V EAST STAR (UN CONFIRMED) AKA THE CLARK CHAPMAN WRECK

Red h erring-mak ers plate on one o ft he wrecks win ches-they h ad been recy cl ed and fitted to this wreck after the original vessel was scrap ped.

I had h eard a story about a cargo ship arriving at the port of Safag a fu ll o flu xury goodsvid eo machines, and other electrical g oods, in bound from Sau di Arabia. Customs immediately sl ap ped a huge duty on the car go an d a dispute ensued. The sh ip lay at anchor while the disagreement ov er dut y payments rolled o n. Eventually word got out the sh ip was sitting at ancho r un man ned-the crew p aid off as t he d isp ute continued – easy p ickings and a read y mark et for such sou ght after go ods. Th en o ne day she disappeared -rumo urs said she was scuttled by her o wners to finally end the dispute. I ask ed my so urce o fth is h ighly probable tale for a name. He came u p wit h EAST STAR. MV EAST STAR. Built in174,and descr ibed as an Eg yptian cargo vessel, The East Star did indeed visit Safaga in March 20 00. She had pu t in wit h “ severe engine pro blems” and official reports from L loyds q uote her as b eing towed to Alang where she was beached and scrap ped in 2001 Only 300mtrs away from th e EL ARISH we foun d a small cargo ship abo ut 70 mtrs lon g, lying on its starboar d side with much of its cargo spilled onto the muddy seafloor.

Electrical go ods, kettles, flasks, carp ets lay every where. Our exp loration also revealed her seacocks were open-she h ad b een scuttled! Th is time we foun d no bell, n o name on her bo w or stern. Cou ld it be the EAST STAR- were the o fficial reco rds wrong?

Certainly the eeviden ce backed u p the story of th e looted ship.

We needed a break-we n eed ed some clu e to help in her id entification. Several dives pro duced only d et ails o fh er encru sti ng species an d inhabitan ts, an d interesting as they wer e they di dn’t tell us an ything! Th en we fo und n ame plates o n her winches, and next to the n ame plates serial n umb ers. Th e n ame on the pl ates read “CLARK CHAPMAN, GATESHEAD, ENGLAND”

86

Gat esh ead off co urse lies o n the sou th side of th e Tyne, and many supporting shipbuilding industries have flo urished there. Ret urning back to the no rth east o f Eng land I contacted Clark Chapman-they had sold t he marin e div ision to Rolls Royce.

Rolls Roy ce came u p a name within an hour of seeing the serial number, Th e winches had been fitted to the ….

M.V UM SABER an Eg yptian v essel b uilt in Budapest, Se was24 4ft long, with her machinery aft, 126 6tons fitt ed with o il 4sa 8cylinder d iesel engines, built by Laings for the Egy ptian Navigation co mpany of Alexand ria. later in1981, now ice strengthened she became the EL IMAN MOSLEM an d o wn ed b y Hussien Said Fanaki. Officially scrap ped in March 1986 at Brodaspas, Split Yugoslavia It is no t u nusual for ship s parts to b e recy cled -the wi nches fr om the Um Saber had obv iously b een reused o n o ur “ Clark Ch apman wreck” bu t is it in deed th e EAST STAR? THE WRECK Lyin g in 3 5 mtrs o n h er por t side, sh e is an intact, stabl e wreck, with only so me structural damage to her su perstruct ure. All of her fittings are in place, th ere has not been an salvage to the wreck. With n o carg o hatches v isible, th e cargo has sp illed out of both holds, whi ch are flank ed b y winch gear and tall masts running out horizontally.

There are many areas of the wreck to exp lore including her foc’ s’le.

Given the depth it is p ossible to swim fr om the stern along through t he holds to the bow, rising up a few mtrs and return ing along h er port (upper) gunwales. The wreck supp orts great fish an d en crusting marin e life, and needs sev eral div es to fu lly exp lore her.

To date sh e has not given us any mor e clues to h er identity and thus wi ll remain known as the “ CLARK CHAP MAN WRECK, ” u ntil she tell s u s otherwise.

The winch gea r gave is the o nly clue to h er identity, b ut this proved to be a red herring “Cla rk Cha pman, Gateshead England”was revea led on th e makers plate

87

App ea ring g loomy at first, th e wreck is co vered in a n a sso rtment of fan corals and spon ges Cardi nal fish play in th e shelter of the wreck

88

WRECK OF THE M.V SARAH

“W e not iced h er last year wh ile exploring the EL ARISH and the EAST ST AR (aka CLARK CHAPMAN WRE CK )-a nd t ook photos of her a t a nchor, jokingly p red icting her a s the next “new” wreck. She looked forlorn and destined t o si nk.”

Built in 1956 as the TORFINN JARL b y As.Trondhjems Mek.Verk sted, Tron dhjem..

She was an 80mtr s x 11 x4. 2m, 963 ton,ice strengthened motor refrig eration cargo ship (often r eferred to as a reefer).Her o il 4sa 6 cyl inder MAN di esel en gine h ad an ou tput o f 1260BHP. In 19 76 she was ren amed th e DOMA-T when she came un der th e ownership of the Orient Shipping & cont racting (Greece).

Even tually b eco ming the SARAH, she lay at ancho r o ff Safaga Island in an abando ned state u ntil sh e sank on the 1 st November 2007.

The wr eck no w lies o n its starboard side in 14 mtrs of water, h er po rtside awash and her davits breaking the surface.Th is 6 0 mtr cargo ship sat at ancho r ab andoned for over a year, befo re it capsized and sank close to Safaga Islan d. Remains o f its last carg o- oni ons- could still be seen in the holds. Lying on its starboard si de, the hull is covered in a gl orious coat o fso ft co rals, sponges an d sea sq uirts-grown on the hull as it sat at anchor . There is little or n o damage to the v essel, however it is ev ident that it was str ipped o f its instrument s befo re it was abandoned. Th e comp ass b innacle sits on the navigation deck minus the co mpass and the electronics h av e all been remo ved.

Her masts however sti ll support man y running light s- and the g yro compass is still in place- at th e time o f writ in g.

A thin film of sedi men t co vers th e wreck and a plaque o n h er crane rev eals its mak erTALPR DUKTE,MOLDE , BRATTVAAAG,NORWAY. Desp ite this film, the paintwork still looks fresh -she h ad o nly been down a few day s when we di ved her.

89

Cran e makers plate

na me on hull

Th ere is n o d oubt as to h er name at t he time of sin king .SARAH is clearly visible on th e hu ll an d her li febelts an d life jack ets. A set of fire pl an s was fo und on the seab ed, sho wi ng h er as th e DOMA -T in 2 000.

Diver ho vers in fro nt of th e king p ost.

Th e bo w

Th e pro p is covered in so ft corals, suggesti ng sh e h as b een at anchor for some time.

90

Su perstructure

Gyroscop e

Comms mast

co mp ass b innacle

DIVING THE WRECK Lyin g on a san dy bottom in 1 4 mtrs, th e su perstructure is bathed in the morning sun and the wr eck is to tally intact . Her cen tral crane an d jib have swing downward and the makers plate is clear to see. Both masts run ou t ho rizontally and are at the time o f writing ad orned in all her navigation an d running lights. Rigging an d aerial cables are still in p lace. The h olds are empty save for a few b ags o fo nions, presumab ly her final carg o. Th e aft sup erstr ucture h ousing the n avigation bridge, engine room and acco mmod atio n b lock is easy to lo cate an d her b innacle, gy rocomp ass an d even a telephone are all in pl ace. Both th e bow and stern are v ery i mpressive and the shallow depth s give st rong natural li ght ideal fo r ph otography. Al though this is a very new wreck , her hu ll, propeller and rudder are cov ered in a very well established eco sy stem of so ft cor als sp onges and invertebrates-suggesting sh e had b een at an ch or for so me time. This offers g reat po tential fo r a night d ive.

91

The foremast ,still featuring its floodlights running lights and rigging

MV TABA For years t his Ru ssian transport ferry hu ng arou nd Safaga, anchored ab ove the Clark Chapman wreck in Scuttle all ey. With n o signs o fli fe o r mo vement sh e loo ked set to b ecome anoth er “ accident� sinking at her mo oring s. She broke loose sev eral times g rounding o n the san dbanks.

Then in July 2015 sh e was loaded with a cargo of con tainers and trai lers bound fo r th Sau di Ar ab ia. On the 5 Ju ly she set sail with a crew o f 3 5 o n board. Sh ortly after leavin g port she took on a heavy list to port and her cargo shifted , increasing the list.

Th e Egy ptian navy were quickly on the scene , rescui ng the entire cr ew befo re the vessel capsized an d sank, sad ly in deep water.

92

M.V. PATIA Built in 1941 as th e Kron prins Frederik b y Helsingors Jern sk, She was 39 47 tons,114 mtrs long ,15 mtr beam. Her machin ery con sisted o f 2 x 10 cylinder B&W d iesels delivering 8400bhp.Due to W orld War 22 she was mov ed to Sydhamn, Copenhagen and her valuab le fittin gs stripped for safe keeping. She d id n ot commen ce h er o perations with DFDS un til 1 946. She was emp loyed as a No rth Sea ferry b etween Esbjerg and Harwich until 1 964. In Apri l 1 953 she was rav aged b y fire and capsized at Harwich q uay, and with one th ird of her su perstructure g utted, sh e was raised in Au gust o f th at y ear and taken to Elsinmo re and u nderwent 8 months of repairs. She co mpleted no less th an 1 430 crossings. From 1964 she worked the Newcastle Esbjerg route u ntil 1 976, undergoing a majo r refit in 1 966 which included bow thrusters and stabilising tanks. Then she was so ld to t he Arab Navigators Co. of Egy pt and became the Patra.

In Decemb er of that y ear, while engaged in the Jed dah to Suez ru n, the Patra left Jeddah on the 23 r d with 3 53 p assengers and 8 8 crew on bo ard. So me time after d ep ar ture fire bro ke out in the engine room and continued to rage through the superstructure for 13 hou rs.12 vessels raced to the scene including the Russian motor tanker Lenino which too k 166 passengers and 4 0 crewmen on board to Su ez. Another Ru ssian v essel picked up a fu rther 24 survivors. Of the 102 lost 9 8 were pilgrims an d 4 crew. The sh ip sank abou t mid day on the 23r d .The Mast er claimed the p assengers ignored his orders but many witnesses claimed the fire figh ting eq uipment was u nfi t fo r use an d there was not eno ugh life jackets.

AL SALEM BOCCACCIO ‘98 The Al Salem Boccacio 98 left Dub a Saudi nd Arabia at 1 8.3 0 2 Feb 20 06, wit h 1400 p asseng ers including 30 chil dren and 100 crew.

Amo ngst th e passeng ers were many pilg rims, Palistinian s, Syrians and 100 Saudi Arabians. She was d ue in to the Egyptian p ort of Safaga at 02.30.

There was also 2 2 cars, 14 tru cks and one bus on board . Co ntact wi th the v essel was lost at 5 hours out. Fire h ad broken out in the car deck. Th e cap tain turned the vess el in an attempt to co ntrol the fire bu t th e mano uvre onl y fanned the flames passengers rushed to one side of the boat an d she b egan to roll.

At th e same time water started to fill the car d eck , in creasin g the li st. The vessel sank within 5 min utes o f listing. The area was experiencin g a vio lent electri cal storm at the time of the tragedy

“When things got really bad the crew just went off in the lifeboats and left us on board”.

93

“The Captain was the first to leave we were s urpris ed to s ee the boat sinking” Khaled Hassan 6 year old Moh ammed Hassan was rescued after bein g in the water for 30 h ours. He lost his father, moth er and sister. Less than 400 were rescued.

S.S .RONALDSHAY The RONALDSHAY was a dredger owned by the Bengali Government working off Safaga Island in October(22 nd) 1942 an d was torpedoed b y German ai rcraft with the loss of her cap tai n and 52 crew. She was bu ilt b y S imons & Co i n 19 22, h ad a displacement of 1 023 tons. She was 258 ft lo ng, and 4 5 ft in the beam. Fitted with triple exp ansion engines There is a un con firmed repo rt o ft he v essel b eing salvaged in the mid eight ies and o nly d ebris remains, but she is the subject of further research.

The war diaries repo rt sh e sank “ off th e deep water qu ay”

94

95

THE WRECK OF THE OTTOMAN TRADER Wreckies are a fun ny breed-sometimes what you exp ect to blow them away is met with an ind ifferent gru nt and so metimes you take a chance- and wow th em! Thi s 1700c coastal trader falls in to the lat er categ ory-it certainly wowed me.

Up until n ow our o ldest find i n the n orthern Red Sea was a small “ puffer” in 6 mtrs on Sha’ ab Ali’ s west side-the “ nail wreck ” ( dated b y Durh am Un iversity-thank you Andrew Yates –as 18 50) Any really old wrecks are usually smo thered in coral, beneath sand or the wood h as simply rot ted away-so to see t he h ull of a 400 y ear old ship IS something special.

At its h eig ht, t he Ottoman empire was at th e centre o f tr ad e between the east an d west, an d spanned 6 centuries an d three con tinents, ext en ding to the southern limits of th e Red Sea.With Co nstantinople (to day known as Istanbul) as its cap ital, t he Ottoman Empir e was in man y respects an Islamic successo r to earlier Mediterranean empires — namely th e Roman and By zan tine empires.

A selection of th e beautiful artefacts recovered f rom the first of ficial su rvey o f the wreck.

The carg o has been identified as Turkish from ar oun d the 1700, and it is thought th e vessel was on a so uth b ound j ourney, h aving stopped at this ancient seap ort on the Egy ptian r ed Sea coast to re-pro vision.

96

Lyin g in san d in 40 mtrs at th e base of a reef, th e entire out line of this old shi p can be seen as yo u descen d-the 2 g rey area’s clear in to her h olds ,full of p ottery rang ing from Ali Bab a style Amphora to small hand h eld jugs. The peripheral is a field o fh uge wine vessels so me with po inted b ases, o thers with flat bases, half bur ied in the san d. Th ere are n o less th an seven huge an chors, su ggesting this was an eno rmou s vessel.

The ribs o f the shi p st and proud of the sea bed by a co uple o f mtrs, an d although partly co vered in sand, it is easy to work out the fore an d aft sections of th e vess el.

The bl an dness of the scen e is br oken by vivid red spo nges, sea squ irts and so ft co rals cling ing on to th e curved r ibs

A diver explo res the ribs sticking out o f t he sa nd, outlining t he l en gth and size of this ancient trad ing sh ip

.

A to tal of 7 huge iron a nchors were f ound-indicating that this was i ndeed a huge vessel. The anchors evoca tive shape are n ow further enhanced with red sponge.

The slo ping sand bank allows fo r parts of her k eel be revealed, thick timbers running lon gitudinally through th e site, b ut also indicates th at more of the wreck remains und isturbed beneath the san d.

Thi s is strictly a “look don’t touch” d ive , but never the less the scene is an amazing window into the p ast. What must she h ave looked like? where h ad she b een? where was 97

she go ing? How did she sink? What treasu res still lie b en eath the sand? We can only loo k on and wonder.

Mu ch o f th e cargo still rema ins scattered around the rema ins of th e shipwreck, from hu ge vases to small h and held jugs.

Dive Egypts Shipwr eck s VOLUME 2; HURGHADA, GOBUL, SINAI,TIRAN VOLUME 3 GULF OF SUEZ VOLUME 4 MEDITERANEAN P T1 VOLUME 5 MEDITERANEAN PT 2

E BOOK CONCEPT The idea o fth e E BOOK series came abo ut after seeing so many inco rrect publications quo ting the wrong identity of th e Til e Wreck at Ab u Nuhas in th e Red Sea. Despite a plethora o f und en iabl e facts presented by my self and members of the Red Sea W reck Acad emy, self-proclaimin g experts still, for reasons kn own o nly to themselves, continued to q uote th e MARCUS as the CHRIS OULA K. It was archive pho tographs from Howard Rosenstien and the lo cat ion o f th e sh ips b ell, whi ch add ed weight to Steph an Jablonski’s accou nts of the sinkings’. This new material gav e us enough to pro duce the first E bo ok in 2 008.

98

Being free fro m restrictions it soon fou nd its way aro und the world an d was passed on from d iver to diver. It had th e desired effect-Now more and more repor ts carry the correct id entity.

Its success lead to more tit les being produced an d published .In itially with an Egyptian theme, the Th istlegorm, Ro salie Mo ller an d th e Russian warran ted a volume to themselves. Tou rist au thorities have not iced the importance o ft heir assets. Wr eck s are living underwater museums, and commissio ns hav e floo ded i n from Leros, Egypt, Tru k, Palau, Sri Lanka Su bic Bay, and Busuanga, to n ame bu t a few.

Pro moting tourism through shipwrecks” has b eco me ou r mission statement, and by the end of 2 017 we wil l have co mpleted 2 7 titles in the series. We inten d t o update the gui des annually-all free in read ab le fo rmat (7 2dpi) and in hi res, printable versions from the deeplens website for a small fee. So n ow we have a total of 23 titles available, (and more o n th e way), yo urs to en joy an d p ass on-to anyone who may be interest ed- with my compliments an d d on’t fo rget we ru n reg ular exped itions an d safaris to all these featured Wrecks…Th e pr oject has only just begun….

PETER COLLINGS SSI PRO 5000

99

1 00

PETER COLLINGS BIBLIOGRAPHYPUBLICATIONS 1986- 2015

1986

2000

1988

1991

2001

2002

2005

2009

2008

2009

2002

2008

2009

1 01

1996

2009

201 0

201 2

201 0

2 011

2 013

2 013

20 14

20 15

201 1

201 3

2 014

201 5

201 5

1 02

20 15

COMING SOON

103

30 YEARS OF PUBLISHING PETER COL LINGS. Peter bega n diving in 197 0. In 1983 he wrote th e fi rst of 12 diving related books an d has wo n several international awards for h is publications and underwater photography. His articles and ph otographs have appeared consiste ntly thought the inte rnational diving press, Including SCUBA WORLD, DIVER ,DIVE, SPORT DIVER, SCOTTIS H DIVER , H20, TAUCHEN DYKE & OCTOPUS A BSAC Adv anc ed in structor, ( Re d Sea Wreck Academy) SSI PRO 5000 DIVER and TDI Adva nce Trimix di ver, Peter has lead over 500 wreck and photo safa ris around the world, logging ov er 6700 di ves, and along with his regu lar tea m of exp erts ha s located and identified many of the shipwrecks in Egypti an waters. To date Peter has written and published 33 diving related guide books.

1 04

1 05