Rosalie Moller, The Kingston and the SS Thistlegorm.

The "before breakfast" dive on this day was the Rosalie Moller, our deepest wreck by far. 35m to the decks and 50m to the sea bottom. A short dive for most due to the depth except for Andy and Jeremy who took a sling with 50% O2 and had an extended bottom time going into deco with accelerated decompression on the way back up. This is a great wreck and eerie and very atmospheric.

After breakfast we cruise up to Sha'ab Ali to dive The Kingston on Shag Rock which was built in Sunderland in 1871 and ran aground on the reef in 1881 with its cargo of Welsh coal. The Kingston is 78m long and 10m wide and the propeller and stern sits at a maximum of 15m depth.

By mid afternoon we had moved the 6 miles from Shag Rock and moored over the world famous wreck of the the SS Thistlegorm. The Thistlegorm was discovered in 1956 by Jacques Cousteau and is probably the most famous wreck in the world. It sank in 1941 when it was hit by a German bomb that blew a hole in the port side, igniting tank ammunition that was in the hold. The explosion ripped the roof of the ship backwards, rather like opening a tin of sardines. The stern section of the wreck lies almost horizontal to the sea bed; the remainder of the wreck is nearly upright. Inside the wreckage, tyres, tanks, motorbikes, Bedford trucks, waders and wellington boots can be seen. Penetration is possible around the bridge and blast area. The large prop is still in position and the guns on the stern are in excellent condition. Artillery litters the blast area. © www.divesitedirectory.co.uk

Andy, Robin and I also did a night dive on the Thistlegorm ..... we had the whole wreck to ourselves. Apart from the plentiful sea-life that is.