The SS Thistlegorm was built by Joseph Thompson &
Sons shipyard in Sunderland for the Albyn Line and launched in April 1940. It
was powered by a triple-expansion steam engine rated to 365 hp
(272 KW). The vessel was privately owned but had been partly financed by
the British government and was classified as an armed freighter. She was armed
with a 4.7-inch (120 mm) anti-aircraft
gun and a heavy-calibre machine
gun attached after construction to the stern of the ship. She was one of a
number of "Thistle" ships owned and operated by the Albyn Line, which
was founded in 1901, based in Sunderland, and had four vessels at the outbreak
of World War II.
The
vessel carried out three successful voyages after her launch. The first was to
the US to collect steel rails and aircraft parts, the second to Argentina for
grain, and the third to the West Indies for rum. Prior to her fourth and final
voyage, she had undergone repairs in Glasgow.
It set sail on her fourth and final
voyage from Glasgow on 2 June 1941, destined for Alexandria, Egypt.
The vessel’s cargo included: Bedford trucks, Universal Carrier armoured
vehicles, Norton 16H and BSA motorcycles, Bren guns, cases
of ammunition, and 0.303 rifles as well as radio equipment, Wellington
boots, aircraft parts, and two LMS Stanier Class 8F steam
locomotives. These steam locomotives and their associated coal and water
tenders were carried as deck cargo and were for the Egyptian Railways. The rest
of the cargo was for the Allied forces in Egypt. At the time the Thistlegorm sailed
from Glasgow in June, this was the Western Desert Force, which in
September 1941 became part of the newly formed Eighth Army. The crews of
the ship, under Captain William Ellis, were supplemented by 9 naval personnel
to man the machine gun and the anti-aircraft gun.
Due to German and Italian naval and air force activity in the Mediterranean,
the Thistlegorm sailed as part of a convoy via Cape Town,
South Africa, where she refueled, before heading north up the East coast of
Africa and into the Red Sea. On leaving Cape Town, the light cruiser HMS
Carlisle joined the convoy. Due to a collision in the Suez Canal, the
convoy could not transit through the canal to reach the port of Alexandria and
instead moored at Safe Anchorage in September 1941 where it remained at
anchor until her sinking on 6 October 1941. HMS Carlisle moored
in the same anchorage.
There was a large build-up of Allied troops in Egypt during September 1941 and
German intelligence (Abwehr) suspected that there was a troop carrier in the
area bringing in additional troops. Two Heinkel He-111 aircraft were
dispatched from Crete to find and destroy the troop carrier. This search failed
but one of the bombers discovered the vessels moored in Safe Anchorage F.
Targeting the largest ship, they dropped two bombs on the Thistlegorm,
both of which struck hold 4 near the stern of the ship at 0130 on 6 October. The
bomb and the explosion of some of the ammunition stored in hold 4 led to the
sinking of the Thistlegorm with the loss of four sailors and
five members of the Royal Navy gun crew. Mr. Rejda single-handedly saved
most of the sailors by swimming into the wreck and towing them to safety. The
survivors were picked up by HMS Carlisle. Captain Ellis was awarded
the OBE for his actions following the explosion and a crewman, Angus
McLeay, was awarded the George Medal and the Lloyd's War Medal for
Bravery at Sea for saving another crew member. Most of the cargo remained
within the ship, the major exception being the steam locomotives from the deck
cargo which were blown off to either side of the wreck.
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