Armament on Thistlegorm

[garethwoodruff]

I recently came back from the red sea and did a few dives on the Thistlegorm.

Now there is so much rubbish written about the type of armament carried, I was wondering if anyone can help.

Certainly a 4.7" gun is not a 'light anti aircraft gun"

It looks like a 6" or 8" gun with a long barrel at the very stern and a Dual Purpose 4.7" gun further along, but I'm not sure. It seems very well armoured for a merchant ship.

On a different note, anyone know of a dive knife that has measurements on the blade for measuring things like size of gun barrels

Cheers,

gareth.

[Mike Ward]

As I understand it - chat with an ex-Royal marine on one trip, a couple of current army regulars on another and an article in Diver this month - the guns were a 4" and a 4.7"(Nearer the stern).

They were fitted on the strengthened rear deck to make T'gorm into a Defensively Equipped Merchant vessel and were manned by Royal Navy DEMS gunners. The purpose was primarily anti-submarine, but the high-angle anti-aircraft potential would have been very useful on certain sectors of the convoy routes.

She was built during the second world war, but after the first rush to fit guns to merchant vessels had passed, which is probably one reason she's so well equipped.

Something not many people realise is that close to 1000 Thistlegorm equivalents - by which I mean cargo carried, not ship sizes - made the same passage up the Red Sea during the latter half of 1941 alone.

[weazelz]

some info here:

Red Sea Diving College: Recent News

[jackdiver]

Originally Posted by garethwoodruff

On a different note, anyone know of a dive knife that has measurements on the blade for measuring things like size of gun barrels

Not a dive knife as such, but a leatherman supertool has a ruler engraved on it, up to 8" I think.

Made from stainless, so should be okay in a marine enviroment.

[Mike Ward]

Originally Posted by weazelz

some info here:

Red Sea Diving College: Recent News

Excellent stuff, ta!