THE THISTLEGORM, its Gaelic name meaning BLUE THISTLE, was a British transport ship belonging to the Albyn Line shipping company, is 126.5 meters long, a capacity of 4,898 tons and had a `three cylinder steam engine developing 1,860 HP that gave the vessel a speed of around 10 knots. The Thistlegorm was built to transport refurbished wartime materials for the British troops. In May 1941 with a crew of 39 men it had left the port of Glasgow, Scotland, with a cargo of munitions, bombs of different kinds, anti-tank mines, Lee Enfield MK III rifles, hundreds of BSA, BSA W-M20, Matchless G3L and Norton 16H motorbikes. Bedford, Morris and Ford trucks. Four light Brengun Carrier MK II tracked vehicles. Two steam Stanier 8 F locomotives complete with two coal tenders and water tankers. On the night of the 5-6 October 1941 two German Heinkel HE III bombers, coming from their base in Crete, sighted and attacked the ship. It was hit by two bombs on hold no.4 where the munitions deposit amongst other things was situated. The Thistlegorm sank in an upright position on a flat, sandy seabed 30 meters deep at 1.30 am on the 6th October 1941. Jacques Cousteau discovered the wreck in 1955 and mentioned it in an article published in February 1956 in the monthly National Geographic Magazine. Jacques Cousteau did not reveal the position of the wreck, thus it went forgotten for almost 40 years until 1991 when it was rediscovered by an Israeli skipper. In a short time The Thistlegorm has become a great favorite with scuba divers from all over the world and is now the most visited wreck in the whole Red Sea.

A world ranked dive site formed of two little underwater islands, the Shark reef and the Yolanda reef. Shark Reef, is a vertical wall dropping to 700 meters, covered with fantastic corals. While the Yolanda Reef has a wide plateau with a coral garden and lots of of pinnacle corals. Between Yolanda reef and the Ras Mohamed reef lies the remains of the wreck of the Yolanda that is 74m long and was carrying bathroom supplies heading to the Gulf of Aqaba when she crashed in 1980. The presence of strong currents is often at this site. Diverse marine life to watch : scorpionfish, crocodilefish, groupers, turtles, tuna, big morays and napoleon fish, Red Snapper, batfish, unicornfish, barracudas and more which of course sometimes attracts the predators such as Grey reef or black tip Sharks.

About 30 minutes north west of Ras Mohamed is a system of flat underwater islands, with names like "Lonely Mushroom", "Stingray Station" and sometimes known as the "Seven Pinnacles". Best dive is around the third or fourth erg from the east where the current sweeps through feeding pristine corals with bright vivid colors, however, the visibility can be affected in rough weather.

The "Tile Wreck" referred to in some guides as the "Marcus", is another tile carrying ship, which is now believed to lie further from the reef in 65 meters. The bow of the Chrisoula K is in 5 meters with the broken off stern in around 26 meters. This is a very easy wreck for the novice wreck diver due to the shallow area at the bow and the gently increasing depth down to the stern. The cargo of floor tiles can be seen clearly in the open holds.

Known as the "Lentil Wreck", the ship now lies against the reef with the bows pointing up the reef. The wreck starts at around 10 meters with a maximum depth of around 25 meters at the stern.

The main reef is surrounded by a 9-15 meters sandy area, where a coral garden extends in all directions. Both to the left and right of the reef you'll find various coral pinnacles. Even in bad weather conditions, this is a calm place to dive. Current normally goes from the north splitting at the northern side.

Look for butterfly fish, yellow goatfish, bannerfish, sweet lips, and barracudas often in large schools. Morays, jackfish, crocodile fish, stonefish, and occasionally turtles, eagle rays, and dolphins.

This island is the smaller of the two as the name implies. At the northern end is a long tongue of reef that extends seaward and in good weather it is possible to drop in here and drift. The current runs from east to west and here sharks may be seen cruising. On the south-east side is a superb fan coral forest but it is deep and starts at 35 m. There are also plenty of caves, overhangs, black coral, and lots of pelagic life including sharks, tuna, barracuda, turtles and schools of reef fish. As you round the southern corner the slope gives way to a vertical wall where you can catch a glimpse of a silver tip shark. In summer thresher sharks are seen here, in October grey reef sharks gather to mate and divers have also reported schooling hammerheads and groups of sailfish in this area. Before you know it, your computer will tell you it is time to head back to the boat after having had the most spectacular diving.

The northerly of the two islands and has a small lighthouse. It has two wrecks laying on its walls. At the northern most tip of the island lays a large freighter named the Namibia, the other is the Aida II, an Egyptian supply vessel that struck at night. There is excellent wall diving all along the southern side of the reef with strong currents promoting the growth of a spectacular forest of soft corals. Frequent sightings of big pelagics and an astonishing variety of marine life.

The Numidia’s maiden voyage was on 28 February 1901 departing from Glasgow under the command of Captain John Craig and sailing to Calcutta, making the return trip soon afterwards. The voyage, by all accounts was uneventful. The second voyage of the ship would, however, prove to be her last.
At 02:10 on 20th July 1901 the Captain was rudely awakened in his cabin below by the sound of his ship running aground on the northern plateau of Big Brothers! Rushing to the Bridge, he found that not only had the ship run aground on Big Brothers, but that his ship was lying almost directly below the lighthouse!
After spending 7 weeks having her cargo salvaged she finally slipped off the reef and sank. The bow now lies at 8-meters, with the rest of the ship descending at a steep angle to a depth of approximately 80-meters making it suitable for divers of all certification levels.

On 15 September 1957 the Aida was directed to deliver personnel and supplies to the Egyptian Coast Guard station located on Big Brothers Island. The drop off point was the jetty located on the south-east coast of the island. On this particular day there was heavy weather and high seas and, on approach to the jetty, the ship was slammed into the rocks and immediately began to sink. The Captain then gave the abandon ship order. Another tugboat responded to the emergency and rescued 77 personnel, including the Captain. The Aida drifted to the northwest before her bow embedded itself into a reef. The stern then sank and the ship came to rest at an extreme angle down on the reef known as Big Brothers Rocks.