Rosalie Moller
| Rosalie Moller | ||
|---|---|---|
| Technical data (overview) | ||
| Ship type: | Cargo ship | |
| Ship surveying : | 3,966 GRT | |
| Length : | 108 m | |
| Width (BüA): | 16 m | |
| Speed: | 10 knots | |
| Launch : | 1910 | |
| Home port : | Glasgow | |
| Fate: | sunk on October 8, 1941 at 1:40 a.m. by two German Heinkel He 111 bombers | |
The British cargo ship Rosalie Moller was sunk by two German Heinkel He 111 bombers on October 8, 1941, just two days after the sinking of the Thistlegorm , and has since been located northeast of El Gouna , Egypt at 27 ° 39 ′ 3.2 ″ N , 33 ° 46 ′ 17.8 ″ E at a depth of approximately 50 meters.
nomenclature
The names Rosalie Möller or Rosalie Moeller are also wrongly used . The correct spelling is Moller . The ship is also known as Francis : this was the first name the ship was launched with in Glasgow in January 1910 . It was sold to the Moller Line in March 1931 and - like all the ships owned by the line - baptized in the name of one of the women from the shipowner's family.
Military history
Like almost all ships that sailed under the British flag during the Second World War, the Rosalie Moller was also confiscated by the British Ministry of Transport. It mainly carried out coal shipments from Cardiff to various naval locations on the British Isles. In July 1941 the freighter loaded around 4,700 tons of coal, this time with the destination Egypt - to supply the coal stations of the British troops deployed in North Africa. The route led first to Durban in South Africa , from there to the Gulf of Suez in the Red Sea . At the “Safe Anchorage H” anchorage in the Strait of Gubal , Captain James Byrne was waiting for the clearance to continue through the Suez Canal to the destination Alexandria. According to the captain's report, however, the freighter was attacked by two German Heinkel He 111 bombers on October 8, 1941 at 0.45 a.m. and sank at 1.30 a.m. After the sinking, two crew members were missing.
Importance for diving
The Rosalie Moller was hit by a bomb on the starboard side in the amount of hold 3 and the damage can still be clearly seen today. Even so, it is very well preserved compared to many other wrecks in the Red Sea. It stands on a level keel on the sandy bottom of the western edge of the Strait of Gubal near the islands of the same name. The clearly visible identification mark is the large "M" on the chimney of the wreck. This is no longer upright. The Rosalie Moller is more popular with insiders than the well-preserved Thistlegorm . Diving to the Rosalie Moller requires good dive preparation and diving experience due to the depths between 20 and 50 meters. Getting an overview in just one dive is seldom possible due to the often very limited visibility. The ship is now in a military restricted area, so that it can only rarely be dived.
literature
- Ned Middelton: Sleeping Ships. The wrecks in the Red Sea. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-440-10727-0 .
- Kurt Amsler & Andrea Ghisotti: Wrecks in the Red Sea. Dive guide. Year, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-86132-167-X .
- Claus-Peter Stoll, Udo Kefrig & Christian Mietz: Wreck diving in the Red Sea. Naturbuch-Verlag, Augsburg 1999, ISBN 3-89440-353-5 .
Web links
- Wreck diving in Egypt: Rendezvous with Rosalie , article by Linus Geschke in Spiegel Online , June 4, 2012