We were deep within the bowels of the British freighter sitting on the bottom of the Red Sea in 100 feet of water, and as my eyes adjusted to the gloomy surroundings of the cargo hold, I just froze, faced with the unbelievable sight of row upon row of military trucks laden with stacks of motorcycles, Lee-Enfield rifles, rubber boots and other supplies. As we slowly explored the 428-foot wreck, I was left awestruck as yet more treasures were revealed: aircraft wings, engine cowlings, Bren gun carriers, anti-tank mines and masses of ammunition, not to mention two steam locomotives. It was like being in a submerged museum of World War II artifacts and exhibits.

This was my first-ever mind-blowing dive on the iconic SS Thistlegorm, a vessel that surely deserves consideration as the world’s best shipwreck, and it ticked off a site that had been on my bucket list since I started diving at the tender age of 12.

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Since then I have completed more than 50 dives on this mighty ship over a period of 16 years, yet every time I start down the shot line, I still get a shiver of anticipation, despite knowing the wreck like the back of my hand. Over time, it has suffered at the hands of light-fingered divers and careless mooring, but it is still in remarkable condition overall. It is hard to fathom that 2016 represents the 75th anniversary of its sinking by German Heinkel He 111 bombers while at a supposedly safe anchorage in the Strait of Gubal on October 6, 1941.

Even more incredible is that apart from briefly being visited by Jacques- Yves Cousteau in 1955, it then lay undisturbed until the early 1990s. Now a mainstay on northern Red Sea safaris, the Thistlegorm welcomes thousands of divers a year. At one point, more people annually visited it than the Pyramids at Giza. The Thistlegorm is one of those dives that will linger in your memory long after you return home.

The Thistlegorm is one of our 10 bucket-list dive destinations