Diving in Sharm el-Sheikh
Kingston (Sara H).
Location
27-46-42 СШ, 33-52-36 ВД. Западный склон рифа Shag Rock, Пролив Губал, Красное Море. Минимальна/максимальная глубина: 4/19 м. Минимальный уровень для погружения на Кингстон: OWD или эквиваленты с хорошим опытом дрифтов.
Ship name
The ship that bore the name "Sara H" never existed. The history of this name is as follows:
In the early 90s of the last century, the famous Red Sea explorer Shlomo Cohen* stumbled upon a previously unknown wreck on the Shag Rock reef.
Since the ship's name and origins were unknown, Shlomo decided to give it a working title. The research was carried out from the dive boat "Sea Surveyor". The newly found wreck was christened "Sara H" in honor of the lovely wife of dive boat captain David Hilal.
Subsequently, the wreck was identified as "Kingston", but the name Sara H roamed the pages of various diving publications for a long time.
* Shlomo Cohen is the author of the excellent book now of bibliographic rarity "Red Sea Diver's Guide", Tel Aviv., Red Sea Divers., 1975
History of the ship
Kingston was built at the shipyards of the Oswald Shipbuilding Company in Sunderland. The ship was launched on February 16, 1871. (69 years later, the SS Thistelgorm was launched in the same city). In the register, Kingston was recorded as a two-mast sail-screw brigantine with a displacement of 1449 grt. It was a relatively new type of sailing-steam ships that replaced the old sailing ships.
A two-cylinder steam engine allowed the ship to reach speeds of up to 11 knots. Kingston was 78 meters long at the waterline, with a width of 10 meters and a draft of 6 meters.
On the morning of January 20, 1881, Kingston left London for the Yemeni port of Aden. The vessel was steered by Captain Cossins.
On February 20, Kingston passed the Suez Canal. The captain personally steered the ship in the then little-explored fairway of the Gulf of Suez. On the approach to the Gubal Strait, the captain handed over control to the first mate, and retired to his cabin. Two hours later, in the early morning of February 22, Kingston, at full speed, crashed into the Shag Rock Reef.
For two days, the crew tried to save the ship, for which several tons of coal were thrown overboard. On the third day, during a storm, the ship slipped off the reef and quickly sank into the water. Only the masts remained on the surface. 13 crew members stayed on site and were soon taken on board by the passing ship called “Almora”. Captain Cossins and seven sailors reached the island of Gubal in a lifeboat. The lack of drinking water forced them to leave the island after 2 days. All 8 people were eventually picked up by the “Strathmore” schooner and taken to Suez.
All members of the team survived.
127 years later, in 2008, the wreckage of Kingston bow lying on the reef gave shelter and saved the lives of two Sharm el Sheikh Dive instructors. A young Englishman and a nice girl from Belgium were lost on a liveaboard safari and spent two days and two nights on Shag Rock Reef. Luckily they were rescued by a passing fisherman from Hurghada when all hopes were already lost.
Captain Cossins was suspended from the rank for 6 months. In October 1881 he was appointed captain of “Harvest” merchant ship. Perhaps by an unfortunate coincidence, the “Harvest” under the command of Captain Cossins was thrown onto the reefs three times in two years….
Diving in Kingston
The vessel lies on an even keel at depths from 4 to 19 meters, resting its bow on the reef. The bow is badly damaged. The deck flooring has long since dissolved in seawater. Only the bulkheads remained, on which the spare propeller lies. The hull of the vessel is covered with hard and soft corals. The vessel has long been home to a large colony of various fish.
There are no enclosed spaces in Kingston. The two levels of the holds are separated by steel beams. Below them lays the steam boiler and the remains of the engine. The masts lie along the hull of the ship. The reef around the ship is a perfect example of an advanced colony of table and other hard corals. The same corals cover the hull of the ship and several large fragments from other, long-forgotten shipwrecks.
The outer part of Shag Rock Reef is often subject to heavy surf. Currents, sometimes of considerable strength, wash the reef, diverging into two branches roughly in the Kingston wreck area. Start your dive on the wreck and then continue with the reef on your left. You will then ascend on the inner wall of the reef in a place protected from the waves.
RIB is the perfect option for this dive. Be sure to take a good signal buoy along and use it before ascending or if you are lost underwater. Do not repeat mistakes of 2 young Sharm instructors…