SS Dunraven.
An iron steamship that struck the reef at Beacon Rock in April 1876 and now lies upside down, in two sections, beside the reef. Qualified divers can enter the stern section through openings in the hull and pass the boilers. The coral-covered hull shelters large numbers of glassfish. From Sharm el-Sheikh the boat has to round Ras Mohammed, and operators offer it as a special trip rather than a regular daily destination.
What's down there.
- Upturned hull in two sections at the foot of the reef
- Large openings into the stern section (for qualified divers)
- Two large boilers
- Clouds of glassfish at the exit from the break
- Coral-covered hull and the hard-coral reef beside it
- Glassfish
- Soldierfish and cardinalfish
- Yellow goatfish and fusiliers
- Juvenile snapper
- Lionfish and moray eels
- Scorpionfish and stonefish
- Crocodilefish
- Nudibranchs
- Long-nosed hawkfish
- Pipefish, including ghost pipefish
- Batfish and barracuda
- Turtles
The upturned hull lies beside the reef, with the bow at about 18 m and the stern at about 28 m (Wannadive, Divezone). Other sources give 15–30 m (Oonas Dive Club), about 29 m for the stern section (Red Sea Diving College), 25 m (Wikipedia) and 30 m (SCUBA Travel).
The site is sheltered and the dive is generally straightforward. Current is usually low to medium, although occasional strong current is reported and trips depend on the weather. The usual dive runs along the hull, with qualified divers entering the stern section, then moves on to the reef wall and shallows. Boat time from Sharm el-Sheikh is about two hours (from the Travco jetty, according to Oonas Dive Club); Red Sea Diving College says it takes about an hour to pass Ras Mohammed. Sharm operators list it as a special trip (Camel Dive Club). Liveaboards often make it the first dive of a northern wrecks itinerary, before the Thistlegorm. Protected status: Wikipedia places the wreck within Ras Mohammed National Park, and Oonas Dive Club lists it among the park's sites.
How it got there.
Built by Charles Mitchell & Co at Low Walker on the Tyne (yard no. 266); launched 14 December 1872 and completed in March 1873. She was 1,613 GRT and 261.2 ft (about 80 m) long, with an iron hull and a single-screw compound steam engine by Thompson, Boyd & Co, and was owned by Watts, Milburn & Co of London. Tyne Built Ships records that she was wrecked on Sha'ab Mahmoud in the Strait of Gubal on 25 April 1876, on passage from Aden to Liverpool with general cargo. Wikipedia gives an outward voyage from Liverpool to Bombay in January 1876 with steel and timber, and a return cargo of spices, cotton and muslin. It blames a navigational error: the crew thought they were further up the Gulf of Suez than they were. According to Wikipedia she slid off the reef about 14 hours after striking it and capsized, and a Board of Trade inquiry suspended the master's certificate for a year. Several dive guides say she also caught fire. No lives were lost (Divezone). The wreck was located in 1977.
3 dives.
From the log — the dates follow the pattern I dived, so read them as representative rather than exact.