The S. S; Thistlegorm was launched in April 1940. It was armed with an 120 mm anti – aircraft gun and a heavy – caliber machine gun. She set sail in her fourth and last voyage from Glasgow on 2nd June 1941, destined for Alexandria, with a cargo for the Allied forces in Egypt. The Thistlegorm sailed as a part of a convoy via Cape Town, South Africa, before heading north up the coast of Africa and into the Red Sea. Two Heinkel He 111 aircraft of Luftwaffe spotted the Thistlegorm and dropped two bombs on it. The ship sank and four sailors and five members of the Royal Navy gun crew died.

In the early fifties, Jacques Cousteau discovered her by using information from local fishermen.