Lysander on the Thistlegrom

SS Thistlegorm was sunk in 1941 and contains a number of aircraft parts (see below). Some of the are Westland Lysander parts. The Westland Lysander was used by RAF to support the 8th army. A STOL aircraft – due in part to its unusual wing design – it was the perfect “spy” plane, used to pick up and drop agents behind enemy lines. Now, all these parts lie submerged in the Red Sea.

The pictures above, taken on the Thistleform and in the workshops of the Aircraft Restoration Company, show the distinctive shape of the leading edge of Westland Lysander – looking back towards the wing root. The wings on the Thistlegorm are stacked on top of each other, revealing the tubular structure of the Lysander wing.

There are other aviation finds that I located on this classic wreck, including:

Blenheim bomber engine exhaust rings and tail planes

Bristol mercury engine

Trolley accumulators

Pundit lights