Rosalie Moller

The Rosalie Moller was launched in 1910 in Glasgow under the name Francis and was renamed in 1931, when she was sold to the Moller Line. Loaded with coal, the cargo ship had orders to sail independently to Alexandria via South Africa and was waiting at the Safe Anchorage H anchorage in the Gulf of Suez. There, German aircraft dropped two bombs, and one of them struck No. 3 hold. The ship sank at anchor at 01:40 on 8 October 1941, 48 hours after the Thistlegorm, with two of her crew missing.

Today the hull sits upright and virtually intact, still with both masts, the coal cargo in the holds and all of the portholes. The bridge has been stripped, and the captain's safe lies forced open on the floor. The funnel stood upright for almost 60 years until, in early 2001, someone deliberately tied a rope to the copper steam whistle to pull it free and the funnel was pulled over, causing considerable damage.

First thing in the morning, jacks and tuna hunt the big shoals that gather around the hull; towards evening, the shoals thin out and the largest groupers remain. Soldierfish occupy the shaded parts of the hull, and glassfish swarm the mast in a moving cloud. After dark, lionfish work their way along the hull, and soft coral covers the open decks.