Today’s featured wreck is the Atlas, originally the DT Conrad Mohr.
On 06 September 1940, while in transit from Abadan to Suez, she was torpedoed by the Italian submarine Gugielmotti and “reported sunk” in deep water approximately 14 miles north of Jebel Tier, coast of Yemen. Reports indicate that the torpedo’s explosion broke the ship’s back and as she was sinking bow first, the ship broke in to two separate sections, with the after half of the ship remaining afloat.
However, this is not the end of the Atlas’ story…A naval salvor named Jim Devellyn directed a salvage operation to save the after section of the Atlas which resulted in the stern section of the ship being made watertight and then it was to be towed to Alexandria.
Two tugboats, the Hercules and Golliath, were used to tow the stern section north. When the tugboats and the remains of the Atlas reached Ras Banas the Atlas broke her tow in heavy weather and foundered within the Ras Banas headland in 4-6 meters of water.
Got any photos of the Atlas? Share them with us at: http://dive.im/1envbLM
Learn more about the Atlas at: http://www.redseawreckproject.com/red-sea-shipwreck-database/a/atlas/
