Dennis Bakhuis

Dive site · wreck · The Strait of Gubal

🇪🇬 SS Kingston, Shag Rock

Shag Rock, Strait of Gubal, Egypt

An 1871 Sunderland steamer that ran onto Shag Rock with a cargo of Welsh coal, lost her own name for a century, and now lies in water shallow enough to dive almost indefinitely.

Dives here
1
Deepest
15.9 m
Water
salt
First · last
2009
Also known as
Kingston (Shag Rock) · Sarah H. · Danabaa

Revision 2 · changed 18 Oct 2026

History
  1. r2 18 Oct 2026 Neutral sources · Dennis Bakhuis
  2. r1 10 Oct 2026 Imported from the personal log · Dennis Bakhuis

Site data © divelog-sites contributors (ODbL), descriptions and maps CC BY-SA 4.0 · 53edcaf

1 map

Reef crest, 0.5 m on topUsual route · 199 mBow, broken up on the reef↓4 mTwo boilers↓5 mSpare propeller on deck↓5.5 mMast on the seabedStern deck↓7 mPropeller and rudder↓14.5 mTable coral gardenTable coral gardenCurrent splits around the sternBeacon↓0 mBow of a fishing boat↓0.5 mPropeller, unidentified wreck↓10 mMast pieces, unidentified wreck↓18 mN10 m
  • Hazard
  • Point of interest
  • Boat
  • Wreck
  • Lighthouse / tower
  • Machinery
  • Other object
  • Dive path
  • Wall / drop-off
  • Wreck footprint
  • Depth
Site map · 12 objects · 1 path · max 18 m

The SS Kingston (78 x 10 m, 1871) on the western tip of Shag Rock, bow up the reef slope at 4 m, boilers and spare propeller at 5-5.5 m, stern and propeller at 14.5 m, drawn to the ship's length. Placed at the Red Sea Wreck Project position 27 46 42 N 33 52 36 E, about 1 km west of the site point (OSM calls its point a vague estimate); the heading (bow about 140 degrees) is approximate, as are all positions. Wreckage of an unidentified ship (propeller, mast pieces 12.5-18 m) lies further along the slope.

Map © divelog-sites contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0 · 53edcaf

The ship

An iron-hulled British steamer of 78 m, built at Sunderland in 1871. On 22 February 1881 she ran onto the south-west corner of Shag Rock, on the eastern edge of the Strait of Gubal, carrying coal from Cardiff to Aden. Nobody was killed. She hung on the reef and then slid backwards off it as she filled, which is why she now lies stern-down at the west/south-west tip of the reef, on a gentle coral slope rather than smashed on the top.

The name

For most of the twentieth century divers knew her as the Sarah H. — a misidentification that stuck for decades and is still in some older guidebooks. Research in 1996 established that she is the Kingston.

The dive

She lies at 4 to 19 m, which for a wreck this complete is unusual and very pleasant: no decompression pressure, no gas anxiety, and enough light to see colour. The bow is upright and hard coral has grown over the forward section until it is more reef than ship. The boiler and the engine stand clear.

She is a short hop from the Thistlegorm, and northern-route boats often do the two in a day — the 1881 wreck in the sunshine in the morning, the 1941 one in the afternoon.

Dived 30 November 2009 to 15.9 m for 56 minutes.

Dived here with

Bob

Nearby sites

1 dive at SS Kingston, Shag Rock

  1. 30 Nov 2009 with Bob wreckboat date30 Nov 2009 depth15.9 m time56 min water—

Sources

  • Published histories of the wreck