Al Qaher (ex HMS Myngs)

Built by Vickers-Armstrong on the Tyne in England and launched in 1943, HMS MYNGS (R06) was a 'Zambesi' Class destroyer, which saw action off the Norwegian coast during the closing stages of WW2. These were fast, manoeuvrable vessels, designed primarily as submarine chasers. She was fitted with turbine engines and drum boilers, capable of some 35 knots. She had a displacement of 1710 tons and was 360ft long. Armament included: 4 x 114mm guns (4×I-DP), 3 x 40mm cannon, 20 x 40mm pom-pom and 8 torpedo tubes.

In 1955 the Royal Navy decommissioned several of its Zambesi class destroyers. While many of the vessels were scrapped, four were sold; two to Egypt (HMS MYNGS to become the AL QAHER & HMS ZENITH to become the AL FATHA), and two to Israel (HMS ZEALOUS and HMS ZODIAC to be renamed ELATH and YAFFA respectively). Renamed the EL QAHER after her sale to Egypt, she entered service with the Egyptian Navy in 1956. In 1969-70 she was re-fitted with upgraded electronics (Russian) and had returned to her base at Port Berenice to continue her duties. This was the period of the 'phoney war'; the hostilities between the '6 day war' and the 'Yom Kippur' wars between Egypt and Israel.

Final Voyage

In May 1970 a wing of French-built Dassault Mirage fighters attacked the vessel while it was at anchor. Bristling with anti aircraft guns and a new firing tracking system, she held off several attacks despite being hit by sidewinder missiles and countless rounds from the planes' wing cannons. With a range of 800 miles, the aircraft could sustain a prolonged attack over the target. Fires spread throughout the vessel and internal explosions ripped through the ship. Eventually the destroyer settled by the stern, her entire superstructure ablaze. As she sank she swung round on her anchor and grounded on a coral shelf ripping her bow plates open.

Constructed: 1943 (England)
Wrecked: 1970
Length of ship: 110m (360ft)
Wreck location: Port Berenice, Southern Egypt.
Depth range of wreck: Surface to 27m

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The Wreck Today

The wreck sits perched on a large rock, her bow and fore guns sticking out of the water. It is possible to swim under her aft keel and view the twin props and rudders adorned with soft corals - maximum depth 27 metres. Endless dives can be made swimming through her accommodation area, control rooms and view the twin torpedo tubes and stern guns, submerged, complete with shells in the breech, barrels pointed skyward... she went down fighting.

Her twin sister lies close by... these are the ZAMBEZI TWINS.

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