SCAPA 100
Fast and Light
Demystifying Scapa’s smaller scuttled ships Emily Turton, skipper of MV Huskyan, considers the importance of Scapa’s light cruiser and mine-layer wrecks, which often provide some of the Flow’s most satisfying dives
S
capa Flow is famous for her First World War dreadnought battleship wrecks – both German and British – but this article will focus on four of the smaller German ships, the three remaining Light Cruisers: SMS Cöln, SMS Dresden and SMS Karlsruhe and one Fast Minelayer SMS Brummer and explain why they encompass everything that is great about wreck diving in Scapa Flow. First, a bit of background…
Why Scapa Flow? Germany asked for the Armistice on 11th November 1918 but this was just a ceasefire – it was not the end of the war. While the peace negotiations took place in Paris, 74 German warships, including all their operational dreadnoughts and battlecruisers, were demanded to be placed in British custody.
On 21 November, 71 of these ships manned by 17,000 men set sail across the North Sea, headed for Rosyth in the Firth of Forth. Met by the full strength of the allied forces, 370 ships and over 90,000 men, this was the single biggest meeting of warships in naval history. Following inspection, the German ships made the trip north in small groups. The cruisers and battleships sailed to Orkney in two flotillas on 24th and 25th November 1918. The only ships missing at this point were the König, Dresden and Baden which arrived to Scapa over the next few weeks. The German ships were required to disarm before setting sail but this did not, to the benefit of today’s diving community, mean that the guns were removed. They were merely rendered unfireable and all munitions disposed of.
Below: SMS Karlsruhe’s stern anchor capstan
Scapa’s Interned & Salvaged Fleet By January 1919, Scapa’s interned German fleet consisted of 11 battleships, five battlecruisers, six light cruisers, 50 Torpedo Boat Destroyers and two fast mine layers. Fifty of these ships were successfully sunk on 21 June 1919 in the largest scuttling of all time. The greatest feat of marine salvage ensued; today eight ships remain (including the Destroyer V83), offering some of the best First World War wreck diving in the world. The salvage of the German Fleet began with the removal of whole ships and developed into blast salvage, where specific material and metal were recovered, and then to piecemeal removal of artefacts by divers which was legal prior to the ships’ protection in 2000. The bulk of the commercial salvage work was carried out by four companies. Cox and Danks (1924-1931) and Metal Industries Ltd (1931-1947) were mostly responsible for the removal of whole ships although they did remove most of the propellers. The blast salvage of Scapa’s remaining German ships, where non-ferrous metal and thick armour plate were the main prizes, was carried out by two men: Arthur Nundy of Nundy Marine Metals (1956-1971) and Dougall Campbell of the Scapa Flow Salvage Company Ltd (1972-1977.) It’s Dougall, however, who salvaged our four smaller ships and his legacy that contributes to the different diving experience to be had on each ship. Understanding what was salvaged and why and how the work was done helps us understand the wrecks that little bit more.
Diving Scapa’s smaller ships
ALL PHOTOS: MARJO TYNKKYNEN
54
A diving week in Scapa often begins with a dive on one of our four smaller ships. That said they range in length from 113
