Scapa Flow and the Northern Isles
The Orkney islands lie approximately 10 miles off the north coast
of Scotland, and have some of the best dive sites in the UK, particularly if
you are fond of shipwreck and with over 70 islands forming the archipelago,
there is no shortage of coastline and dive sites to explore. Broadly speaking
however, there are two major areas to dive in – Scapa Flow in the south, or the
Northern Isles in the north.
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| Divers completing a safety stop in the clear waters of Scapa Flow |
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| A diver making his way to the bows of the Koln |
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| A diver swimming alongside the Koln |
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| Fish school around the wreck of the Koln. |
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| Gun turret on the F2 (WW2) |
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| Gobernador Bories |
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| The Oceana is fairly broken up now, but is covered in marine life |
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| A diver inside the Endeavour |
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| The outside of the Endeavour is covered in soft corals |
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| Divers on the James Barrie |
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| The bows of the James Barrie |
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| The bridge deck and winch mechanisms still in place on the James Barrie. |
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Scapa Flow is a sheltered sea area surrounded by the southern
Orkney Islands, the largest of which are the Mainland, Hoy and South Ronaldsay.
These islands keep the Flow sheltered from the worst of the weather,
effectively creating a natural harbour which has been used by people for
thousands of years to find shelter for themselves and their vessels. More
recently it was exploited by the British navy during both the first and second
world wars, when it was used as a major naval base to control access to the
northern North Sea. The ships that sank during those conflicts and still remain
under the waves in Scapa Flow are probably the greatest attraction to the
divers who visit the islands every year.
To see more underwater photographs, and pictures from Scapa Flow,
have a look at the Underwater gallery.
Map of the Orkney Islands and Scapa Flow
From Wikimedia Commons
The northern isles by comparison have no such military history,
but have plenty to offer in their own right. Outside the shelter of Scapa Flow,
the waters in the north of Orkney are subject to stronger tides and are more
exposed to the weather meaning that diving is not always possible in all places.
However, these currents serve to keep the water much clearer than could be
expected in Scapa Flow and maintain a great variety of marine life to keep the
biologists and scenic divers happy. There are plenty of shipwrecks around the
Northern Isles as well, and while they might not be steeped in the history of
the military wrecks of the flow, can still be absolutely stunning to visit.
Wrecks of Scapa Flow: German High Seas Fleet
The most famous wrecks in Scapa Flow are probably the seven
remaining battleships and light cruisers from the German High Seas Fleet which
was scuttled following the end of World War One. After the armistice was
declared in 1918 at the end of World War 1, the High Seas Fleet of the German
navy was interned in Scapa Flow with its fate to be decided by the Treaty of
Versailles. The peace talks lasted months, and eventually in May 1919, it was
declared that the German fleet was to be surrendered to the allied forces much
to the displeasure of Rear-Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, commander of the German
fleet. He immediately began making plans to scuttle the fleet rather than hand
it to the allies, but didn’t have an opportunity to carry them out until 21st
June 1919 when all but two of the British vessels that had been guarding the
interned force left Scapa Flow for training exercises. Staffed only by skeleton
crews, the allied forces did not consider the German navy to be any further
threat to them and not worth keeping under constant heavy guard. The message
took about an hour to pass between the German vessels, and they acted shortly
after. Over the course of a single morning, 74 warships were scuttled and sank.
Following the end of WW1, most of those vessels were salvaged for
scrap, with only seven of the 74 warships now resting underwater in the Flow:
the cruisers Karlsruhe, Dresden, Brummer and Koln, and the battleships Konig,
Kronprinz Wilhelm, and the Markgraf. These wrecks now lie in approximately
30-45m of water inside Scapa Flow and more information on each of the wrecks
can be found on the photo pages themselves. Because they are in sheltered
waters, they can be dived at any state of the tide and aside from the depth,
are relatively easy to dive. That’s not to say that anyone can dive these
wrecks – most dive trips to Scapa Flow last a week and decompression
requirements can quickly add up, meaning that anyone wanting to dive here needs
to be well prepared and a skilled diver. All seven of the wrecks are still in
relatively good condition, but my personal favourite of the group is the Koln.
This particular wreck is more or less intact, lies on its starboard side, and
seems to be a particularly attractive spot for shoals of fish. I have dived it several
times in the summer months, and each time it has been swarming with shoals of
juvenile fish, which were sometimes so densely packed that it was impossible to
see the wreck for the fish even if we were only a couple of metres away from
it! I admit, I am generally more interested in marine life than wrecks for their
own sake, but when you can have both, it makes for some excellent diving.
Blockships
The blockships were merchant vessels that were commandeered and
deliberately sunk by the British navy to try and block the entrances to Scapa
Flow from German U-boats during the Second World War. the three remaining
vessels lie in Burra sound, and are the wrecks of the Doyle, the Tabarka and
the Gobernador Bories. They all lie in about 10-20m of water, but must be dived
at slack due to the very fast currents in the sound. However, the increased
tides do make for some nice visibility, and these blockships are usually
clearer dives than the other wrecks in the Flow.
Of the three, the Tabarka is generally regarded as the best. I
dived this wreck for the first time about 5 years ago, and it was stunning. There's typically a LOT of current on the blockships, but after battling our way down and dragging ourselves through the kelp over the
top of the ship we made it inside what appeared to be a giant underwater barn.
The visibility was about 30m with sunlight streaming through the sides of the
wreck. Unfortunately, the wreck seems to have deteriorated quite badly in the
last few years, and when we dived it in 2008 and 2010 it was a real squeeze to get inside what
were once wide, spacious holes along the sides. And that was after 10 minutes
trying to find them! The marine life is still really nice along the
outside of the wreck though, with loads of filter feeders and anemones covering
the edges.
The Gobernador Bories and Doyle are still quite intact around the
stern and boiler rooms, and the bow of the Gobernador Bories is still intact as
well I believe.
Wrecks of the Northern Isles
I dived in the Northern Isles for the first time in 2008, and was
really surprised by the quality of the wrecks outside of Scapa Flow. Outside of
the shelter of the Flow, many of the shipwrecks around the Northern Isles lie
in quite tidal areas and have to be dived at slack water. However, the benefit
of this is that marine life thrives in tidal conditions and the visibility can
be excellent. There are dozens of wrecks around Orkney that can be dived, but
the ones we visited were the Oceana (tug), Endeavour (trawler), and Loch Garry
(boom defence vessel). Of these, the Endeavour was by far the most memorable,
being covered in dead men’s fingers and full of fish with around 30m
visibility. It was also easy to enter inside the bows of the vessel, and was a
great setting for some wide-angle shots. The Oceana was also quite a nice,
atmospheric wreck for photographs, but was much more broken up with only the
skeleton structure remaining.
Getting there
To get to Orkney, you can travel by ferry either from Aberdeen
(about 3 hours north of Glasgow) or Scrabster (around 5 hours north of Glasgow)
to Stromness. I believe there is also the option to fly, but this is much more
expensive, and more hassle with dive kit.
There are a huge number of dive boats to choose from, but our club have generally dived from the liveaboards MV Jean
Elaine or MV Sharon Rose (http://www.jeanelaine.co.uk/index.htm) for the
last few years, and they have always provided excellent service, diving and advice.
All images shown in this article and more can be seen in the Underwater gallery.
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