Scapa Flow
Orkney, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Typical depth
- 35 m
- Type
- Wreck
- Level
- Technical
Notes
Scuttled WWI German High Seas Fleet.
Marine life
- Other
- wreckage of seven WWI German High Seas Fleet capital ships and Churchill Barrier block-ships
- Reef fish
- pollack, wrasse, butterfish, scorpionfish
- Invertebrates
- plumose anemone fields on the wrecks, dead-mans-fingers soft coral, dahlia anemone, spider crab, edible crab
Wreck
- Vessel
- SMS Markgraf (one of three battleships still on the seabed; fleet site totals 7 capital wrecks)
- Class
- König-class dreadnought battleship
- Origin
- Imperial Germany
- Sunk
- 1919 — scuttled by German crew on Adm. von Reuter's order, 21 Jun 1919, to deny capture under Versailles terms
- Length
- 175 m
- Penetration
- Possible — with training
Site features
- Wreck Graveyard
- Penetration
- War Grave (HMS Royal Oak)
- Drysuit Required
- Cold Water
- Scuttled Fleet
- Historic
When to dive
- Best
- May–Sep
- Avoid
- Nov–Feb
Scapa Flow, the Royal Navy's WWI/WWII home anchorage in Orkney, is the world's largest and most accessible scuttled fleet wreck site. On 21 June 1919 Rear-Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered the interned German High Seas Fleet — 74 ships — to be scuttled to prevent Allied seizure under the Versailles terms. 52 went down (15 of 16 capital ships, 5 of 8 cruisers, 32 of 50 destroyers); most were salvaged in the 1920s–30s, but 7 major hulls remain divable: the battleships SMS König, SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm, and SMS Markgraf, and the light cruisers SMS Brummer, SMS Cöln, SMS Dresden, and SMS Karlsruhe. The wartime loss HMS Royal Oak (1939) is a designated war grave — no diving. Cold North Sea dive — drysuit and 7 mm hood/gloves mandatory. May–Sep gives the longest daylight and calmest weather; winter is short days, gales, and frequent cancellations. Liveaboard-style charters from Stromness or Houton.
Conditions & access
- Visibility
- 5–15 m
- Water temp
- 6–14 °C
- Current
- Moderate
- Access
- Open access
- Min cert
- Advanced Open Water + drysuit + wreck specialty for the lighter cruisers; Tec/Trimix recommended for the deeper König-class battleships (typically 35–45 m, all three inverted on the seabed)
Location
58.9000° N, 3.0500° W
Sources
Curated from 2 sources
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