The German Fleet
When the cease-fire was agreed on the 11th November 1918 and the Armistice signed, a port was needed to anchor the interned German Fleet. In late 1918 74 ships of the German High Seas Fleet commanded by Admiral Ludwig von Reuter steamed into Scapa Flow to await a decision on their fate. With crews reduced over time to the bare minimum, there was never any real possibility of the ships being able to leave Scapa at the end of the internment.  The German High Seas Fleet steaming in to Scapa Flow With the deadline for agreeing the terms for peace approaching and no sign of an agreement, Admiral Von Reuter had to plan his course of action should hostilities resume. Suffering from having no regular up to date information he could only see one definitive action available to him. Von Reuter ordered the German Fleet to scuttle on the 21st June 1919 and 74 vessels were sent to the bottom of Scapa Flow.
During the inter-war years a massive salvage operation took place pioneered by Ernest G Cox, “The man who bought a navy”.  Today divers can visit 7 remaining vessels of the High Seas Fleet - 3 battleships and 4 light cruisers as well as many scrap sites and other wrecks.
The Battleships
The 3 remaining battleships in Scapa Flow are all of the Konig class, all having taken part in the “Battle of Jutland” as part of the 3rd Battle Squadron.
 Plans of the Konig Class Battleship Scuttled close the shore of the island of Cava the SMS Konig, SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm and SMS Markgraf are some of the most accessible “big ship” dives in the world. The 3 vessels are huge ships weighing approx. 26000 tonnes, 180m long with a beam of 30m. Though some salvage has taken place the 3 Battleships lay largely intact.  The Markgraf Some great dives include the 12” guns on the Kronprinz Wilhelm, a rummage in the engine rooms of the Konig or ticking off all 7 casemate guns on the Markgraf in a single dive.  Between the twin rudders of the Markgraf. Photo: Charles Hood Laying in 15-45m some of the most recognisable features do lay deeper than the cruisers, though it is still possible to take in the scale of these huge vessels on a shallower dive. The Cruisers
 A Dresden class cruiser The 4 remaining cruisers are the SMS Karlsruhe, SMS Coln, SMS Dresden and the SMS Brummer. All are a similar size with a weight of around 5000 tonnes, 150m long and a beam of 15m. The Dresden and Coln being sisters. Though similar sizes and in similar depths of 14-36m all the cruisers offer a very different dive. As they lay on their sides the main deck and superstructures are accessible to the diver, offering what is best described as “instant shipwreck gratification”.
Dives to remember include: the magnificent bridge of the Brummer, the intact bow of the Coln or stern of the Dresden and the Karlsruhe’s many guns. All of this covered in so much marine life it is difficult to find a bare piece of metal, at the right time of year it can be difficult to see the wreck for the fish!
 The bridge on the Brummer. Photo: Charles Hood Other Sites
Due to the salvage during the interwar years many of the wrecks have been removed, though due to the size of the capital ships a lot of wreckage may still remain on the seabed. Scapa has many other wrecks such as the Tabarka and other blockships sunk in Burra Sound, the blockships of the eastern entrances to Scapa, innocent victims such as the James Barrie in Hoxa Sound as well as a U-boat and Second World War victims.
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Scapa Flow |
