Scapa Flow, August 06
Diving Scapa Flow has been something I have wanted to do for some time. It was really a question of finding the right sort of trip as many are very ‘techie’ orientated. So I was delighted when Hazel skipper of Stormdrift decided to run a low key week aimed at people like me and advertised it on the Yorkshire Divers Forum…..I was of course first on the list!
It was also great to meet Hazel and Helen both of whom post on YD.
I have written a trip report for each day which I’ve put on my geoblog on Travel Dive so I will not repeat them here but these are the links.
Day 1 The Mara and the V83
Day 2 SMS Karlsruhe, The Seydlitz and Admiralty Coal Barge
Day 3 Radiation and HMS Rodean
Day 4 SMS Dresden & SMS Karlsruhe & F2
Day 5 Gobernador Bories & SMS Coln
Day 6 SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm and YC21 Salvage Barge (this barge is often done with the F2 however we didn’t get round to it the first time and I am glad we had the opportunity to do it again, as it is an interesting wreck in its own right.)
The whole week was excellent and everything that I had hoped. Not only did we get the opportunity to dive some of the famous ships of the German Fleet that were scuttled but quite a number of other wrecks as well which made it a nice varied week. Personally, much as I was impressed with the big battleships I would have found a whole week of doing nothing else very boring.
However that is not to say they were not fantastic dives. The sheer size of some of these ships and their guns, particularly the Kronprinz Wilhelm was quite awesome once you were down next to them. Swimming away from the side and trying to look along the decks and get an idea of their dimensions made you feel like a tiny speck in the water next to these monsters. It also made you appreciate the work involved in trying to salvage a ship of this magnitude from the bottom of the sea bed, something that I have found fascinating to read about. I don’t have the sort of camera set up that allows me to take wide-angle pictures of these wrecks in this sort of visibility so I have had to content myself with smaller pictures that are merely reminders.
To sum up, each day was different and each day was good. Everyone got on very well together, few people had met each other before the week but of course what we all had in common was our love of the sea and diving. I hope Hazel will run this week next year as I know my name will be top of that list again!
Scapa Flow on Stormdrift August 2006
