Scapa Flow II

Most of you will have heard of the wrecks of Scapa Flow. For those who haven't, a brief introduction...
In 1919, the German fleet was at anchor in Scapa Flow. With no fuel or ammunition, the ships, with German crews were under guard while talks to end the First World War were under way. Pictured (right) is the "Brummer", one of 74 German warships.		On 21st June, Rear Admiral Ludwig Von Reuter believed that he would be forced to hand over the entire fleet as a result of the peace talks. He sent a pre-arranged signal, "Scuttle the Fleet". Despite later salvage, the remains of the fleet can be dived today, eighty years later...

1999 saw our club head up towards the wilds of Scotland. In fact we went on past the wilds until we hit Scapa Flow in the Orkneys. The length of journey meant that we hired a coach to transport us and our gear the fourteen hour trip to Scrabster. Pictured on the right are most of the 23 divers next to our brightly painted coach as we pause for breakfast around Inverness.
	A short ferry crossing took us from Scrabster across to Stromness. You can't see from here but our two dive boats, the Karin and Sharon Rose, are moored next to the ferry. This was dead handy when it came to load and unload the kit, straight off one boat and on to another. Off into the town for an evening meal and a few quick pints and...
...up on Sunday morning for our first dive, the Dresden. Our Skipper (Bob, of whom more later) seemed to navigate less by GPS and chart as by sniffing the sea air but he certainly got us on the wreck. For most of us, this was the first time we had seen such a gigantic wreck, or one so well preserved.
	The Sharon Rose was a new experience as well. The bunks were comfortable. Despite many warnings, however, one of our number could not remember to use the quieter of the two loo's when he went to relieve himself in the middle of the night (every night). This woke the whole boat up as an electric pump went "Wizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" as he tiptoed back to bed.
Back to the diving, our next dive was HMS Rodean at a relatively shallow fifteen metres. This set the pattern for the week, deep dive in the morning, leisurely lunch and then a shallow afternoon dive before spending the evening in one of the many harbours, each one with a small but hospitable pub close by.
	As well as the diving, our trip was enlivened by the quiet (no streetlights, hardly any cars) and the wildlife. After one dive, our boat was joined by a large colony of seals who swam sedately round us. At the first sign of divers entering the water though, they were off.
Our fourth dive introduced us to drift diving with attitude! The Inverlane (pictured right) is a blockship, sunk deliberately to block access to the flow. Not far away is the Gobernader Bories with a fearsome six knot current. Alright whilst sheltered by the wreck but when the time comes to deploy the delayed SMB....
	Back to the wildlife. Pictured is a group of starfish clustered on the hull of the Tabarka, another blockship. Most of the creatures and fish were friendly. At the time, Scapa was not a popular dive destination and so most of the wildlife was not scared of divers.
With the many small harbours dotted around the Flow, lunch was usually taken moored up. One of our lunch breaks was next to the museum at Lyness. The collection of giant oil storage tanks, pumping stations and military hardware such as guns and torpedoes was interesting. Lyness had been a vast oil store during the war and the film show inside one of the oil tanks sent at least one diver to sleep (or so the snoring suggested). Even our most enthusiastic wreck divers however, were unable to think of a way of getting the trophy (right) home and onto our Clubhouse wall.
	Another lunchtime break saw us visit the Highland Park Distillery. After sampling "a wee dram" and looking round the piles of fermenting grain (guarded by the distillery cat) it was once again back to the Sharon Rose.
Right, our Skipper Bob. As already mentioned, he navigated by the smell of the sea although (with one exception) he never missed a wreck. His cheerful face welcomed us back on board after every dive (or at four in the morning, back from the pub). He never had a harsh word and was patient as ever, even when a group of divers walked over his bed in the wheelhouse without realising he was in it!
	Enough chat, back to the wrecks. The shallow afternoon dives gave plenty of scope for light and shade as the sun shone through the remains of the decking. This was the S54, dived on the Wednesday and only fourteen metres down.
Another example of light and shade, this time the YC21 at sixteen metres. This was a barge used to recover scrap from one of the wrecks. No sooner was it full of salvage then it to sank, returning the non-ferrous to the sea bed and providing a marvellous double dive - two wrecks for the price of one.
	A lonely looking crab on one of the wrecks (sorry, I can't remember which one). One day saw both boats scalloping and crabbing. The local pub at Longhope seemed to see nothing wrong with twenty three divers coming in laden with goody bags and asking if the contents could be cooked. Mind you, every other pub for the rest of the week asked us "are you the ones who...?", news travels fast in a small community.
	On the left, the Sharon Rose alongside the jetty at Lyness for our second visit. This time we ignored the museum and walked up to the Naval Cemetery. It was a sobering sight to see row upon row of graves, in all languages, all to "an unknown soldier (or sailer)"
	I mentioned one dive where Bob let us down with his navigation. This took place off Stanger Head, within sight of the old anti torpedo netting (left). After 45 minutes of no wreck (lots of wildlife though, still not a bad dive) we surfaced. We reported the lack of wreck to Bob. Seconds later there was a faint "plop" as a figure with drysuit, no BCD and no weight belt went over the side. For five minutes, one of our members helmed the Sharon Rose until Bob surfaced, piece of brass in hand muttering "I told you it was there..."
Part of a wreck (sorry, memory failure again) showing the many colours of growth that have taken place over the last eighty years. For a British dive site, there was a wide variety of anemones, kelp and urchins encrusting the wrecks.
	One last piece of wildlife, plenty of crabs such as the one on the left. The wrecks are full of nooks and crannies where crabs (and the occasional lobster) hide, thinking they are safe. Little did they know that Les and Graham were on the way armed with a goody bag and crab hook...
A last wreck shot, looking out through the "ribs" of the Tabarka towards the daylight. This was another of the blockships and, like the Gobernader Bories and Inverlane was subject to fierce currents when you started to head for the surface. Still, nothing like a bit of underwater water skiing to keep you fit!

Most of you will have heard of the wrecks of Scapa Flow. For those who haven't, a brief introduction...

In 1919, the German fleet was at anchor in Scapa Flow. With no fuel or ammunition, the ships, with German crews were under guard while talks to end the First World War were under way. Pictured (right) is the "Brummer", one of 74 German warships.

On 21st June, Rear Admiral Ludwig Von Reuter believed that he would be forced to hand over the entire fleet as a result of the peace talks. He sent a pre-arranged signal, "Scuttle the Fleet". Despite later salvage, the remains of the fleet can be dived today, eighty years later...

As well as the diving, our trip was enlivened by the quiet (no streetlights, hardly any cars) and the wildlife. After one dive, our boat was joined by a large colony of seals who swam sedately round us. At the first sign of divers entering the water though, they were off.

Back to the wildlife. Pictured is a group of starfish clustered on the hull of the Tabarka, another blockship. Most of the creatures and fish were friendly. At the time, Scapa was not a popular dive destination and so most of the wildlife was not scared of divers.

With the many small harbours dotted around the Flow, lunch was usually taken moored up. One of our lunch breaks was next to the museum at Lyness. The collection of giant oil storage tanks, pumping stations and military hardware such as guns and torpedoes was interesting.

Another lunchtime break saw us visit the Highland Park Distillery. After sampling "a wee dram" and looking round the piles of fermenting grain (guarded by the distillery cat) it was once again back to the Sharon Rose.

Right, our Skipper Bob. As already mentioned, he navigated by the smell of the sea although (with one exception) he never missed a wreck.

His cheerful face welcomed us back on board after every dive (or at four in the morning, back from the pub). He never had a harsh word and was patient as ever, even when a group of divers walked over his bed in the wheelhouse without realising he was in it!

Enough chat, back to the wrecks. The shallow afternoon dives gave plenty of scope for light and shade as the sun shone through the remains of the decking. This was the S54, dived on the Wednesday and only fourteen metres down.

On the left, the Sharon Rose alongside the jetty at Lyness for our second visit. This time we ignored the museum and walked up to the Naval Cemetery. It was a sobering sight to see row upon row of graves, in all languages, all to "an unknown soldier (or sailer)"

Part of a wreck (sorry, memory failure again) showing the many colours of growth that have taken place over the last eighty years. For a British dive site, there was a wide variety of anemones, kelp and urchins encrusting the wrecks.

One last piece of wildlife, plenty of crabs such as the one on the left. The wrecks are full of nooks and crannies where crabs (and the occasional lobster) hide, thinking they are safe. Little did they know that Les and Graham were on the way armed with a goody bag and crab hook...