MKSAC dive Scapa Flow 1999

In July 1999 twenty-four divers from MKSAC headed north to the Orkney Islands to dive the world-reknown dive sites of Scapa Flow. During World War 2 German battleships were imprisoned in the natural harbour of Scapa Flow. When the Germans found out they had lost the war they scuppered their ships. Along with the battleships are block ships used to block the harbour entrances creating some of the best wreck diving in the world..

Having endured an twelve hour journey to Scrabster on the Scottish mainland, we boarded a ferry for Stromness. After two hours on the ferry we at last saw the welcoming lights of Stromness Harbour where our long journey ended and our diving holiday began.

We had hired two dive boats, the Karin and the Sharon Rose. Both were well-equipped for divers and though they were quite basic, once the kettle was on, bags unpacked and Scapa Flow dive books strewn across tables it quickly became home. Wet dive gear stayed on deck…but damp smelly people managed to get inside…they can't be avoided on dive trips!

Hard  hat diving in Stromness Harbour

Whilst MKSAC divers Cameron and Paul steadily turn the handles on a very basic looking 'compressor' pumping air into the diver's helmet through a narrow rubber tube, Colette is ready for the glass front to be attached. Don't be fooled – it’s a smile of terror!

What hard hat diving feels like

You are loaded with enough lead weight – around your neck, in your boots and on your head – to sink a battleship. As two people crank  the compressor the air hisses reassuringly into the helmet. You stagger down the harbour steps, take a big stride off the bottom one and drop slowly to the murky depths below. Surprisingly it doesn't feel claustrophobic, but the suit is very restrictive. With three 'windows' in the helmet you would be able to see almost 180 degrees if the visibility was good! In Stromness Harbour the vis is not good! You can see your hand and a something that might be an anemone on the harbour wall…but it may be a bit of muck on the helmet glass! The steady hiss of incoming air is a relief. As the air fills the suit and you feel you are getting too buoyant you dump air by nudging a purge button on the inside of the helmet with the back of your head.

Steve walks calmly up the harbour steps…but Colette breaks the surface like a Polaris missile ....

and then proceeds to flounder beside the harbour wall like a cross between a reclining Michelin woman and a whale trying to beach itself.  A friendly passing snorkeller managed to stop laughing long enough to push the Michelin-woman-whale to the steps where she was safely landed using a large amount of  tugging, laughing, heaving, chortling and sniggering!

Diving from the Karin

For people who hate lugging kit, the Karin was sheer luxury…all dive kit stayed on deck, around the sides of the boat and there was no lugging of air bottles to compressors…the compressor tube came to your bottle!

The dive sites

Day 1: we dived the F2 and then the Gobernador Bories which were block ships sunk at entrances to the Flow, both at about 16metres. The visibility was great and there were loads of fish on both wrecks including wrasse desperate to be fed, a big octopus, and huge mussels.

Day 2: we dived the Brummer (one of the German fleet) which lies at 30metres. Like many of the fleet the ship is on its side and its obviously important to swim round to the deck side…a dive along the hull is likely to be very boring! We swam the full length of the boat passed a gun and other structures no doubt identifiable to people knowledgable about marine construction…all covered in multi-coloured soft coral and sponges.

In the afternoon we dived the UB116. It is a badly broken up submarine lying at 30metres. The visibility deteriorated for the last few divers in and a couple of divers said they felt there was a strange feel to the place. Others had a good dive, finding interesting sections of the sub to explore.

Day 3: we did our deepest dive on the James Barrie which lies at 40 metres. It was an Icelandic trawler that is fairly intact and is lying on its side. We had all prepared for the dive by studying our computers to work out how long we would get on the wreck. For many of the divers this was the deepest they had been and everyone was especially aware of depth, air and dive time – which went incredibly quickly.

In the afternoon we dived the Tabarka which many divers thought was one of the best dives. It is an upturned block ship at 15metres with big holes in the sides that divers can safely swim through to get into the inside of the wreck. The hull is covered in kelp and at first looks like the seabed until you see divers' bubbles trickling through the holes in the metal structure. There was a strong drift over the wreck so it was important to get inside, or on the leaside, quickly. Once inside its like being inside a beautiful cathedral with blue light penetrating the holes and huge shoals of fish swimming alongside the divers. Both boats of divers found the ascent hair-raising. One buddy pair nearly got run over by a boat, having been advised not to use SMBs because of the strong current. Divers who tried to use delayed SMBs for the ascent lost control of them as the whole line unravelled at great speed with the current.

Day 4: we dived the Kron Prinz Wilhelm with its deck around 15metres and the seabed at 35metres. One of the German fleet, it lies on its side covered in soft coral. The visibility wasn't as good as we had got used to in Scapa Flow but it was a very impressive wreck.

In the afternoon we dived the Karlsrühe which rose from 27metres to around 18metres.The seabed was covered in huge mussels and queen scallops and hungry wrasse wanting divers to feed them. The wreck felt very big and is fairly intact with a gun still attached to the side.

Day 5: we began the day with a hard hat dive to 3 metres in Stromness Harbour (link to photos)

We then dived the Dresden which was a light cruiser sitting at 32metres. It was often difficult to tell which part of the ship you were diving over but it was an interesting structure with lots to look at and explore.

In the afternoon we dived a bottle dump off Lyness. The seabed was strewn with bottles, pots, cutlery, ammo and other finds. The saying ' one person's treasure is another person's rubbish' was very apparent!

Day 6: we dived the Köln which like many of the German fleet lies on its side. It was covered in bottlestars and corals and good visibility made it  seem huge.

In the afternoon we dived the F2 again and this time found the barge that lies just off the wreck, attached to the F2 by a blue rope. We were able to get inside the barge and then continue back to the F2 to see the gun and swim with the friendly fish.

Day 7: back to the mainland and return to Milton Keynes, very tired but content.

The surface intervals and evenings

Between dives we visited the Italian Chapel built and beautifully painted inside by Italian POWs. Another day we went to the museum at Lyness where there were all sorts of artefacts and stories about Scapa Flow and a film about the scuppering of the ships is shown in a huge, converted oil tank. We also went into Kirkwall where there are many shops selling beautiful handmade jewellery and knitwear.

After the day's diving the two dive boats moored up together and we would sample the offerings of the local pubs. We stayed in Stromness a few nights and tried out all the pubs, discovering a local energy-giving speciality of vodka with Irn Bru.  A favourite was the Whiskey Bar at the Stromness Hotel with its extensive whiskey guides and bottles and its cosy feel.

But the most memorable, mad evening was at Longhope. We took over the very small, but friendly pub playing pool, darts and dancing well into the early morning. And another great evening was spent in a similar way at a pub near Lyness. At all the pubs the locals were diver-friendly and made us feel very welcome.

Pictures below..

All hands on deck (MV Karin)

Hey ho sailor

   Up top on the MV Karin            The Sharon Rose