Situated with the ring of the Orkney archipelago is a huge natural harbour where rests the remnants of the 1st World War German Imperial Navy, amongst other wrecks. The story is sad one. At the end of the war, the fleet sat surrendered in Scapa Flow and were scuttled by their own crew in June 1919. Now, over a hundred years later, dozen of these warships, the super-weapons of their day, sit on the bottom. Few dive sites can rival it for the number of wrecks, nor the history and atmosphere.
But it is not that easy to get to. We had a couple of people drop out on our party, including poor Andrew laid low by COVID, but the remain four of us (Me, Alex, Jack & Lukas) headed up in two cars. It is a twelve-hour drive from London to Scrabster on the very top of Scotland and we enjoyed a beautiful day to drive up and across the Highlands. We stayed overnight at the Weigh Inn, conveniently situated for the ferry across the next morning and within a couple of hours were steaming past the cliffs of Hoy and into the Flow.
Home for the week was the MV Karin, a Putney SAC favorite run by experienced skipper John Thornton. The Karin is a converted North Sea trawler fitted for diving with compressor etc and lift (of intermittent reliability). The price for the week’s diving (including accommodation) was a reasonable £650.
The first couple of days was slightly disappointing. We missed the Saturday PM shakedown dive due to late arrival by the other divers, and the strong winds on the Sunday saw that day’s diving cancelled. However, it did give us the chance to visit the amazing Scara Bray neolithic village and the Ring of Brodga.
By Monday we were good to dive, and the next few days saw us put in a solid two dives day. In order we dived.
• F2 – German escort boat/corvette
• Karlruhe – Cruiser
• Cöln – Cruiser
• Brummer – Mine Layer
• Dresden _ Cruiser
• Karlruhe _ Cruiser
• Markgraf – Battleship
• UB-116 – Submarine
• Markgraf – Battleship
• Cöln – Cruiser
All dives were conducted in in good order, with depths ranging between 30 and 40 meters. Run-times were up to 55 minutes putting us into a few minutes of decompression, but not much more. Alex and I dived on standard deco profile, usually using a light nitrox mix. Jack and Lukas were carry an additional stage of high 02 mix for accelerated decompression. In terms of conditions, the water temperature was around 13 degrees, perfectly comfortable in a dry suit. Visibility was variable, sometimes challenging and sea conditions choppy.
Return was by the overnight ferry to Aberdeen, and a slightly shorter run down in the car. We were back by Saturday night.
What were the highlights? Well Lucas’s cooking was pretty good. And I was impressed by the chicken schnitzel and cucumber salad. But on a diving front I would have to say the massive Markgraf battleship, upended on the bottom of Scapa Flow. The sheer size and presence of it (146 meters) is amazing. And for poignant counterpoint, the wreck of the UB-116 where 37 poor sailors perished in failed attack at the end of the war.
Tips for those going to Scapa? Bring some warm clothes. It’s damp in the boat and wool or synthetics work wells. Powerbanks are useful as mains power is intermittent.
Dive-wise, twinsets work well. You will have enough air not to worry about and a useful element of redundancy (two of everything) . If you have not yet considered this configuration, I would recommend trying a twinset out in the pool (ask me). Otherwise, navigation can be challenging and visibility limited. A powerfull strobe would have been useful (we did not have one), and never hesitate to line-off. Oh yes, and don’t forget to bring a whistle. We discovered we had one between four, and at times it was foggy on surfacing.
Finally, Lukas is keen to get back to Scapa, possibly in 2026. And so I am I. Ocean divers, new members etc will have plenty of time to work up their skills, ratings and depth progressions over the next couple of years. John Thornton will be handing over the MV Karin to a new operator, but there are also a number of other operators.
I hope you can join us.
