May saw 7 divers from BBSAC travel to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands for a week's diving among the wrecks from the German High Seas fleet from WW1.
Scapa is a fantastic natural harbour among the Orkneys, which has long been used as a naval base due to the protection given by the surrounding islands.
The BBSAC trip had been planned for 18 months and eagerly awaited by all those attending as Scapa Flow offers some of the most interesting and challenging diving available in the UK, and arguably the world. The area is full of local history, but the most notable event occurred at the end of the First World War then the German fleet were all interned at Scapa while the peace negotiations were underway. After some months, and as negotiations were being concluded the German Admiral gave orders for the entire fleet of 74 ships to be scuttled. Of these the majority were salvaged over the next 20 years, but 7 notable wrecks remain, including 3 battleships and 4 'light' cruisers. These are all significantly sized ships, with even the cruisers being 150 m long, and they sit fairly far down at 30 to 45m. In addition to these 7 ships from the fleet, there are many other wrecks around Scapa, including a number of 'blockships' which were used to protect the entrance to the bay during WW2.
After a 12 to 13 hour car journey we reached Scrabster on the north coast of Scotland to catch the noon ferry to Stromness and after a short journey (90 mins) were in Orkney to settle in to the 2 cottages rented from the local dive centre and have a relaxing evening before the start of the diving on Sunday.
On the Sunday we set off at a sensible time, heading out at 9am (for the wrecks in the Flow, tide times are not an issue). Our boat for the week, the "John L" was an old tug that had been converted to a dive boat, complete with lift, thankfully. It was well suited to the trip, having plenty of space inside and on the deck, and a helpful and attentive crew.
It is fair to say that our first dive that day, literally blew us away. None of us had expected the visibility to be so good, at 12 to 15 m, and such that you could really appreciate the sheer scale of these ships. Our first dive was on one of the 7, the "Dresden" and we were all pleasantly surprised by how much there was to see - you could spend a week diving just one of these ships!
Between dives on the day we dropped off at the local maritime museum in Lyness, which was to prove to be a regular lunchtime haunt. There is a fair bit to see here, with a museum full of exhibits from both world wars, a cinema built inside a giant oil tank (think 'I-max' with a forties flavour..) and a nice cafe which served a huge variety of cakes - including as many flavours of chocolate tiffin as WW1 ships....
Our 2nd wreck of the day was on the F2, a German escort boat, this time from WW2. Smaller than the WW1 wrecks, this is nonetheless a great dive, particularly for a second, sitting at just 16m, and is in fact 2 wrecks in one as the wooden barge used for her attempted salvage sank in a storm while tied to her by a 30m line. The 20mm guns removed from the F2 are still clearly visible in the barge.
The 2nd day saw us diving on 2 more of the light cruisers. Firstly the "Koln", which was exceptional, being in even better condition than the "Dresden" and again with 12 to 15 m vis. The 2nd dive of the day was on the "Karlsruhe", the shallowest of the fleet, at 'just' 28 m, but also the most deteriorated - nevertheless an impressive dive, just tempered by the quality of the ships already seen.
The next day we dived on the last of the cruisers, the "Brummer", and it wasn't until the 4th day that we dived the first of the 25,000 ton battleships. At 175 m long these were all impressive to see, but the "Kronprinz Willhelm" was arguably the most impressive of the three. All 3 lie upside down, but the Kronprinz on the greatest angle so easier to see underneath, where some of her 12" guns are truly impressive to behold. We were even graced with a visit by a seal at 30 m.
The 2nd dive of day 4, we went out to one of the block ships, the "Tabarka" which is a little out from the Flow and so really needs to be dived at slack. A relatively small and shallow (15 to 18 m) wreck this also proved to be a great dive. Starting with a negatively buoyant entry so you can get straight down and not miss the wreck, you need to get inside quick before the current builds up and so almost the entire dive is conducted inside the ship, which is a quite sizeable space. Swept by the currents, the visibility on the Tabarka was exceptional for British diving, at 20 to 25 m. This meant you could easily see our entire group in different areas of the ship. There was also plenty of life within with some sizeable crabs and lobsters wedging themselves between rocks. The dive ended with deployment of a DSMB and and a fairly swift drift away from the wreck.
The next day we dived the 2nd and deepest of the battleships, the "Markgraf". Visibility was starting to deteriorate as the plankton bloom could be visibly seen developing in the water, though at still nearly 10 m was not bad! It has to be said that lower vis and a little less light did not seem to detract from the experience of diving these wrecks and in some way adds to it by creating a more 'ghostly' atmosphere around these historical behemoths, which have been beneath the surface for nearly a century.
For the second dive that day we went on a scalloping dive around the remains of the salvaged "Seydlitz". Not much of the ship remains but there was plenty of food to be found, enough for a decent starter which we followed up that night with a traditional meal of haggis, needs and tatties, accompanied by the local spirit.
On our final day we dived the last battleship, the "Konig", completing the seven from the fleet, and then made a second dive on the "Koln", which was generally considered the favourite.
Among other experiences from the trip, of note was a trip out one evening to visit the Churchill barriers and the beautiful "Italian chapel" built by Italian POWs during the Second World War using a Nissen hut as starting point, the great hospitality and friendliness shown by all the staff of the "Diving Cellar" and on the "John L" and 3 pleasant and hospitable bars which were visited occasionally.
And so after an absolutely fantastic week's diving had by all, which could not be dampened by the Orkney weather (which was consistent and simple to forecast - if it wasn't raining, it had just rained and was about to rain), we headed back on the long journey home - a long way to travel but more than worth it !!
Here is a great video from Alex: http://youtu.be/X1Gvu-3RqIA
