WRECK DIVER

The German fleet

With the end of WW1, German warships

were interned by Britain and France. The

story behind the wrecks at Scapa Flow is

well-known, so I won’t go into detail here.

The German officers and crews became

tired of waiting for their fate to be agreed,

concerned that peace talks would fail and

that the Royal Navy would gain use of

their ships. So on 21 June, 52 ships were

scuttled. Many were subsequently

salvaged, and now only seven remain,

four cruisers and three battleships, at

a perfect location for divers.

You can read more about these wrecks

in Scapa Flow 100, Mike Ward’s feature in

the June issue ofdiver.

While the best-known, Scapa Flow is

not the only location where you can dive

German warships sunk after the war.

Scapa divers might have dived the turrets

of the battleship SMS Bayern, the rest of

the vessel having been salvaged for scrap,

and Bayern ’s sister-ship was SMS Baden,

scuttling of which was prevented by

British sailors boarding and beaching her.

The Badenwas subsequently refloated

and in 1921 used as a target through two

rounds of gun trials, testing new

ammunition for the RN guns. After the

second round, she was scuttled in Hurd

Deep, a 180m-deep scour north of the

Channel Islands. To my knowledge, the

wreck has been dived only once.

For a more accessible wreck-dive, the

light cruiser SMS

Nurnbergwas also

saved from

scuttling in Scapa

Flow. Nurnberg

was a light cruiser

of the same

Konigsberg class

as the Karlsruhe

in Scapa Flow.

In 1922 she followed the Badento be

used for gunnery tests off the Isle of

Wight. Fortunately for divers the wreck

stands 10m clear of a 63m seabed, so is

only just into trimix range.

It can be found mid-Channel between

the Isle of Wight and Cherbourg. ☛

1919

and beyond

In the final part of a series of wreck-

based articles that has spanned the

past five years, JOHN LIDDIARD

considers the continued diving legacy

of the Great War after the Armistice

Pictured:Rangefinder

above the armoured

conning tower of the Koln.

Above: Gun breech in one

of a pair of forward gun

turrets of the cruiser

Karlsruhe.

29 divEr