Scapa Flow Trip Report Part 2 Brummer, Gobernador Bories, Kronprinz Wilhelm, Tarbarka August 21, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving, Wreck Diving , trackbackSMS Brummer, Max Depth 34.1m, Dive time 61 minutes.
Dimensions: 460ft x 44ft x 19ft
Launched: December 1915 4,308 tons
Scuttled: 13:05 21/6/1919
The Wreck Today: The Wreck Today: The Brummer lies on her starboard side in a depth of around 36m, surface to hull is in the region of 20m, it is arguably the most impressive of the Light Cruisers. From the bow, finning aft the 5.9 inch gun looms up at you, passing along the barrel and over the protective shield, you reach the conning tower. The armoured command centre, with horizontal viewing slits. On top sits the gun control range finder. Beyond this lies the bridge and signal deck. The mid section is blasted out but the stern is intact, the officers accommodation and the 5.9inch guns are worthy of a mention. Unfortunately for us this year the visibility was greatly reduced on last year and combined with the fact that my torch flooded 6 minutes into the dive meant that we stayed mainly on the conning tower and bow. We did see the 5.9 inch gun as we neared the bow. We apparently finned over and around the bow onto the hull but it didn’t register with me at the time, but in my defence I was restricted to the area that was illuminated by my back up torch. This was a completely different dive to last year where we made our way from the bottom of the bow through the wreck and out of hatch on the deck. This year we spent much more time investigating the life on the bow and hull including the dead mans fingers and minute anemones. I think I saw a nudibranch aswell but a very dull brown coloured one. I really enjoyed it and it proved that going back a second time you can have a completely different experience.
Our surface interval was spent at the Lyness Museum, which is a sobering place to be. The museum hosts all sorts of artifacts from the two wars but pays particularly attention to the scuttled fleet and also the sinking of HMS Hampshire and Royal Oak. This year we were also able to go into the disused oil storage tank which is now used as a cinema and display. We eventually managed to get the video playing and enjoyed the film which tells the story of the scuttle and Orkney’s part in the war effort, quite an interesting film. After a lengthy surface interval we made our way back to the boat to do our second dive of the day.
Gobernador Bories Max Depth 16.1m Dive time 59minutes 45 seconds!!!
One of the blockships sunk in the Burra Sound in 1915, the Gobernador Bories is a 
fantastic dive amongst the kelp and tide swept sea bed of the sound. Sunk to deter the enemy from entering the flow Bories sits broken on top of a bed of rock and stones, due to the fast tides and relatively short slack water there is very little silt inside and so again this year that is where we headed. This time we found a entry from the side of the wreck and swam along that which led us to towards the boilers where we dropped in underneath the plates and found our way to the toblerone tunnel which seemed a little smaller this year 
. I don’t remember seeing the boilers last year and so I was very pleased to do so this year meaning that we had now over the course of the two dives, this year and last year swam the full length of the tunnel that extends past the boilers to the stern , from halfway to the bow. We exited the tunnel near the stern and made our way around the prop and rudder to the shingle seabed and underneath the stern back up. The header picture to this dive log was taken on the stern of this wreck last year and shows the life that is on her, including very tame wrasse who were looking to be fed.
Once back to Stromness we made a beeline to the chippy to pick up a fish supper that we enjoyed back at the galley on the boat.
Kronprinz Wilhelm Max Depth 23.6m, Dive time 13 minutes
This one didn’t quite go to plan, after flooding my torch the day before I needed to strip it down and flush it with fresh water and hope for the best. Luckily I have a spare Light Cannon (ok it’s Lisa’s but I had it with me) this had a light diffuser in it for photography, so I took that out and swapped the light heads over. Big mistake as at 16m, just 2 minutes into the dive the light flickered and out it went. It had flooded again but with my spare light head inside AAARRRRHHHHH,I swapped to my back up torch but it was a bit dark and I thought maybe I could rescue this light head so I decided to bin it and let Steve and Ian dive together (that of course is a loose phrase !!!) So for a decent report on this one look at my last year review here.
DEPTH – 35 -38m Dimensions: 580ft x 97ft x 28ft
Launched: November 1914 - 25,390 Tons Scuttled: 13:15 21/6/1919
The Wreck Today: The Wreck Today: The Kronprinz lies upturned in about 36-38m of water with her starboard decks embedded in silt and her port side open, surface to wreck can be as little as 12-14m depending on tide. The 5.9-inch casemate guns are visible on the port side, as is the mast and spotting top lying flat on the seabed. Further aft along the wreck, beneath the overhanging decks is the 12 inch gun turret, moving along the side to the front you reach the port barrel, 35 feet from the turret is the muzzle, the end of the barrel jammed into the teak deck. Looking at the muzzle, on the divers left is the starboard armament (the only visible survivors, fired at the battle of Jutland!). At the stern, the rudders still stand intact, quite a sight!!
Surface interval was spent enjoying brunch, prepared by Fiona, napping, sorting out a new torch, as John lent me his Greenforce Tristar, a very sexy little number, I have to say……
Tarbarka Max Depth 14.7m Dive time 62 minutes
Now this is a fantastic dive. This is truly a stunning dive, another blockship not far from Gobernador Bories and the Doyle in the Burra Sound. So again the tide rips through and cleans out the wreck including divers in it. This year the tide was running in the opposite direction so Ian the Skipper said once you’re done inside drift off and you may hit the doyle… (Simon actually did). On the way down Ian’s mask got knocked off and so he was slightly delayed getting onto the wreck, we ended up entering at different ends of the wreck, he entered via a squirrel hole on the side and I went through the big gaping hole at the stern of the wreck. Knowing Ian I immediately went for the boilers thinking he would be there, he was but I missed him by a few moments and we chased each other around the wreck for a few minutes. We met up in the stern Chamber, created by the upturned hull embedding itself into the shingle seabed. It was one of the great images of diving in my mind, the darkness of being inside the hull and the green light streaming through the holes in the hull. It truly is stunning. From the stern section we headed back to the boilers, over them and into the engine room proper. We came out of the engine room to and passed the sheltered area of the wreck where Beanie performed his PADI SMB lesson last year and into the bow section. After mooching around inside the bow we dropped out through a hole in the side of the hull and I set about deploying the SMB. After being pulled up to 4m by the first, it just wouldn’t spill out line quick enough, I let go to return to 10m, where we followed Simon and Joe who had just done the same…. well we followed them for about 30 seconds as we couldn’t keep up after that. So I deployed my second SMB and we made a not so textbook ascent to 5m and then decided enough was enough and made our way to the surface. What a fantastic dive. Ian Trumpess Skipper of Invincible positioned the boat to recover my SMB and then Simon’s which had got caught on the Doyle in a swirling vortex…… The way Ian handled the boat was excellent.
That evening we headed back to Stromness to try the Royal, the food there was very good and we were happy that the meal for Friday had been booked for there. I think I have the silverside Beef and of course the Orkney special, deep fried cheese!
That evening we headed back to Stromness to try the Royal, the food there was very good and we were happy that the meal for Friday had been booked for there. I think I have the silverside Beef and of course the Orkney special, deep fried cheese!
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