Scapa Flow Trip Report Part 3 - James Barrie, Karlsruhe, Markgraf August 22, 2006
Posted by Mark Gilmour in : Dive Reports, UK diving, Wreck Diving , trackbackWe awoke to the weather starting to turn but it was still OK for diving in the flow. Ian had decided he wasn’t bothered about diving a trawler and so Steve and I went in on this one.
The James Barrie Max Depth 43m Dive Time 60 mins
“666-ton British steam trawler, built 1949. 180ft x 30ft. Sunk: 29 March, 1969, when under tow by lifeboat after refloating from reef in Pentland Skerries. All saved. “The MFV James Barrie ran aground at Louther Rock, situated on the south end of Orkney, piercing the hull and forcing the crew to abandon ship. Two days later, on the 29 March 1969, she floated off the rocks and started to drift, unmanned in the Pentland Firth. The lifeboat Grace Paterson Richie took the James Barrie in tow and headed for Scapa. However the Barrie sank whilst under tow. ” Source: Wrecksite
We dropped in onto the shot and pulled our way down to the port side of the barrie, where we dropped over the side onto the wheelhouse. Even though it was dark the visibility on the wreck was a good 10m which meant it was exceptionally clear for peering into the wreck. As we got to the top of the wheelhouse I looked into through the letterbox shaped hole where the door once stood and looked all the way down to the bottom or the starboard side of the wheelhouse sat on the seabed. I was sorely tempted to go in and make my way around but I couldn’t see an exit and by this time Steve had gone a little way ahead of me, so I backed out and caught up with him. As we then dropped deeper past the front of the wheelhouse to towards the seabed I could see another entrance into the wheelhouse so i could have gone and had a look around but maybe going the other way is a better plan! We made our way around the wheelhouse towards the stern noting the new visitor to the Barrie left by recent divers and headed around the stern and towards the intact rudder which was quite an impressive sight. At this point we had hit 20 minute bottom time and decided that instead of swimming for 5 minutes along the underside of the hull we would drift off from here and ascend, a few minutes early but a great dive none the less.
See here for last years report on the James Barrie, which was our first dive of the trip.
Our second dive of the day was as last year the Karlsruhe.
Karlsruhe Max Depth 25m, Dive time 60 mins
Dimensions: 495ft x 47ft x 21ft
Launched: January 1916
Scuttled:15:50 21/6/1919
The Wreck Today: “The Karlsruhe lies on her starboard side in about 24-27m of water, this is the most broken of the light cruisers but is no less impressive a dive. From the shot line which is usually situated aft of the bridge, swim forward keeping the deck on your left, the armoured command bridge looms into view and is easily explored with a torch through the open doorway and windows , access is restricted, very little remains inside. Next comes a pair of 5.9-inch guns, the starboard gun lies on the seabed, the port gun above it on a now sliding deck, moving forward, mooring bollards vanish into the sea bed along with anchor chain disappearing through the remains of the deck hawse pipes. Only the frame of the bow, where the flag staff once stood now remains, looking back the decks are clearly sliding away from the hull. Swimming along the hull, various plates have been removed, up over the port side you pass rows of port holes as you fin aft back to the shotline. Moving towards the stern of the vessel, salvage work appears to have caused the hull to twist over on itself, as you near the stern the area becomes intact again, a 5.9-inch gun lies under twisted plates, its barrel protruding. Beneath the quarter deck is the officers accommodation. You pass the 2nd gun, then round the stern to the rudder, the stern anchor lies on the seabed.” Source Wrecksite
As we had been suffering a little with the vis this dive was also a welcome relief, as being that little bit shallower meant there was more ambient light to be able to see around. This turned into an excellent rummage dive were we spent a lot of time moving in and out of the broken plates as we made our way to the bow seeing the guns on the sea bed as we passed. We made our way around the bow and watched as a huge starfish made it’s way up the hull. I had never seen one so large effectively walking up the hull and it was quite an impressive site. The usual defiant crabs were sat bold as brass on the hull waiting to pick a fight it seemed. With the depth being around 25m we managed to keep this one out of the realms of deco, after a 3 minute stop at 6m and 3m we surfaced bang on the hour mark.That evening we watched as the MV Hamnavoe (bless you) did some interesting maneoveurs as she docked alongside the ferry terminal. At one point we were considering reaching for the dive kit as she came very close to Invincible moored in Stromness harbour. It seemed that the Hamnavoe (bless you) was reversing in ready for the morning as a storm was forecast. Gale Force 8 was on the cards and I don’t think they fancied turning it around in the more open flow in the morning. Well that was my theory.
The next morning we awoke to very heavy skies and heavy winds. Ian Trumpness our skipper was his usual cheery self and said it would be no problem. OK we said and off we went. The plan was Markgraf and Doyle for the day. This day has become somewhat legendary already as for a few moments it was quite scary. For this I will let Gareth and John tell the story. Their report is on YD under the link the below.
http://www.yorkshire-divers.com/forums/trip-reports/42362-trapped-alone-45m-fun-fun-fun.html
Markgraf - Max Depth 40m, Dive time 24mins
Dimensions: 580ft x 97ft x 28ft
Completed: October 1914 25,390 Tons
Scuttled: 16:45 21/6/1919 The Wreck Today:
The Wreck Today: Today her superstructure is sunk deep into the seabed, with her starboard side uppermost and open, however her weight continues to force her over. Surface to hull is around 24m and she lies in about 43-45m depending on the tide, she is without a doubt the most impressive of the battleships, again due to the sheer size of the ship it is impossible to see everything in a dozen dives or more, let alone one! The mast and spotting top lie out on the sea bed, long stripped of all instruments, under the over hanging deck , midships, the 12-inch gun turret can be found, half buried in the silt, the gun buried out of sight. Moving forward the gap between deck and seabed narrows until your left with a line of portholes, many open, form a line along the seabed, at the bow the you pass the anchor chain hawse, moving up, the forward torpedo tube, extensively salvaged. At the stern section the twin rudders still stand, the quarterdeck lies flat on the seabed, with the curve of the stern is lined with portholes.The Wreck Today: Today her superstructure is sunk deep into the seabed, with her starboard side uppermost and open, however her weight continues to force her over. Surface to hull is around 24m and she lies in about 43-45m depending on the tide, she is without a doubt the most impressive of the battleships, again due to the sheer size of the ship it is impossible to see everything in a dozen dives or more, let alone one! The mast and spotting top lie out on the sea bed, long stripped of all instruments, under the over hanging deck , midships, the 12-inch gun turret can be found, half buried in the silt, the gun buried out of sight. Moving forward the gap between deck and seabed narrows until your left with a line of portholes, many open, form a line along the seabed, at the bow the you pass the anchor chain hawse, moving up, the forward torpedo tube, extensively salvaged. At the stern section the twin rudders still stand, the quarterdeck lies flat on the seabed, with the curve of the stern is lined with portholes.From the dive time you can see we didn’t stay long. As we descended the shot, it got darker and darker, at 36m, Ian had stopped, I had carried on to 40m, now bearing in mind all the reports and reviews I had read said you hit the upturned hull at 20m this was disconcerting. We knew the shot was on the wreck as skipper had said it was. As we were on dead slack the shot was rising vertical from the seabed right next to the hull but we couldn’t see it. Ian said he couldn’t see me just 4 m below him as I looked up I could see he had stopped, so I returned to 36m and from there we both decided to bin it. It was deep and dark and didn’t fancy it. It turned out to be a very good decision after what happened to Garf and John.
The Wreck Today: Today her superstructure is sunk deep into the seabed, with her starboard side uppermost and open, however her weight continues to force her over. Surface to hull is around 24m and she lies in about 43-45m depending on the tide, she is without a doubt the most impressive of the battleships, again due to the sheer size of the ship it is impossible to see everything in a dozen dives or more, let alone one! The mast and spotting top lie out on the sea bed, long stripped of all instruments, under the over hanging deck , midships, the 12-inch gun turret can be found, half buried in the silt, the gun buried out of sight. Moving forward the gap between deck and seabed narrows until your left with a line of portholes, many open, form a line along the seabed, at the bow the you pass the anchor chain hawse, moving up, the forward torpedo tube, extensively salvaged. At the stern section the twin rudders still stand, the quarterdeck lies flat on the seabed, with the curve of the stern is lined with portholes.From the dive time you can see we didn’t stay long. As we descended the shot, it got darker and darker, at 36m, Ian had stopped, I had carried on to 40m, now bearing in mind all the reports and reviews I had read said you hit the upturned hull at 20m this was disconcerting. We knew the shot was on the wreck as skipper had said it was. As we were on dead slack the shot was rising vertical from the seabed right next to the hull but we couldn’t see it. Ian said he couldn’t see me just 4 m below him as I looked up I could see he had stopped, so I returned to 36m and from there we both decided to bin it. It was deep and dark and didn’t fancy it. It turned out to be a very good decision after what happened to Garf and John.From the dive time you can see we didn’t stay long. As we descended the shot, it got darker and darker, at 36m, Ian had stopped, I had carried on to 40m, now bearing in mind all the reports and reviews I had read said you hit the upturned hull at 20m this was disconcerting. We knew the shot was on the wreck as skipper had said it was. As we were on dead slack the shot was rising vertical from the seabed right next to the hull but we couldn’t see it. Ian said he couldn’t see me just 4 m below him as I looked up I could see he had stopped, so I returned to 36m and from there we both decided to bin it. It was deep and dark and didn’t fancy it. It turned out to be a very good decision after what happened to Garf and John.When John hit the surface and I gave him the OK signal, he answered with a shake of the head, shouting I’ve missed my stops Garf is still in the wreck. It was a very worrying few minutes until we spotted Garf’s SMB, but thankfully John was not showing any signs of DCI, he went onto O2 and stayed on it until we got back to Stromness where he was taken to the Stromness chamber and underwent 5 hours in the chamber, possibly more as a precaution. We took the afternoon off and went into Kirkwall, that evening we had a very good meal all together in the ferry inn, very grateful that the day had ended with us all back together.
From the dive time you can see we didn’t stay long. As we descended the shot, it got darker and darker, at 36m, Ian had stopped, I had carried on to 40m, now bearing in mind all the reports and reviews I had read said you hit the upturned hull at 20m this was disconcerting. We knew the shot was on the wreck as skipper had said it was. As we were on dead slack the shot was rising vertical from the seabed right next to the hull but we couldn’t see it. Ian said he couldn’t see me just 4 m below him as I looked up I could see he had stopped, so I returned to 36m and from there we both decided to bin it. It was deep and dark and didn’t fancy it. It turned out to be a very good decision after what happened to Garf and John.When John hit the surface and I gave him the OK signal, he answered with a shake of the head, shouting I’ve missed my stops Garf is still in the wreck. It was a very worrying few minutes until we spotted Garf’s SMB, but thankfully John was not showing any signs of DCI, he went onto O2 and stayed on it until we got back to Stromness where he was taken to the Stromness chamber and underwent 5 hours in the chamber, possibly more as a precaution. We took the afternoon off and went into Kirkwall, that evening we had a very good meal all together in the ferry inn, very grateful that the day had ended with us all back together.
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