Random Jottings
I suppose that some may be offended.....
But why, these lumps have always been an 'Asset'....
Of course I am refering to the unsalvaged remnants of the German High Seas Fleet which was scuttled in the 'secure' anchorage of Scapa Flow in Orkney one hundred years ago:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-48684400
At the moment no salvage takes place on these ancient behemoths of the sea but they are basically the ships left behind by Cox as 'too difficult' to salvage intact and subsequent generations of salvage teams, for that read owners, have taken bits and pieces to the extent that the hulls were so perforated that lifting the vessel in its entireity simply isn't feasible.
So what do you get for your £800k, yup that is the asking price on Ebay?
As owner the 'right' to conduct penetration diving, I am not sure why but you could enter your wrecks to have a look or try and pick up 'trinkets' which you would then do with as you wish.
As owner you should be able to salvage 'lumps' should there be an increased market for pre-nuclear steel, that is to say that all steel 'made' after the fruition of the Manhatten Project is 'tainted' with nuclear fall-out and not suitable for certain applications in medical and space technologies so for these industries there is a demand for old steel which can only be recovered from the seas and oceans where it has been protected from the effects of nucler fallout.
Oh and the bragging rights when you sit in a pub in Orkney or I guess anywhere!
If I had dropped the Euromillions lottery I may well have bought these wrecks but until then they are on the market, maybe a German Industrialist will buy them as part of his countrys heritage?
Dive safe!
RichW
Latest Photographs


I was half expecting to see waves and spray 'freeze' in mid-air.....
Debris all around and most unidentifiable, in this case it's a part of a mast or kingpost arrangement, I think!
Looking out of the 'sea-side' of the hull, scenic but the shoals of fish are arriving before the tide turns
A sea lemon (Archidoris pseudoargus) you see quite a few of these and the trick is to approach slowly so they are unawre of your presence and leave their flowery gills out and in the water. Once again I was unsucessful!
Move away from the face and you reach a jumble of boulders, some with dead-mans fingers
The reel/rod feet were a bit of a chew, I tried to machine the brass to take a couple of M3 cheesehead screws but that wasn't 'right' so ended up brazing on the feet and then 'back filling' the machined holes for that little bit extra strength
A scaling shot of the thinnest section, this one doesnt seem as tapered as others and may be a spar rather than mast......
Everywhere that you look the bottom isn't bedrock, it is formed from sections of ship, in some cases folded over and over forming very useful lobbie lairs
In the shale bedrock you will also occasionally see some very nice fossils, in this case some prehistoric bi-valve
A close up inside the mantle of a Lions Mane Jellyfish (Cyanea capillata) in this case it was obviously on the way out with no stingers and a large hole where something had tried to eat it. This allowed me to get quite close and get some nice shots of the structure around the mantle. By the start of October the beaches up here are covered in dead jellies, sad and potentially dangerous for children.
Various small fish hovering about near the broken up sea-weed
Countless divers have seen this piece of copper pipe and tried to move it....one day I shall return with a hacksaw!!
This is the bottom pivot point of the portside rudder which is in remarkable condition considering that the prop shaft was blown through with explosives maybe two yards away.
Feedin' the wrasse!!
In this case Ballan Wrasse (Labrus bergylta) on a smashed edible sea urchin (Echinus esculentus), don't try this at home kids.
A pretty little light, one of the guys thought 'deck light' but with a solid back and close to another two broken lights I would think a bulkhead light of some description, date late victorian to pre WWI
A very large, well the largest that I have ever seen Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris), eyes down!
More lead scupper from Mistley, this stuff was from about mid-ship on the keel line so I am guessing that they were pretty much feeding straight into the pump, which has probably long gone.
Scenic shot of the deck towards the rear of the wreck with the teak decking partially eaten away by tide, time and small animals!
Into Staple Sound and providing there is no current its just coarse sand and fist sized stones with some Dead mans fingers (Alcyonium digitatum) and other small creatures, not worth the swim guys!