Wrecks under the spotlight

A report on an underwater archaeology survey in Scapa Flow has shed new light on the extent, survival, and condition of some of the Flow’s lesser known First and Second World War wreck sites.

The work was carried out between October 2013 and March 2014 by ORCA Marine and SULA Diving, on behalf of Historic Scotland, and the results have recently been published on the www.scapaflowwrecks.com website.

The team made a new discovery at the Churchill Barriers, and addressed some confusion over the identity of some of the blockships.

The wreck of the SS Clio II was mapped for the first time, east of Barrier 3, and her identity confirmed against Admiralty Records from WW1.  Previous records had indicated that nothing remained of the WW1 blockships SS Rosewood and SS Minieh, but these sites were also identified and mapped.