Sms Dresden: Cava Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney

HY30SW 8002 3432 0008

N58 52.98 W3 8.3633

NLO: Holm of Houton [name: HY 315 029]

Calf of Cava [name: HY 322 006]

Cava [name: ND 327 995]

Barrel of Butter [name: HY 352 009]

Point of Tuberry (Cava) [name: HY 334 993]

Stromness [name: HY 253 090]

Scapa Flow [name centred HY 36 00].

For other ships within this group, see:

HY30SW 8004 Konig (battleship)

HY30SW 8007 Markgraf (battleship)

HY30SW 8008 Kronprinz Wilhelm (battleship)

HY30SW 8009 Brummer (cruiser)

HY30SW 8010 Koln (cruiser)

HY30SW 8011 Grosser Kurfurst (battleship)

HY30SW 8012 Friedrich der Grosse (battleship)

HY30SW 8014 Bayern (battleship)

HY30SE 8003 Frankfurt (cruiser: secondary location)

HY30SE 8004 Emden (cruiser: secondary location)

HY30SE 8005 Bremse (cruiser: secondary location)

For sister ship SMS Koln, see HY30SW 8010.

Formerly entered as Site no. 8842.

For general plans of High Seas Fleet (Internment Formation) wrecks in Scapa Flow, see Van der Vat 1986 (endpapers), Smith 1989, 4, Macdonald 1998, 19 and George 1999, 35.

Remains at Scapa Flow.

P L Smith 1989.

DRESDEN. 511.5' x 47' x 21'. Still fairly complete. Bell raised by BSAC Special Branch 1085 (West Riding SAC) in August 1980 and presented to Stromness Museum. Transits for finding her are illustrated in the source.

Source: Butland & Siedlecki, BSAC Wreck register, Scotland 1. 1987.

Quality of fix = HSA

Horizontal Datum = OGB

General water depth = 27

Orientation of keel/wreck = 115295

Circumstances of Loss Details

-----------------------------

The German cruiser DRESDEN was scuttled in Scapa Flow.

Surveying Details

-----------------------------

1919. A dangerous wreck, with the least depth of 14.6 metres, is reported at 58 52 58N, 003 08 23W.

22 February 1961. An enquiry from Nundy (Marine Metals) Ltd has been received regarding the purchase of this wreck.

28 June 1961. The Naval historical section can find no reference to a DRESDEN in Scapa Flow.

6 November 1962. The salvage rights were sold for 200 pounds sterling to Messrs Nundy (Marine Metals) Ltd. (authority not stated)

31 January 1967. 4 unlit buoys have been laid in vicinity. Report by Customs, Kirkwall and a temporary Notice to Mariners has been issued.

13 October 1969. The wreck is reported to be 277 metres NW of the charted position.

Report by HMS ULSTER, 14 September 1969.

29 October 1969. Salvage operations have been completed for the moment. Report by Nundy (Marine Metals) Ltd. The temporary Notice to Mariners 1630/68 has been cancelled.

28 September 1970. Salvage operations are to take place at intervals over the next 5 years by Nundy (Marine Metals) Ltd. This wreck is called the KONIG by Messrs Nundy. Whilst Hydrographic Office records confirm the wreck of the KONIG 0.5 miles north west at 58 53 13N, 003 09 07W.

2 March 1974. The wreck's position is confirmed as 58 52 58N, 003 08 23W in about 27 metres.

Report by Hunting Surveys.

15 March 1975. This ship is still almost intact, there has not been much salvage work done to date.

Report by CPO Dunford, RAF Lincoln 15 August 1975.

21 October 1977. The salvage rights for period ending 31 December 1982 have been sold to Scapa Flow Salvage Ltd.

Report by Department of Naval Contracts, 15 July 1977.

20 August 1979. The wreck is to be salvaged by Undersea Associates Ltd. Source; Lloyd's List, 15 Augsut 1979.

20 October 1981. The lease on the salvage has been transfered to Clark Diving Services.

15 Janauary 1982. The wreck is virtually complete. It is lying on its starboard side with a height of 13 metres above the general seabed depth of 27 metres. The bridge and hull can be entered with care. The bell was raised in August 1980 by West Riding Sub Aqua Club and presented to Stromness Museum.

Source; BSAC Wreck Register, vol 4.

9 September 1982. The vessel lies on her side across the 30 metre depth contour. It is covered in fine silt. The mast with rigging and crows nest was found and the side gun turret sighted. The bearings for the position fix are as follows - Cava Light 294 degrees, Barrel of Butter 054 degrees, SPM 1 155 degrees.

Report by R. Good, 13 August 1982.

17 September 1985. The MOD's salvage leasing contract has expired and ownership is to be transferred to Orkney Islands Council.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.

(Classified as cruiser: date of loss cited as 21 June 1919). [SMS] Dresden: this vessel scuttled 0.75 mile E of Cava.

Registration: German. 5300 tons displacement. Length: 149m. Beam: 14m.

(Location of loss cited as N58 52.97 W3 8.33).

I G Whittaker 1998.

In July 2000 a side scan sonar survey of the area of Scapa Flow in which the seven wrecks are situated was carried out in conjunction with a bathymetric and seabed classification survey using Echoplous equipment. In addition, detailed sonar images were obtained and geo-referenced so that exact co-ordinates of the extreme ends of each wreck structure could be obtained.

ADU, MS/5450.

Scheduled with SMS Karlsruhe (HY30SW 8006), SMS Brummer (HY30SW 8009) and SMS Koln (HY30SW 8010).

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 23 March 2001.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A1414 brass plug: from seabed

A2011 1 small and corroded brass cleat (15ins x 5ins): from seabed

A3026 1 lamp: from seabed

A3377 1 lump coal: from seabed.

NMRS, MS/829/35.

Length overall: 510ft (155.5m)

Length waterline: 491ft 4ins (149.8m)

Beam: 46.9ft (14.3m)

Mean draught: 21.1ft (6.4m).

Displacement: 5531 tons (also cited as 5620t standard; 7486t deep load)

Guns: 8 x 5.9 ins (15cm), 3 x 3.4 ins (8.6cm) AA

Mines: 200 [also cited as 120 in number]

Torpedo tubes: 4 x 23.6 ins (600mm: deck mounted) [also cited as six in number]

Armour: belt 2.4ins (61mm), belt 2.4ins (61mm), control tower 3.9ins (99mm).

Propulsion; hybrid coal/oil-fired(8 coal- and 6 oil-fired boilers); geared steam turbines; 2 screws; 31,000 hp (also cited as 49,000 nominal shp); 27.5 kts (design) 29.3 kts (trials)

Fuel: 1100t coal; 1050t oil

Range: 1200 miles at 27 kts

Complement: 559

This light cruiser ('Kleiner Kreuzer') of the Dresden II class was built by Howaldtswerke at Kiel, and launched on 25 April 1917 as the name-ship of the Dresden II class and also as a replacement for the earlier SMS Dresden which was scuttled after the Battle of the Falkland Islands. She was completed 28 March 1918, at which date priority in manning was given to the submarine service, so she did not see full service until August 1918. She was torpedoed by a British submarine while minelaying off Emden in 1918. Turbine failure prevented her internment until 6 December 1918, and she arrived in poor condition.

Only Dresden and Koln of this class were completed during the war, and are primarily significant as the last class of light cruiser built in the First World War, demonstrating a continuing German interest in building surface warships even after failing to achieve breakout at the Battle of Jutland (May 1916). A class of ten ships was planned, two being completed, five scrapped after launching, and three scrapped on the stocks.

This class were slightly larger and more comprehensively equipped developments of the Konigsberg II class. The armament carried by Dresden was the same as that carried by Koln, but arranged similarly; eight 5.9 ins guns were carried in single mountings, as were three 3.4 ins (8.6cm) AA weapons. Structurally, these were the first German warships to have the conning tower and its superimposed rangefinder within the bridge structure, aft of and higher than the command bridge. No underwater torpedo tubes were fitted in this class, all four being deck mounted. The same number of mines were fitted as in earlier cruisers. Eight coal- and six oil-fired boilers delivered steam to two geared turbines, The cruising range was increased to 5,400 miles, higher than that of previous classes.

The ship rolled to port on scuttling, and now lies on her port side in between 33 and 36m depth of water and supports a rich growth of marine life. Little salvage activity is evident but there is a significant debris field around the wreck; the bell was recovered by West Riding SAC and is held in Stromness Museum. The upper decks show signs of damage but the mainmast is still essentially intact. The starboard anchor-chain is run out but that on the port side is not to be seen; other recognisable fittings include 5.9in gun mountings. This wreck is in good condition, and is regularly visited by recreational divers; it is fully described in various diving guides.

The wreck lies 0.55nm SW of the Barrel of Butter [name: HY 352 009] and within the relatively deep channel between this feature and the island of Cava. It is charted (Wk) and has a clearance of 14.3m above a seabed at a depth of 30m on the SW slope of the rise to the Barrel of Butter. The nature of the seabed is not indicated locally but areas of rock are noted nearby and there are extensive areas of foul ground to the S and SE.

This ship may be considered as falling within the Cava Sound group of heavy ships and cruisers, which were scuttled within the area defined by Holm of Houton [name: HY 315 029], Calf of Cava [name: HY 322 006], Barrel of Butter [name: HY 352 009] and Point of Tuberry (Cava) [name: HY 334 993]. Cava Sound (which is not noted as such on the chart) may be understood as a relatively deep eastwards extension of Hoy Sound, leading into the broad expanse of Scapa Flow. It has a generally flat bottom at a charted depth of between 30 and 45m; the seabed type is defined sparingly but is apparently of sand and stones.

Apart from the specifically-indicated wrecks, an extensive area of foul ground and numerous obstructions and wrecks attest to the former presence of the High Seas Fleet. The former is situated around N58 53.85 W3 11 [HY 31 01], while the latter form a broad band extending from E to W between about N58 53.8 W3 8.4 [HY 34 01] and N58 53.9 W3 10.8 [HY 32 01].

(For sectional drawing of this class, see Smith 1989, 66. For block section and underwater artist's impression, see Macdonald 1998, 92 and 94 respectively).

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 8 January 2003 .

H M Le Fleming 1961; D M Ferguson 1985; D Van der Vat 1986; D M Ferguson 1988; P L Smith 1989; R Macdonald 1990; G Ridley 1992; R Macdonald 1993; R and B Larn 1998; R Macdonald 1998; I G Whittaker 1998; [Jane] 2001.

HO Chart 35 (1980, revised 1991); NMRS, MS/829/23.

p. 35, fig. 26 sketch of bow (by S Liscoe)

p. 38, fig. 29 image captured by GeoZui3D visualiser, using Reson multi-beam data

p. 42 fig. 31 plan of bow (surveyed by A Wallbank and S Wasik, 9 August 2001)

pp. 45-6 survey results

(unpaginated annexe) information from Dolphin Scuba Service

Diver survey of this ship concentrated around the bow, and confirmed the reported considerable deterioration over the past four or five years [since about 1995/6]. The upper deck has 'peeled' away from the starboard side of the hull from near the bow back to near the bridge; this was confirmed by measurements. In consequence, the upper deck now lies at an angle, and is probably retained by the capstan shaft, which passes through the upper and underlying decks. As in the other wrecks, the exposed surfaces were found generally fouled with encrusting marine growth, although areas of underlying metal exposed along the edges of deck plates indicate recent [and presumably continuing] flexing.

In summer, this shaft is used to secure a mooring for the ROV-fitted tourist observation vessel Roving Eye. No consequential damage is apparent.

NMRS, MS/829/63.

(Discussed in connection with Scheduling of wrecks in Scapa Flow).

Source: 'Wrecks, divers and scheduling: the case of Scapa Flow, Orkney', article by O Owen in Nautical Archaeology, 2002.3.

MS/2745.