Sms Grosser Kurfurst: Cava Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney

HY30SW 8011 3268 0170

N58 53.8667 W3 10.1

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 8002 Dresden (cruiser)

HY30SW 8004 Konig (battleship)

HY30SW 8007 Markgraf (battleship)

HY30SW 8008 Kronprinz Wilhelm (battleship)

HY30SW 8009 Brummer (cruiser)

HY30SW 8010 Koln (cruiser)

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).

Fomerly entered as HY30SW 8857.

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.

Raised by Metal Industries, 1938.

P L Smith 1989.

Listed among 'German salvage sites'.

G Ridley 1992.

Horizontal Datum = OGB

Buoyage =

General water depth = 30

Circumstances of Loss Details

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The German battleship GROSSER KURFURST was scuttled.

Surveying Details

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1919. A dangerous wreck, with least depth of 9.1 metres, is reported at 58 53 52N, 003 10 06W.

25 July 1931. The least depth over the wreck is now 11.43 metres.

29 June 1934. The wreck will possibly be salved. It has been sold to Metal Industries Ltd.

16 April 1937. The salvage operation has commenced.

Report by King's Harbour Master, Invergordon. Temporary Notice to Mariners 585/37 issued.

5 May 1938. It is recommended that the position be charted as a foul anchorage.

Reprt by Kings Harbour Master, Invergordon.

20 May 1938. The vessel is now dispersed off Lyness.

Report by Metal Industries Ltd.

1979. The GROSSER KURFURST was raised on 29 April 1938

Source: Jutland to Junkyard, S C George.

16 October 1979. The site is now charted as foul ground.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A1085 1 brass plug and socket: from seabed at site of scuttle and salvage.

NMRS, MS/829/35.

Length over all: 583ft (177.7m)

Length waterline: 576ft (175.7m)

Beam (extreme): 100ft (30.5m)

Beam (waterline): 97ft (29.5m)

Draught (normal condition): 27ft (8.3m)

Draught (deep load): 30ft (9.3m)

Displacement (standard): 25,797 t

Displacement (full load): 29,669 t

Propulsion: 15 x Schultz-Thorneycroft 3-drum superheated boilers (12 coal, 3 oil: 235 psi wp); 3 x triple-stage Parsons turbines (built by Brown Boveri); direct drive to three shafts; 31,000/35,000 shp nominal; 21/23 kts maximum. (A proposal to fit a diesel engine to the centre shaft was apparently made but abandoned)

Fuel: coal (normal) 1000 tons, maximum 4,400 tons; also 700 tons oil.

Range: 4600nm (8500km) at 19 kts

Armament: 10 x 30.5cm (12ins: 50 cal: twin turrets); 14 x 15cm (5.9ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 6 x 8.8cm (3.5ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 2 x 8.8cm AA (3.5ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 5 x 50cm (19.7ins) torpedo tubes

Armour: Krupp cemented nickel alloy steel (of low carbon, but surface heat treated); lower belt 350mm max; deck 120mm max; turrets 300mm max; conning tower 350mm max

Complement: (variously cited as 1033, 'about 1100' or 1136).

This ship was apparently the first example completed of the four-strong Konig or Koenig class, the fourth class of German Dreadnought battleship and the counterpart to the British 'Queen Elizabeth' class. She was built by Vulcan at Hamburg, being laid down in May 1911, launched on 5 May 1913 and completed in July (also cited as October) 1914. She fought in the Third Battle Squadron at the Battle of Jutland (May 1916), suffering significant damage, and was torpedoed by HMS/M J1 (Cdr N Laurence, RN) on 4 November 1916 during an operation to recover U-20, which had become stranded off the Danish coast. She was also in collision with SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm (HY30SW 8008) while exercising at speed in the Heligoland Bight on 5 March 1917.

In internment, she was consistently the worst-maintained of the heavy ships, and on scuttling she capsized spectacularly to port, her superstructure becoming embedded in the blue clay of the seabed.

The wreck was raised on 29 April 1938 without undue difficulty, under the supervision of R W McCrone for Metal Industries. It was beached temporarily at Lyness for preparation for the tow to Rosyth.

The cited location lies 0.6nm NNE of Calf of Cava light and in a general depth of about 30m. The nature of the seabed is not indicated locally but the location falls on the eastern edge of an extensive area of foul ground.

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 arrangement of Konig class ships (SMS Konig, SMS Markgraf and SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm, see Smith 1989, 22).

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 7 January 2003.

H M Le Fleming 1961; D Van der Vat 1986; S C George 1999; [Jane] 2001.

HO Chart 35 (1980, revised 1991).

This vessel is considered a 'casualty' rather than a craft on account of its successful salvage, the available evidence being written rather than material. In the absence of diver survey, however, artifacts, fittings and, possibly, structural elements may survive on or in the seabed at the location of scuttling. Depressions in the seabed may also represent the locations of the turrets or superstructure.

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 10 January 2003.