Sms Von Der Tann: Bring Deeps, Scapa Flow, Orkney

ND39NW 8050 3146 9949

N58 52.6667 W3 11.3333

NLO: Bring Deeps [name centred HY 300 020]

Holm of Houton [name: HY 315 029]

Calf of Cava [name: HY 322 006]

Cava [name: ND 327 995]

Stromness [name: HY 253 090]

Scapa Flow [name centred HY 36 00].

For other ships within this group, see:

HY30SW 8001 Kaiser (battleship)

HY30SW 8003 Prinzregent Luitpold (battleship)

HY30SW 8005 Kaiserin (battleship)

HY30SW 8006 Karlsruhe (cruiser)

HY30SW 8013 Konig Albert (battleship)

HY30SW 8016 Derfflinger (battlecruiser)

HY30SE 8006 Baden (battleship: secondary location)

ND39NW 8041 Seydlitz (battlecruiser)

ND39NW 8045 Moltke (battlecruiser)

ND39NW 8049 Hindenburg (battlecruiser)

ND39NW 8051 Nurnberg (cruiser).

Formerly entered as ND39NW 8836.

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 Cox and Danks, 1930. Noted as foul ground.

P L Smith 1989.

Listed among 'German salvage sites'.

G Ridley 1992.

Horizontal Datum = OGB

General water depth = 15

Circumstances of Loss Details

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The German battlecruiser VON DER TANN was scuttled.

Surveying Details

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1919. A dangerous wreck, with the least depth of 1.3 metres, is reported at 58 52 40N, 003 11 20W.

22 October 1930. Salvage in progress.

Report by Kings Harbour Master, Scapa Flow.

24 November 1930. Salvage is still proceeding satisfactorily and the vessel was raised 7 December 1930.

Source: Jutland to Junkyard, by S C George.

30 December 1930. Although the wreck has been raised, the former position remains foul.

21 November 1932. The wreck is now lying close to Lyness and a temporry Notice to Mariners has been issued - 1874/32.

14 July 1933. The wreck has been removed.

Report from Naval base, Invergordon. Temporary Notice to Mariners cancelled.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A3291 1 'exhaust fitting': from seabed

A4268 1 telegraph repeater: from seabed.

[Tentatively associated with vessel: presumably from salvage site].

NMRS, MS/829/35.

Length over all: 562ft (171.3m)

Beam: 87ft (26,5m)

Draught: 28ft (8.5m)

Displacement (standard): 19,100 tons

Displacement (full load): 21,000 tons [displacement also cited as 19,400 tons]

Propulsion: 18 Schulz-Thorneycroft boilers; Parsons steam turbines; four propellers; 43,600/79,800 shp (various figures cited); 25/28 kts

Fuel: coal 2800 tons max (1000 tons normal); oil 300 tons

Armament: 8 x 28cm (11ins: twin turrets); 10 x 15cm (5.9ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 16 x 8.8cm (3.5ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 4 x 45cm (17.7ins) torpedo tubes 9all submerged). [Tertiary armament cited as replaced by 4 x 8.8cm AA (3.5ins: 45 cal: single mountings)].

Armour (Krupp): belt 10.5ins (267mm); turrets 9ins (229mm) [Belt also cited as 9.5ins [241mm]).

Complement: 923

This ship (the only unit of her class) was built and engined by Blohm and Voss at Hamburg, being laid down in October 1908, launched on 20 March 1909, and completed in September 1910. She was the first German battlecruiser and the first German warship with turbines and quadruple screws; her time under construction was remarkably short and she was significantly better protected than her British equivalents. She made a significant impression at the Coronation Naval review of 1911. She fought in Hipper's First Reconnaissance Group at the Battle of Jutland (May 1916), where she suffered significant damage but was instrumental in the destruction of HMS Indefatigable. In internment, this ship was notable for her level of lower deck unrest.

On scuttling, the ship came to rest inverted in 90ft (27m) depth of water [sic: George] with a list of 17 degrees; at low water there was 24ft (7.3m) clearance over her port side. Despite a serious internal explosion, she was raised by Cox and Danks and beached on Cava on 5 February 1931, being subsequently towed to Lyness and thence to Rosyth. Many artifacts from this wreck are still held locally.

The cited location of this wreck falls about 0.7nm SSW of Calf of Cava light and in a charted depth of about 27m at a point where the seabed slopes steeply towards the W. The seabed type is not noted locally, but the location falls within an extensive area of foul ground.

This ship may be considered as falling within the Bring Deeps group of heavy ships, which were scuttled within the area defined by Holm of Houton [name: HY 315 029], Calf of Cava [name: HY 322 006] and Green Head (Hoy) [name: ND 303 993].

Bring Deeps may be understood as a south-eastwards extension of Hoy Sound. It has a generally flat bottom at a charted depth of between 35 and 50m; the seabed type is defined sparingly but is apparently sandy. An area of spoil ground is noted around N58 53.9 W3 12.2 [HY 30 01], and may attest to the former presence of the High Seas Fleet.

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.