Recovery of Postcards from the German High Seas Vessel SMS Karlsruhe, Scapa Flow Orkney

Date 25 September 2003 - 6 March 2004

Event ID 1172665

Category Recording

Type Excavation

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1172665

In September 2003, a recreational diver reported finding stacks of postcards in the bow section of the wreck of Sms Karlsruhe against a bulkhead. The remains were located by Sula Diving on 25 September. There appeared to be five stacks of cards and a considerable amount of eroded material surrounding these.

Excavation and recovery of the postcards took place 5-6 March 2004 under scheduled monument consent from Historic Scotland. The remains were excavated by hand trowel with a sharp knife used to separate adjacent stacks. A layer of hard material between each stack was interpreted as the remains of tin boxes which contained the postcards but which had corroded away over the years. Following recovery, the collection of postcards was transferred for conservation by AOC Archaeology.

Information from Bobby Forbes (Sula Diving) March 2004.