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Scapa Flow 2017 survey by the Sea War Museum Jutland

Date January 2017

Event ID 1172944

Category Recording

Type Multi Beam Sonar Scan

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/1172944

Multibeam sonar survey (2017) recorded the wreck of the light cruiser Sms Karlsruhe.

The wreck of Karlsruhe lies on its starboard side, pointing to the northwest. The wreck appears the most salvage-damaged of the four light cruisers and has been blasted both in the region of the bridge (for the bronze torpedo tubes), and around the engine-room. The wreck has collapsed significantly and appears flattened and very broken up. The stern which has taken up a different orientation from the wreck, has become separated during the salvage operations on the engine room. The degree of collapse of the entire wreck structure is evidenced by a 2-metre increase in charted depth between 2008-2010.

Diver inspection (mainly 2013-14) recorded many notable features of the wreck. The bow is noticeably flattened and the foredeck has slumped towards the seabed. A pair of capstans lie together where the deck has folded up with age. The two 5.9-inch guns rest almost atop one another. Further aft, the armoured control tower lies on its side and the roof is visible but the brass bridge structure was salvaged from the wreck. The foremast lies across the wreck and is broken off at the seabed. Notable features in the mid-section include a pinnace boiler, and the remains of the davits for the boats. Holes in the ship allow a view of one of the Karlsruhe’s 12 boilers. The salvage break around the engine room is unmissable, and the curved remains of one of the turbine casings can be seen. Further forward, where the torpedo flat was blasted, it is possible to see the distorted frames of the ship. The stern has collapsed significantly but the capstan controlling the stern anchor can be seen and the remains of what are likely chemical smoke generators were observed.

I.McCartney 2019

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