Archaeology Notes

Event ID 829837

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/829837

HY30SW 8014 3153 0184

N58 53.9333 W3 10.8

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 8011 Grosser Kurfurst (battleship)

HY30SW 8012 Friedrich der Grosse (battleship)

HY30SE 8003 Frankfurt (cruiser: secondary location)

HY30SE 8004 Emden (cruiser: secondary location)

HY30SE 8005 Bremse (cruiser: secondary location)

Formerly entered as HY30SW 8703.

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, 1934.

P L Smith 1989.

'Bayern guns' listed among 'German salvage sites'.

G Ridley 1992.

Quality of fix = PA

Evidence = Divers Report

Horizontal Datum = OGB

General water depth = 35

Orientation of keel/wreck = EW

Circumstances of Loss Details

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

The BAYERN was scuttled.

Surveying Details

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

1919. A dangerous wreck with the least depth of 14.6 metres is reported at 58 53 56N, 003 10 48W.

8 October 1933. A request to purchase the BAYERN is received from Metal Industry Ltd.

4 November 1933. Salvage work is to commence.

14 December 1933. A fixed white light has been established to mark the site.

Report by Kings Harbour Master, Invergordon. A temporary Notice to Mariners 1993/33 was issued.

23 December 1933. More information is received about the light and salvage work.

Report by Kings Harnour Master, Invergordon. A temporary Notice to Mariners 13/34 is issued.

6 Septemner 1934. It is recommended that the area be charted as a foul anchorage.

Report by Kings Harbour Master Invergordon.

13 September 1934. A buoy has been laid.

Report by King Harbour Master, Invergordon. A temporary Notice to Mariners was issued.

9 April 1935. The BAYERN is now lying at Lyness awaiting towage to Rosyth.

Report by HMS SPEY.

7 September 1935. Mothing now remains at the BAYERN's fomer sunkend position except the gun turrets. The least depth is 27.4 metres.

Report by Kings Harbour Master, Invergordon 3 September 1935.

The temporary Notice to Mariners has been cancelled.

30 April 1981. 2 complete gun turrets and barbettes from the BAYERN, 'which overturned on being salvaged in 1935', have been located within about 9 metres of each other at 58 53 56N, 003 10 48W approximately. They stand upside down, but vertical, about 7.5-9 metres off the seabed in a general depth of 38 metres. The whole area around the turrets is littered with scrap and chain. The BAYERN had eight 15 inch guns in twin turrets, therefore it is possible 2 more turrets may be in vicinity. The site was located on 3 August 1978, when high water was at 3 metres, hence the site's general depth of 35 metres.

14 March 1985. The site was dived upon in 1984, and four complete turrets located, all completely upside down. They lie within an overall distance of about 80 metres on a roughly E/W bearing. They are in good condition. The gun barrels are buried. With extreme care access to the main turret area, which is below seabed level, is possible. A general depth of 40 metres was recorded on 14 August 1984.

Report by B Winfield.

7 August 1986. A second pair of turrets were located upside down at 58 54 01N, 003 10 39W.

Report by B Winfield, 26 July 1986.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.

(No classification specified: date of loss cited as 21 June 1919). [SMS] Bayern: onlu guns remain

Registration: German.

(Location of loss cited as N58 53.75 W3 10.75).

I G Whittaker 1998.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A403 1 brass gun turret hand wheel: from seabed.

NMRS, MS/829/33.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A1870 1 lamp and switch: from seabed

A3121 1 spanner: from seabed

A4146 copper voice pipe and warning notice (wording not cited: from seabed).

NMRS, MS/829/35.

The hull and superstucture of this wreck have been removed for salvage, but it is entered as a craft (rather than a casualty) on account of the remaining substantial turrets. The location of the second pair of turrets (N58 54.01 W3 10.65) converts to NGR HY 3216 0198.

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 8 November 2002.

Length: 623ft 6ins (190m)

Beam: 99ft (30.2m)

Displacement: 28075 tons

Propulsion: Schulz-Thorneycroft boilers (mixed or hybrid coal and oil); steam turbines; 4 propellers; 52,800shp; 22 kts [noted by Jane as designed hp 34,000; 21 kts].

Armour: belt 13.75ins (350mm); turrets 13.75ins (350mm) [Different but unverified figures cited by Jane].

Armament: 8 x 38cm (15ins: twin turrets); 16 x 15cm (5.9ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 4 x 8.8cm AA (3.4ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 5 x 60cm (23.6ins) torpedo tubes

Complement: 1171/1271

This battleship was the first unit of the Baden class to be completed; SMS Bayern and SMS Baden were completed before the Armistice bur work on a further two hulls was suspended in 1917. The ships of this class were the heaviest in the High Seas Fleet, and they may be considered as 'super-Dreadnoughts' comparable to the British 'Queen Elizabeth' class on account of their main armament being heavier than the standard 30.5cm (12ins).

Bayern was built by Howaldt at Kiel, being launched on 13 February 1915 and completed in March 1916. She did not apparently see action at the Battle of Jutland (May 1916), and saw only minimal war service. When scuttled, she sank stern-first and rolled inverted.

This ship was raised by Metal Industries on 1 September 1933, compressed air being used to lift this, the biggest ship recovered from such a depth. Exceptionally, her violent and uncontrolled lift shook the four main turrets clear; these lie on and below the seabed and are regularly visited by recreational divers. In at least one case, tidal scour has worked the (solid) structure of the turrets and guns into the seabed to the level of the turret ring, leaving the open structure of the handling cage projecting to a height of some 3m.

The location cited lies 0.7nm N of Calf of Cava light and within an extensive area of foul ground in a general charted depth of about 30m. The charted [Obstn PA] with a clearance of about 25m probably represents at least one of the turrets. The nature of the seabed is not indicated locally but is evidently of varied composition.

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].

[Numerous published photographs (reproduced by George, Macdonald and Van der Vat) provide an exceptional record of the sinking, raising and cutting-up of this vessel].

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 8 January 2003.

H M Le Fleming 1961; Van der Vat 1986; D M Ferguson 1988; R Macdonald 1990; R Macdonald 1998; S C George 1999; [Jane] 2001.

HO Chart 35 (1980, revised 1991).

p. 17, fig. 8 Imagenex 858 sonar image

p. 24, fig. 15 swathe bathymetry (colour)

NMRS, MS/829/63