Archaeology Notes

Event ID 831457

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/831457

HY30SE 8005 3553 0390 removed from c. 333 009 [N58 53.4 W3 9.4].

N58 55.08 W3 7.18

For possible remaining portion of this wreck (HY 3570 0422: N58 55.25 W3 7.00), see HY30SE 8007.

For sister ship SMS Brummer, see HY30SW 8009.

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.

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)

HY30SW 8014 Bayern (battleship)

HY30SE 8003 Frankfurt (cruiser: secondary location)

HY30SE 8004 Emden (cruiser: secondary location)

Raised by Cox and Danks, 1929.

P L Smith 1989.

Listed among 'German salvage sites'.

[Transits illustrated].

G Ridley 1992.

This ship was interned in the Cava Sound group, but an attempt at scuttling proved inadvertent as British forces brought the ship ashore at Toy Ness [name: HY 354 042], just W of Swanbister Bay [name centred HY 360 048].

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 11 November 2002.

R and B Larn 1998.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A2104 valve: found in debris field.

A3029 1 thermometer, 1 boat hook: from seabed.

NMRS, MS/829/35.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A4516 Emergency battle lantern, bulkhead fitted, brass with cover.

NMRS, MS/829/77.

Length over all: 460ft 6ins (140.4m)

Length water line: 442ft 10ins (135m)

Beam: 43ft 4ins (13.2m)

Draught: 19ft 8ins (6m)

Displacement (nominal): 4385t

Displacement (full load): 5856t

Armour: belt 40mm; deck 15mm; conning tower 100mm (all maxima)

Armament: 4 x 15cm (5.9in: 45 cal: single mounting); 2 x 8.8cm AA (3.5in; 45 cal: single mounting); 2 x 50cm (19.7ins) torpedo tubes; 360 mines

Propulsion: 6 x 3-drum superheated boilers (2 coal, 4 oil); 2 x steam turbines; direct drive to two shafts; 33,000 shp (also cited as 46,000) nominal; 34 kts maximum.

Fuel: 1000t oil; 500t coal

Complement: 480

Classified as a Minendampfer ('Minesteamer' or minelaying cruiser), this ship was designed in 1913 and built at Vulcan Shipyard, Stettin; she joined the fleet in late 1916. Brummer and her sister ship Bremse were designed to incorporate the propulsion machinery intended for the Russian battlecruiser Navarin which was under construction at the outbreak of war. They were lightly armoured and carried 360 mines, three times as many as any other German cruiser, but only half as many guns, all of them in single mountings on the centreline. They were intended for possible service as commerce raiders, but were never used in this role.

The ships were built fine for high speed and had an unusual gracefully-curved bow but were 'wet' in bad weather; they could to some extent simulate British cruisers of the 'Arethusa' class. They were built as wartime construction to an essentially 'utility' standard, incorporating only the minimum of non-ferrous metals. The hull incorporated three decks, oil being stored in bunkers in the bottom of the ship and coal along the sides, and they were not intended to accommodate their crews for long periods.

In October 1917, Brummer and Bremse achieved the near-total destruction of an escorted convoy from Bergen to Lerwick. Otherwise they only carried out occasional sorties off the German North Sea bases.

The Bremse was almost beached by the Royal Navy at Toy Ness but she foundered in shallow water and turned onto her starboard side, ending up lying on a slope with her bow and part of the port side exposed at low water. Cox and Danks commenced salvage operations on this ship in 1929 amongst problems resulting from leaking fuel oil, and the ship had to be turned upright before the process of lifting the hull could begin. After removal of the superstructure, the hull was broken up at Lyness (arriving 30 November 1929), it being thought too weak to survive the voyage to Rosyth.

The surviving remains of the ship include a pair of anchor cables, which are exposed on the foreshore and were presumably used to secure the hull during salvage. In the water there remain the forward 5.9in gun, part of the superstructure (with interior fittings), parts of the focsle gear and (furthest S) one of the masts.

The cited location of this wreck falls within the area of Swanbister Bay and is evidently the location of beaching. Van der Vat (1986, endpaper maps) locates this vessel in the middle of the Cava Sound group, at HY c. 333 009 [N58 53.4 W3 9.4]. This location appears broadly correct and falls about 0.8nm W of Barrel of Butter light and about the same distance E of Calf of Cava light. The charted depth in this area is about 33m and the seabed is sand and stone. The chart displays no indication of a wreck or 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 drawing of this class, see Smith 1989, 49).

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 8 January 2003.

H M Le Fleming 1961; P L Smith 1989; 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.

It is unclear whether the items reported under RoW amnesty was found at the former location of the vessel or in the area to which she was removed.

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 24 September 2003.

NMRS, MS/829/35 and MS/829/77.

Plans and drawings of this vessel (also applicable to SMS Brummer) are held in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

NMRS, MS/1614.