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Sms B98: West Langamay, Bay Of Lopness, Sanday, Orkney, North Sea

Destroyer (20th Century)

Site Name Sms B98: West Langamay, Bay Of Lopness, Sanday, Orkney, North Sea

Classification Destroyer (20th Century)

Alternative Name(s) B-98; Start Point; B 98; B98

Canmore ID 102230

Site Number HY74SW 8001

NGR HY 74576 44099

Datum WGS84 - Lat/Long

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/102230

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Orkney Islands
  • Parish Maritime - Orkney
  • Former Region Orkney Islands Area
  • Former District Maritime
  • Former County Not Applicable

Archaeology Notes

HY74SW 8001 7451 4369

N59 16.7667 W2 26.8333

NLO: Start Point [name: HY 789 435]

Langamay [name: HY 749 443]

Bay of Lopness [name centred HY 740 434]

Sanday [name centred HY 67 40].

(Location cited as HY 7462 4414). The German Destroyer B98 was driven ashore in 1919 while under tow to Scapa Flow. The base plates of the hull survive with boilers and turbine casings in situ.

Information from Dr R G Lamb (Orkney Islands Archaeologist), visited 1979.

Horizontal Datum = OGB

General water depth = 2

Orientation of keel/wreck = NE/SW

Circumstances of Loss Details

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

The Destroyer B98 arrived at Scapa Flow with mail for the interned German fleet on 21 June 1919 - just after fleet had been scuttled. She was seized by an armed boarding party and was later wrecked on Sanday.

Surveying Details

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

23 May 1920. The wreck is shown at 59 16 46N, 002 26 50W on a tracing supplied by the Commanding Officer, North of Scotland area, 31 March 1920.

7 August 1986. The remains of the engine were found close to the shoreline. A search 200-300 metres underwater to seaward failed to locate any further wreckage.

Report by B Winfield, 26 July 1986.

19 August 1987. It is confirmed that the engine wreckage is visible at low water.

Report by B Winfield, 4 August 1987.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.

Laying in the bay nearby this point, the remains of a ship can be seen. This is a German Destroyer B98 from World War I. The German Fleet was interned in Scapa Flow at the end of the First World War and on 21 June 1919, orders were given by the German High Command to scuttle the whole fleet. Some remnants of the fleet were shared amongst the allies, one of these being the B98, which had operated as a mailboat. As it was being towed away, the B98 broke her tow and went aground in the Bay of Lopness. Much of the wreck was cut up for scrap in the 1940's and one of its guns is now on display at the Maritime Museum in Lyness, Orkney.

Visited by RCAHMS (GJD) 12 August 1996.

(Classified as destroyer: date of loss cited as 17 February 1920). [SMS] B98: this vessel was scuttled at Scapa, refloated, broke from tow, and stranded.

Registration: German. 1843 tons displacement. Length: 97m. Beam: 9m.

(Location of loss cited as N59 16.77 W2 26.83).

I G Whittaker 1998.

Length: 321ft 6ins (98m)

Beam: 30ft 8ins (9.35m)

Displacement: 1374-1843 tons

Propulsion: turbines, two screws; 36,000-40,000hp; 35.5-37.5 kts

Guns: 4x4.1in (104mm)

Torpedo tubes: 6x19.7ins (500mm)

Mines: 24

Complement: 160-180

(Three funnels: code 35).

This ship was one of two units of the B97 class both being built at Hamburg by Blohm and Voss. She was completed in 1915 and apparently saw little (if any) war service before becoming a supply and despatch vessel for the interned High Seas Fleet. On arrival in Scapa Flow with mail on 21 June 1919, the ship was seized by British forces by way of reparation for the scuttle.

Whittaker notes the ship as having been scuttled at Scapa and refloated, subsequently breaking from her two and being stranded on 17 February 1920. The location 2 miles E of Start Point that is cited by Larn and Larn presumably refers to the loss of the tow.

The location cited falls near rocks within the N side of the Bay of Lopness, an extensive area of shallow water which is open to the E, SE and S.

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 15 October 2002.

H M Le Fleming 1961; D Van der Vat 1986; R and B Larn 1998; I G Whittaker 1998; [Jane] 2001.

HO Chart no. 1954 (1982, revised 1993).

Activities

Note (1980)

B98, Sanday HY7462 4414 HY74SW

Boilers and turbines of ex-German destroyer driven ashore in 1919, lying near low-water mark.

RCAHMS 1980

(OR 277)

Field Visit (1999)

The German destroyer, B98, became beached in the Bay of Lopness while on tow to Scapa Flow for salvage in 1919. The superstructure has now been largely removed and the hulk rests in shallow water some 20m from the foreshore, with framework, turbines and boilers exposed. Ref.: RCAHMS (1980) #221.

Coastal Zone Assessment Survey, 1999

Reference (2011)

Whittaker ID : 2377

Name : B98

Latitude : 591646

Longitude : 22650

Registration : GERMAN

Type : DESTROYER

Tonnage : 1843

Tonnage Code : D

Length : 97

Beam : 9

Position : Position Approximate

Loss Day : 17

Loss Month : 2

Loss Year : 1920

Comment : Scuttled at Scapa, refloated, broke from tow and stranded

Reference (19 April 2012)

UKHO Identifier : 000485

Feature Class : Wreck

Wreck Category : Wreck showing any portion of hull or superstructure

State : LIVE

Classification : Unclassified

Position (Lat/long) : 59.28262,-2.44795

Horizontal Datum : ETRS 1989

WGS84 Position (Lat/long) : 59.28262,-2.44795

WGS84 Origin : Original

Previous Position : 59.27945,-2.44722

Position Method : Global Positioning System

Position Quality : Surveyed

Position Accuracy : 5.0

Depth Quality : Depth unknown

Water Depth : 2

Vertical Datum : Mean Low Water Springs

Name : B 98

Type : DESTROYER

Flag : GERMAN

Length : 97.8

Beam : 9.4

Draught : 3.7

Sonar Length : 83.0

Orientation : 45.0

Tonnage : 1843

Tonnage Type : Displacement

Date Sunk : 17/01/1920

Contact Description : Notable debris

Original Sensor : Reported Sinking

Last Sensor : Video Sensor

Original Detection Year : 1920

Last Detection Year : 2006

Original Source : Other

Last Source : Survey Vessel

Circumstances of Loss : **ARRIVED AT SCAPA FLOW WITH MAIL FOR INTERNED GERMAN FLEET ON 21.6.19, IMMEDIATELY AFTER FLEET HAD BEEN SCUTTLED. WAS SEIZED BY ARMED BOARDING PARTY. WAS LATER WRECKED ON SANDAY AFTER BREAKING ADRIFT WHILST UNDER TOW. BUILT WITH 2 X SCREW, STEAM TURBINES. (SIBI).

Surveying Details : **H1369/20 23.5.20 SHOWN IN 591646N, 022650W ON TRACING SUPPLIED. (CO NORTH OF SCOTLAND AREA, 31.3.20). INS AS WK (OLD SYMBOL). BR STD.

**H3875/26 18.6.26 AMEND TO ST. BR STD.

**H1310/86/20 7.8.86 REMAINS OF ENGINE FOUND CLOSE TO THE SHORELINE. A SEARCH 200-300MTRS UNDERWATER TO SEAWARD FAILED TO LOCATE ANY FURTHER WRECKAGE. (B WINFIELD, 26.7.86).

**H1310/86/20 19.8.87 CONFIRMED THAT ENGINE WRECKAGE IS VISIBLE AT LW. (B WINFIELD, 4.8.87). NCA.

POSITIONS BELOW THIS POINT ARE IN DEGREES, MINUTES AND DECIMALS OF A MINUTE

**HH091/137/01 & SEP 2009/000188812 6.12.09 LOCATED 24.5.06 IN 5916.957N, 0226.877W [WGD] USING HAND-HELD GPS. LENGTH 83MTRS. (NETSURVEY, HI 1137). MACHINERY REMAINS ONLY. RETAIN ST IN REVISED POSN. BR STD.

General Comments : HULL & MACHINERY DEBRIS, LENGTH BY MEASUREMENT

Reference (March 2012)

Sitename : SMS B98: West Landamay, Bay of Lopness, Sanday, Orkney, North Sea

Note : Location updated in 2009 using hand held GPS with an accuracy of plus or minus five metres.

Sources :

SeaZone Hydrospatial OSGB36 Wrecks point,SeaZone,2010

UKHO wreck report,2012,485

Field Visit (2013 - 2014)

The wreck is only clear of the sea on the beach at the lowest of tides. It is ordinarily submerged partially or completely.

Visited by Scotland's Coastal Heritage at Risk (SCHARP) 2013

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