Accessibility

Font Size

100% 150% 200%

Background Colour

Default Contrast
Close Reset

Sms Konig Albert: Bring Deeps, Scapa Flow, Orkney

Salvage Debris (Early 20th Century), Battleship (20th Century)

Site Name Sms Konig Albert: Bring Deeps, Scapa Flow, Orkney

Classification Salvage Debris (Early 20th Century), Battleship (20th Century)

Alternative Name(s) Holm Of Houton; Calf Of Cava; Konig Albert

Canmore ID 102318

Site Number HY30SW 8013

NGR HY 31267 01173

Datum WGS84 - Lat/Long

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/102318

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Copyright and database right 2024.

Toggle Aerial | View on large map

Administrative Areas

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

Archaeology Notes

HY30SW 8013 3126 0179

N58 53.9 W3 11.5833

NLO: Bring Deeps [name centred HY 300 022]

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 8001 Kaiser (battleship)

HY30SW 8003 Prinzregent Luitpold (battleship)

HY30SW 8005 Kaiserin (battleship)

HY30SW 8006 Karlsruhe (cruiser)

ND39NW 8016 Derfflinger (battlecruiser)

HY30SE 8006 Baden (battleship: secondary location)

ND39NW 8041 Seydlitz (battlecruiser)

ND39NW 8045 Moltke (battlecruiser)

ND39NW 8049 Hindenburg (battlecruiser)

ND39NW 8050 Von der Tann (battlecruiser)

ND39NW 8051 Nurnberg (cruiser).

Formerly entered as Site no. 8859.

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, 1935.

P L Smith 1989.

Listed among 'German salvage sites'.

G Ridley 1992.

Horizontal Datum = OGB

Buoyage =

General water depth = 30

Circumstances of Loss Details

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

The German dreadnought battleship KONIG ALBERT was scuttled.

Surveying Details

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

1919. A dangerous wreck, with a least depth of 18.2 metres, is reported at 58 53 54N, 003 11 35W.

13 September 1934. A buoy has been laid over the wreck.

Report by Kings Harbour Master, Invergordon.

16 October 1934. Buoys and floats have been laid.

Report by Kings Harbour Master, Invergordon. Temporary Notice to Mariners issued.

3 November 1934. The purchase price has been accepted.

9 April 1935. Six air-locks have been fixed and the salvage company hope to raise the vessel in June.

12 July 1935. Salvage work is proceeding.

20 August 1935. The vessel has been raised.

Report taken from a letter written to the Kings Harbour Master, Invergordon.

9 September 1935. It is recommended that the position be charted as a foul anchorage.

Report by Kings Harbour Master, Invergordon, 3 September 1935

2 July 1980. The site is now charted with the legend 'foul ground'.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.

Length: 564ft (172m)

Beam: 95ft 3ins (29.1m)

Displacement: 24,380 tons

Propulsion: steam turbines; 3 propellers; 30/35,000 shp; 21/23 kts

Armour: belt 13.75ins (350mm); turrets 11.75ins (300mm)

Armament: 10 x 30.5cm (12ins: 50 cal: twin turrets); 14 x 15cm (5.9ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 6 x 8.8cm (3.4ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 4 x 8.8cm AA (3.4ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 5 x 50cm (19.7ins) torpedo tubes

Complement: 1136/1218

This Dreadnought battleship was the last of the five-strong Kaiser class. She was built at Krupp's Germania Yard at Kiel [also cited as Schichau and as Danzig], being laid down in July 1910, launched on 27 April 1912 and completed in August 1913. She missed the Battle of Jutland, being in refit at the time.

This was the first of the deeper wrecks to be raised (by Mackenzie for Metal Industries). A diver survey of October found her lying inverted with a list of about nine degrees to port and her turrets and superstructure pressed into the deep mud of the seabed. The bow and stern were in depths of 42m and 38m respectively. Eight airlocks were used (the longest so far built) and air was used to raise the wreck in a spectacular fashion (over two days and bows first) in late July 1935. The funnels, bridge and superstructure were blasted away in shallow water [location not recorded] before the wreck was towed to Rosyth for breaking. A photograph (reproduced by George) shows at least one of the turrets still in place at this stage.

The cited location of this wreck falls 0.75nm NW of Calf of Cava light and within an extensive area of foul ground. The charted depth is about 40m; the nature of the seabed is not noted locally but there is an outcrop of rock to the NE.

This ship may be considered as falling within the Bring Deeps group of heavy ships, which were scuttled within the area defined by Holm of Houton [name: HY 315 029], Calf of Cava [name: HY 322 006] and Green Head (Hoy) [name: ND 303 993].

Bring Deeps may be understood as a south-eastwards extension of Hoy Sound. It has a generally flat bottom at a charted depth of between 35 and 50m; the seabed type is defined sparingly but is apparently sandy. An area of spoil ground is noted around N58 53.9 W3 12.2 [HY 30 01], and may attest to the former presence of the High Seas Fleet.

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 6 January 2003.

H M Le Fleming 1961; D Van der Vat 1986; 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.

Activities

Multi Beam Sonar Scan (16 October 2006 - 20 October 2006)

Multibeam sonar survey on board MV Anglia Sovereign recorded the remains of the salvage sites of the German High Seas Fleet to the west of Cava. UTM 30 N (WGS 84 datum) X:488808.82; Y 6528091.26. At the primary salvage site of Sms Konig Albert, sonar survey recorded (anomaly 11) a significant depression in the seabed.

Information from Bobby Forbes (Sula Diving) 2006.

Reference (19 April 2012)

UKHO Identifier : 001093

Feature Class : Obstn

Obstruction Category : Foul ground

State : DEAD

Classification : Unclassified

Position (Lat/long) : 58.89738,-3.18280

Horizontal Datum : ETRS 1989

WGS84 Position (Lat/long) : 58.89738,-3.18280

WGS84 Origin : Original

Previous Position : 58.89833,-3.19305

Position Quality : Precisely known

Depth Quality : Depth unknown

Water Depth : 30

Vertical Datum : Lowest Astronomical Tide

Name : KONIG ALBERT

Type : DREADNOUGHT BATTLESHIP

Flag : GERMAN

Length : 171.9

Beam : 29.0

Draught : 8.2

Tonnage : 24380

Tonnage Type : Displacement

Date Sunk : 21/06/1919

Contact Description : Notable debris

Original Sensor : Reported Sinking

Last Sensor : None reported

Original Detection Year : 1919

Last Detection Year : 1935

Original Source : Other

Last Source : Other

Circumstances of Loss : **SCUTTLED.

Surveying Details : **H8464/19 DWP (1919), LEAST DEPTH 10FMS, SHOWN IN 585354N, 031135W ON SURVEY [C7953]. INS AS DWP 10FMS (1919). BR STD.

**H6229/23 13.7.23 INS ON NE 3729. NM TO BRING SCALES INTO LINE - NM BLOCK 1523/23.

**H6073/34 13.9.34 BUOY LAID OVER WK. (KHM INVERGORDON).

**H6924/34 16.10.34 BUOYS & FLOATS HAVE BEEN LAID. (KHM INVERGORDON). - TNM ISSUED.

**H6924/34 3.11.34 PURCHASE PRICE ACCEPTED. (CP 23616/34 ACCPT).

**H6924/34 9.4.35 SIX AIR-LOCKS HAVE BEEN FIXED & SALVAGE CO HOPE TO RAISE IN JUNE. (CP7152/35). - TNMS ISSUED.

**H3348/35 12.7.35 SALVAGE PROCEEDING. (CP 15918/35).

**H3348/35 20.8.35 VESSEL RAISED.

**H3348/35 9.9.35 RECOMMEND POSN TO BE CHARTED AS FOUL ANCHORAGE. (KHM INVERGORDON, 3.9.35). AMENDED TO FA (1935). - NM 1566/35.

**2.7.80 NOW CHARTED AS LEGEND 'FOUL GROUND'. NC 35.

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

**29.1.05 LEGEND: 'FOUL GROUND' SHOWN BETWEEN ON 5953.804N, 0310.231W [WGD] ON BA 35 [EDN 5 DTD 27.3.03].

**7.10.10 NOT LOCATED BY M/B. (FATHOMS LTD, POST SDC BATHY REPROCESSING). AMEND DEAD. NCA.

General Comments : SEE CHART FOR LIMITS OF LEGEND

Chart Symbol : F

Charting Comments : LEGEND: 'FOUL GROUND', FOUL NOT CHARTED

Date Last Amended : 07/10/2010

Date Position Last Amended : 28/01/2005

Side Scan Sonar Survey (4 April 2017)

Sidescan sonar provided an overview of the final scuttled location and salvage areas of the battleship Sms Konig Albert. The following anomalies were identified as associated with salvage operations by Metal Industries Ltd in 1935.

All locations given to UTM 30 N (WGS84 datum).

(SS056) X:488798; Y 6528083. Konig Albert mast.

(SS057) X:488761; Y 6528099. Konig Albert superstructure element.

(SS058) X:488777; Y 6528116. Konig Albert possible mast element.

Information from ORCA Marine, University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute and SULA Diving April 2017

Multi Beam Sonar Scan (January 2017)

Multibeam sonar survey recorded the scuttling and primary salvage site of Sms Konig Albert which was clear of any substantial wreckage. It did reveal a fine example of the impressions left in the soft seabed by the upper structures of the upside-down battleship as she rested on the bottom for 16 years. The deepest areas of the depressions were formed by 'Q' turret and the forward superstructure.

I.McCartney 2019

Remote Operated Vehicle Survey (3 July 2018 - 28 September 2018)

Side scan sonar data gathered during the phase 1 salvage sites project (2017) at the primary site of Konig Albert recorded a seabed depression in a WNW to ESE orientation left after the hull was recovered by Metal Industries by the beginning of August 1935. The sonar data identifies several large anomalies on the seabed consistent with salvage debris. These were inspected by drop video camera and identified as follows:

SS056 was a long tubular structure without external fittings interpreted as a samson post boom. This was overlain by a coal winch.

SS057 appeared to be the remains of a mast and spotting top most likely from the forward mast. The spotting top appeared to be crushed and lying upside down with just the floor still attached to a short (1-2m) section of mast protruding up off the seabed. SS058 was a diesel engine probably from a pinnace.

Information from ORCA and Sula Diving 2019

Change Of Location (13 February 2024)

The location of this site record has been reviewed and changed from NGR HY 31943 01719 to NGR HY 31267 01173, and the classification of this record has been changed from Casualty to Obstruction as part of record revision work carried out by HES Designations in connection with the Scottish Marine Protected Areas Project. Information from HES Designations (P Robertson) 13 February 2024.

References

MyCanmore Image Contributions


Contribute an Image

MyCanmore Text Contributions