Tabarka: Burra Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney

Throughout the two World Wars Scapa Flow served as the base of the British Home Fleet. Access to these waters was guarded by a series of coastal batteries, booms and blockships. The blockships comprised old and damaged vessels which were deliberately sunk in position so as to form a submarine obstacle to deter enemy incursions. After 1945 some of the blockships were dispersed by explosives to clear the shipping lanes while many others were salvaged for parts and metal. The wrecks of several blockships remain on the sea bed and in the intertidal zone.

(i) [HY20SW 8002] The Gobernador Bories, a 2,332 ton iron steamer, was built in 1882 at West Hartlepool. She was sunk in Burra Sound in 1915. She lies S of Hoy Skerries and is relatively intact.

(ii) [HY20SW 8001] The Ronda was built in 1889 in Sunderland and was sunk in 1914. She was a steel single-screw 1,941 ton steamer. She was dispersed with explosives in 1962.

(iii) [HY20NW 8005] Built in Glasgow in 1882, the 2,252 steel single-screw steamer, Budrie, was sunk in 1915. She was dispersed with explosives in 1962.

(iv) [HY20NW 8003] The Rotherfield was a 2,831 ton steel single-screw steamer. Built in West Hartlepool in 1889, she was sunk in Burra Sound in 1914. She was dispersed with explosives in 1962.

(v) [HY20NW 8004] A 3,423 ton steel single-screw steamer, the Urmstone Grange, was built in Belfast in 1894 and was sunk in 1914. She was dispersed with explosives in 1962.

(vi) [HY20NW 8003] Built in 1938 in Germany, the 8,900 ton tanker Inverlane was holed by a mine off South Shields in 1939. She was patched up, towed to Burra Sound and, there, sunk as a blockship in 1944. She remains relatively intact and her bows are clearly visible, rising from the waters to the S of Hoy Skerries.

(vii) [HY20NW 8006] The Tarbraka was a single-screw steamer of 2,624 tons. Built in Rotterdam in 1909, she was captured by the Royal Navy in 1940 and was sunk as a blockship, initially in Kirk Sound. At the completion of Churchill Barrier 1, the Tarbraka was re-floated and sunk in Burra Sound in 1944. She now lies, upside down, in 12m of water to the S of Hoy Skerries.

(viii) [HY20SW 8001] The 1,761 ton single-screw steamer the Doyle, built in Troon in 1907, was sunk in 1940. She lies relatively intact beneath 15m of water.

UTM 30 N (WGS 84) X: 481933.5 Y: 6531856. Remains of the wreck of the blockship Tabarka lie upside down at a depth of 10.5m to 12.7m below CD in an area of rocky seabed, with sand predominantly on its south side. There is evidence of scour around the wreck and a 2m high sandbank has developed immediately south of the wreck. The hull of the vessel has broken into two halves. The total observed length of the wreck is 101.9m, with the west section measuring 50.3m and the east section measuring 44.5m with a space between the two halves. The beam of the vessel is approximately 14.2m and it is 10.9m high. A large break separates the two halves of the wreck and exposes the inner part of the vessel. Large sections of the wreck are missing hull plating on both parts of the vessel. Since the vessel is lying upside down there are very few structural features to identify apart from the hull. At the stern of the vessel, to the west, the mountings for the rudder still appear to be in place, although the rudder itself and the propeller appear to be missing. There is some debris on the south side of the wreck, particularly two elongated objects which appear to be partially buried in the sandbank. The largest of these is 11.9m long and the other is 4.7m long.

Information from Wessex Archaeology April 2012 .

Whittaker ID : 7134

Name : TABARKA (EX. POLLUX)

Latitude : 585540

Longitude : 31838

Date Built : 1909

Registration : ROUEN

Type : SS (STEEL)

Tonnage : 2624

Tonnage Code : G

Length : 100

Beam : 13

Draught : 5m

Position : Position Approximate

Loss Day : 27

Loss Month : 7

Loss Year : 1944

Comment : Scuttled as blockship in Kirk Sound, refloated and moved here in 1944

Excerpt from the report:

'SCAPA FLOW WRECK SURVEYS

Archaeological Interpretation of Multibeam data and Desk-Based Assessment

WA Ref: 83680.03

Summary:

WA Coastal and Marine was commissioned by Historic Scotland to provide highresolution multibeam bathymetry data targeted on a number of wreck sites in Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. The list of targets were provided by Historic Scotland, ordered by priority, based on the importance of the wreck and the lack of prior survey at each site. Scapa Flow is a large natural harbour in the southern part of the Orkney Islands in

the North of Scotland, which served as Britain’s main naval base during WWI and WWII. Its waters hold Scotland’s highest concentrations of shipwrecks. Although some of the wrecks in Scapa Flow have previously been the subject of highresolution multibeam surveys there remain a number of important sites which had only previously been covered by low-resolution data acquisition or not covered at all.

WA Coastal & Marine conducted an archaeological assessment of the multibeam data and a Desk-Based Assessment (DBA) of the wreck sites it covered in order to enhance the historic environment record with respect to these sites and to support Historic Scotland’s work on the Scottish Marine Protected Areas Project. Through a thorough review of published and online material relating to the wrecks thought to be in the vicinity of Scapa Flow it has been possible to produce a detailed discussion of these sites in almost every case and also to clarify a number of conflicting sources. This has enabled us to state with certainty the exact location of

each targeted wreck from the multibeam survey, in some cases for the first time. In addition a thorough review of published material and diver accounts has enabled an informed analysis of features visible at each wreck site. The importance of these wreck sites can now be placed within their national and, in some cases, internationalcontexts.

A total of 18 wrecks were surveyed and assessed over the course this project. 16 of have been identified. The two remaining unidentified wrecks are both located in Burra Sound and are isolated pieces of wreck material, which may be associated with recorded losses in the area. The positions of all 16 identified wrecks have been improved, in some cases by over 100 metres. The survey has also greatly aided in understanding the relative positions of the wrecks to each other. The project has also highlighted discrepancies between some diver reports and observed details in the survey data, such as the structural details of some wrecks.'

Information also reported in Oasis (waherita1-136288) 18 June 2013

UKHO Identifier : 001130

Feature Class : Obstn

State : LIVE

Classification : Unclassified

Position (Lat/long) : 58.92635,-3.31476

Horizontal Datum : ETRS 1989

WGS84 Position (Lat/long) : 58.92635,-3.31476

WGS84 Origin : Original

Previous Position : 58.92722,-3.31333

Position Method : Differential Global Positioning System

Position Quality : Surveyed

Position Accuracy : 3.0

Depth : 1.7

Depth Method : Found by multi-beam

Depth Quality : Least depth known

Water Depth : 5

Water Level Effect : Always under water/submerged

Vertical Datum : Mean Low Water Springs

Name : TABARKA (POSSIBLY)

Type : BLOCKSHIP

Flag : FRENCH

Sonar Length : 6.0

Sonar Width : 6.0

Shadow Height : 5.0

Orientation : 100.0

Tonnage : 2624

Tonnage Type : Gross

Date Sunk : ??/??/1941

Bottom Texture : Sand

Sonar Signal Strength : Moderate

Scour Depth : 0.0

Debris Field : NIL

Contact Description : Entire wreck

Original Sensor : None reported

Last Sensor : Acoustic Sensor

Original Detection Year : 1972

Last Detection Year : 2010

Sitename : Tabarka

Altname : Inverlane (Bow Section), Inverlane: Burra Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney

Note : Previously recorded as the site of the Inverlane. According to Kevin Heath this is actually the Tabarka.

Sources :

SeaZone Hydrospatial OSGB36 Wrecks point,SeaZone,2010

Kevin Heath (personal communication),2012

Burra Sound at 2m resolution in WGS1984 Bathymetry id 2010-27833_ScapaFlowMain_Burra_2m_SB_WGS84.bag

The location of this site record has been reviewed and changed from NGR HY 24403 05086 to HY 24459 05049 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) 16 January 2024