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Clio: Water Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney
Craft (20th Century), Steamship (20th Century)
Site Name Clio: Water Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney
Classification Craft (20th Century), Steamship (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Clio I; Ayre Of Cara; Churchill Causeway; Churchill Barrier No. 4; North Sea
Canmore ID 102350
Site Number ND49NE 8006
NGR ND 47963 95048
Datum WGS84 - Lat/Long
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/102350
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Maritime - Orkney
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Maritime
- Former County Not Applicable
ND49NE 8006 4796 9505
N58 50.4083 W2 54.1
NLO: Water Sound [name centred ND 460 950]
Ayre of Cara [name: ND 476 949]
Stromness [name: HY 253 090]
Scapa Flow [name centred HY 36 00].
Formerly entered as Site no. 8895.
For adjacent (and successor) Churchill Barrier No. 4, see ND49NE 17.
For other blockships in this group, see ND49NE 8002-5, 8007-9 and 8022, and ND49SE 8001.
For plan indicating the relative locations and orientations of blockships in this group, see Macdonald 1990, 125.
Quality of fix = CR
Horizontal Datum = OGB
General water depth = 2
Circumstances of Loss Details
-----------------------------
The steel single screw steamship CLIO, built 1889, was sunk as a blockship in 1914.
Source; Ferguson 1985
Surveying Details
-----------------------------
14 March 1972. The wreck's position is given as 58 50 24.5N, 002 54 06W, or bearing 194 degrees and 716 metres from the spot height (107) on Burray. The entire hull exists but it is crushed to a height of only 10 feet (3 metres). The hull in the engine room area has collapsed outwards leaving the boilers and engine standing alone. A great deal of salvage has taken place.
Repprt by Undermarine Operations, 5 March 1972.
1 September 1992. The wreck is situated in the middle of the sound with the boilers and engines exposed at highwater.
Source: MacDonald 1990
Hydrographic Office 1995.
(Classified as steel steamship: date of loss cited as 1914). Clio: this vessel was sunk as a blockship.
Registration: Hull. Built 1889. 2733grt. Length: 91m. Beam: 12m.
(Location of loss cited as N58 50.4 W2 54.1).
I G Whittaker 1998.
(Name cited as Clio I).
Length: 230 ft (70.1m): date of sinking 29 November 1914.
'Ballasted. Standing well Upright and out of water. In good condition. Will last a long time.' (Report dated 28 June 1915 and accompanying panoramic sketch dated 8 December 1915).
The accompanying panoramic drawing (of Water Sound, looking E from Burray Pier) depicts the stern and midships portions of this vessel from the starboard beam, the bow (to the S) being obscured by the Pontos (ND49NE 8002). The vessel appears to have been a flush-decked cargo vessel; the masts and funnel remain erect. The vessel lies level in the water, the water level being about that found in service.
The accompanying map depicts this vessel in hatched outline as lying N-S in the centre of the channel. It is thus the central blockship of the group.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 30 January 2004.
PRO [Kew] ADM116/2073A: dated 17 December 1919.
Water Sound is the most southerly of the four sounds that pierce the Eastern side of Scapa Flow. It formerly separated the islands of Burray (to the N) and South Ronaldsay (to the S), but is now crossed by Churchill Barrier No. 4 (ND49NE 17), which blocks it near the E (North Sea) end.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 2 April 2007.
Desk Based Assessment (August 1997)
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. By 1943, the completion of the Churchill barriers, which cut off the eastern approaches to Scapa Flow, rendered the blockships obsolete. After 1945 some of the blockships were dispersed by explosive 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 inter tidal zone.
(i) The Pontos (ND 49 NE 8002), a 3, 265 ton steel single-screw steamer was built in Glasgow in 1891. She was sunk in 1914 and now rests c.12m offshore to the SE of Water Sound.
(ii) The Clio (ND 49 NE 8006), a 2,733 ton steel single-screw steamer was built in Hartlepool in 1889. She was sunk in 1914 and is visible to the centre of Water Sound at low tide.
(iii) The Lorne (ND 49 NE 8008), a 1,186 ton single-screw steamer was built in Hull in 1873 and sunk in 1915. The wreck was later dispersed by explosives and only fragments now survive.
(iv) The Naja (ND 49 NE 8008), a concrete barge, was sunk in 1939 and lies to the centre of Water Sound.
(v) The Carron (ND 49 NE 8004), a 1, 017 ton single-screw steel steamer, was built in Dundee in 1894. She was sunk as a blockship in 1940 and now lies, partially buried under sand, to the NE side of Churchill Barrier #4.
(vi) The Juniata (ND 49 NE 8022), a twin-screw steel motor tanker, was built in Sunderland in 1918. Sunk in 1940, she now lies to the NE side of Churchill Barrier #4.
(vii) The Gondolier (ND 49 SE 8001) was a 173 ton paddle steamer built in Glasgow in 1866. Sunk in 1940, she now lies on the SE side of the barrier.
(viii) The Collingdoc (ND 49 NE 8005), a 1,1780 ton steel single-screw steamer was built in 1925 in Hill-on-Tees. She was sunk in 1942 and lies partially buried under the sand to the SE end of the barrier.
(ix) Unidentified wreckage (ND 49 NE 8003) stands above HWM.
Reference (2011)
Whittaker ID : 2531
Name : CLIO
Latitude : 585024
Longitude : 25406
Date Built : 1889
Registration : HULL
Type : SS (STEEL)
Tonnage : 2733
Tonnage Code : G
Length : 91
Beam : 12
Draught : 6m
Position : Exact Position
Loss Year : 1914
Comment : Sunk as a blockship in 1914
Reference (19 April 2012)
UKHO Identifier : 001247
Feature Class : Wreck
State : LIVE
Classification : Unclassified
Position (Lat/long) : 58.84014,-2.90167
Horizontal Datum : ORDNANCE SURVEY OF GREAT BRITAIN (1936)
WGS84 Position (Lat/long) : 58.83972,-2.90328
WGS84 Origin : 3-D Cartesian Shift (BW)
Position Method : Compass Bearing and Radar Range
Position Quality : Unreliable
Depth Quality : Depth unknown
Water Depth : 2
Vertical Datum : Lowest Astronomical Tide
Name : CLIO
Type : BLOCKSHIP
Flag : BRITISH
Length : 91.4
Beam : 12.4
Draught : 6.4
Tonnage : 2733
Tonnage Type : Gross
Date Sunk : ??/??/1914
Contact Description : Entire wreck
Original Sensor : Reported Sinking
Last Sensor : None reported
Original Detection Year : 1914
Last Detection Year : 1992
Original Source : Other
Last Source : Other
Circumstances of Loss : **BUILT IN 1889 BY W GRAY & CO LTD, WEST HARTLEPOOL. TWO BOILERS, TRIPLE EXPANSION ENGINE OF 240NHP, SINGLE SHAFT. SUNK AS A BLOCKSHIP. (WKS OF SCAPA FLOW & SIBI).
Surveying Details : **H2496/72 14.3.72 POSN 585024.5N, 025406W, OR 194DEG, 2350FT FROM SPOT HEIGHT (107) ON BURRAY. ENTIRE HULL EXISTS BUT IS CRUSHED TO A HEIGHT OF 10FT. HULL IN ENGINE ROOM AREA HAS COLLAPSED OUTWARDS LEAVING BOILERS & ENGINE STANDING ALONE. A GREAT DEAL OF SALVAGE HAS HAS TAKEN PLACE. (UNDERMARINE OPERATIONS, 5.3.72). INS AS DWP. BR STD.
**20.8.80 COVERED BY 'BLOCKSHIPS SEE NOTE' LEGEND ON NE 2162.
**11.12.81 COVERED BY WKS LEGEND ON NC 2250.
**1.9.92 SITUATED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SOUND WITH BOILERS & ENGINES EXPOSED AT HW. (DIVE SCAPA FLOW).
Charting Comments : POSN FOR FILING ONLY
Date Last Amended : 09/02/2005
