Spitfire, Barrel Of Butter, Scapa Flow, Orkney

Sitename : Spitfire, Barrel of Butter, Scapa Flow, Orkney

Altname : Spitfire

Note : An aircraft , found by local clam divers approximately 200 metres to the south east of the Barrel of Butter, was identified as a Spitfire by Kevin Heath. (K. Heath pers. comm.)

The tail and cockpit of the plane remain but no engine is present. It is thought that this may be the engine which is now housed in Lyness museum (see http://www.crashsiteorkney.com/page14.htm). Two gauges were removed by Gareth Pratt in c. 2010, one of which is stamped 1943, giving a terminus post quem for the plane. The site was also noted by Keith Bichan in c. 1996 (K. Heath pers. Comm.).

Source :

Kevin Heath (personal communication),2012

The Scapa Flow 2013 Marine Archaeology Survey Project, commissioned by Historic Scotland, undertook remote sensing surveys and archaeological diving evaluations at some of the sites within Scapa Flow, Orkney and at the Churchill Barriers.

The project aimed to establish or confirm the identification, extent of survival, character and condition of around 28 known but mostly poorly recorded First and Second World War wreck sites, 8 salvage sites, several sites thought to be associated with Second World War Boom Defences, and a limited sample of geophysical features identified in previous studies (Project Adair).

The work built on that of previous surveys including those completed as part of the ScapaMap Project (2001 and 2006) and by Wessex Archaeology Scapa Flow Wrecks Survey (2012), amongst others.

The project was completed by ORCA Marine and SULA Diving

58 53.38 N 3 7.38 W This site was assessed by side scan sonar surveys using a winch-towed towfish.

The side scan images showed at least three strong contacts and several smallerreturns, approximately 183m south east of the Barrel of Butter. The largest of these (Contact 1) were three sub-circular features each about 5m long aligned east to west with 12m between the first and second feature and further 6m between the second and the third. Approximately 55m southwest of this contact (offshore from the Barrel of Butter) was a second smaller triangular contact (Contact 2). The third contact (Contact 3) was about 50m north of the largest remains showed a small (approximately 5m diameter) circular mound.

Information from Annalisa Christie, Kevin Heath and Mark Littlewood (ORCA) March 2014

58 53.38 N 3 7.38 W As the precise position of the possible aircraft wreckage was unconfirmed each of these targets was evaluated by diver ground-truthing. The remains are in an area of slight tide, which can be exposed during storms.

Contact 1: This was found to be three isolated outcroppings of bedrock, and there was no evidence of archaeological or historical remains in the area.

Contact 2: A circular search was undertaken around the shot line deployed on the site. No remains were identified. It is likely this contact was also a smaller outcrop of bedrock.

Contact 3: The partial remains of an aircraft lie on a rock and sand bottom in 22m of water. The debris is well broken up and is moderately covered with tall animal turf and mixed seaweed. The wreckage is densely concentrated in a small area and is likely to be from the cockpit area of an aircraft. An oxygen regulator, oxygen tanks, hydraulic pump, oxygen/hydraulic pipe work, wiring and some fuselage were recorded amongst numerous steel and aluminium sections. There is no evidence of

the remains of the undercarriage, tail section or armaments. Abandoned creels were noted in the debris.

Analysis

These surveys can confirm that the remains present at the Barrel of Butter are from an aircraft, although there was much less wreckage than had been anticipated These correlate to gauges from a Spitfire and indicate a date of 1942. If these come from the same remains these could provide a Terminus Post Quem suggesting that the plane crashed after 1942. It is possible that the engine and armaments raised and deposited by the Royal Navy at Lyness Museum in 1987 may be from the same wreckage, but this cannot be confirmed for another two years. The logbooks of the

ship that raised the remains and brought them to Lyness, is currently secured under the 30 year rule. As the remains were lifted in 1986 the ships log book for that year will become available in 2016.

At present it is not possible to confirm the aircraft registration number as no artefacts were identified.

Information from Annalisa Christie, Kevin Heath and Mark Littlewood (ORCA) March 2014