Sms Derfflinger Salvage Site: Rysa Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney

HY30SW 8016 3083 0012 removed to 3055 9800 [N58 51.85 W3 12.25]

N58 53.00 W3 12.00

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)

HY30SW 8013 Konig Albert (battleship)

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 ND39NW 8035 and ND39NW 8819 at cited location ND 3055 9800 [N58 51.85 W3 12.25].

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, 1939.

P L Smith 1989.

Listed among 'German salvage sites'.

G Ridley 1992.

Horizontal Datum = UND

Circumstances of Loss Details

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The German battlecruiser DERFFLINGER was scuttled in Scapa Flow.

Surveying Details

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8 April 1936. The wreck was sold to Metal Industries Ltd.

14 June 1938. Salvage has commenced and a temporary Notice to Mariners has been issued 1139/38.

Report from Navy Base Invergordon.

25 July 1938. The air lock fitted is now marked by flashing light.

Report from Naby Base Invergordon.

6 November 1939. The wreck was raised from 58 53 00N, 003 12 00W, approximately, and moved to 58 51 51N, 003 12 15W. It lay, bottom up, in this position all through World War II and was eventually taken to Rosyth for breaking in 1946.

Source: Jutland to Junkyard by S C George.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.

Length: 689ft (210m)

Beam: 95ft 3ins (29m)

Draught: 28ft (8.5m)

Displacement: 26180/28000 tons [also cited as 26180/28000 and as 26,600]

Propulsion: steam turbines; 4 propellers; 85,000 hp; 27/28 kts

Armament: 8 x 30.5cm (12ins: 50 cal: twin turrets); 12 or 14 x 15cm (5.9ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 4 x 8.8cm AA (3.5ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 4 x 50cm (19.7ins) torpedo tubes [Tertiary armament cited by Jane as 12 x 24pdr with no AA armament fitted: this remains unverified].

Armour: belt 11.75ins (298mm); turrets 10.75ins (273mm)

Complement: 1112/1214

This battlecruiser was the first-built and name-ship of the three-strong Derfflinger class, and was built by Blohm and Voss at Hamburg, being laid down in March 1912, launched on 12 July 1913 and completed in July 1914. At the time of their construction, the ships of this class were considered the best battlecruisers in the world, having 12-inch guns in superimposed turrets, tripod masts and a flush-decked design.

She took part in the bombardments of Scarborough and Whitby (1914) and fought at the battles of Dogger Bank (January 1915) and Jutland (May 1916). The ship was instrumental in the destruction of HMS Queen Mary at the latter event, but suffered severe damage aft.

The ship was raised inverted from a depth of 45m by Metal Industries in August (also cited as spring) 1939, being both the deepest ship raised and the last to be raised intact. This operation was particularly difficult as the wreck had a significant list and had sunk into the mud. The wreck remained intact at Scapa (moored off Rysa Little) for want of a scrapping dock until after the Second World War, being taken in 1946 to be broken up at Faslane (also cited as Roseneath or Rosneath) on the Clyde. No other ship has ever been kept upside-down for so long a period. The passage to the Clyde took place in a dry dock, still inverted and with her turrets in place.

The location formerly cited for this vessel (N58 51.85 W3 12.25: ND 3055 9800) is evidently an intermediate position, presumably that where the inverted wreck was held between 1939 and 1946. It falls in an charted depth of about 15m and within Rysa Sound [name centred ND 305 978] to the W of Rysa Little. The original location of the ship is cited by the Hydrographic Office [1995] as N58 53.00 W3 12.00 [HY 3083 0012]. This location falls about 0.8nm WSW of Calf of Cava light. The charted depth is about 41m and no seabed is specified, but it is within an extensive area of foul ground

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; DM Ferguson 1988; R Macdonald 1990; 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.