Sms Prinzregent Luitpold: Bring Deeps, Scapa Flow, Orkney

HY30SW 8003 3136 0021

N58 53.05 W3 11.45

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 8005 Kaiserin (battleship)

HY30SW 8006 Karlsruhe (cruiser)

HY30SW 8013 Konig Albert (battleship)

HY30SW 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. 8845.

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 Cox and Danks, 1931.

P L Smith 1989.

Listed among 'German salvage sites'.

G Ridley 1992.

Horizontal Datum = OGB

Buoyage =

General water depth = 22

Circumstances of Loss Details

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The German Battleship PRINZ REGENT LUIPOLD was scuttled.

Surveying Details

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1919. A dangerous wreck, with a least depth of 3.2 metres, is reported at 58 53 03N, 003 11 27W.

19 June 1929. Messrs Cox and Danks reported a least depth of 9.1 metres over the wreck. It is proposed to commence salvage works after the completion of work on BREMSE.

9 July 1931. The wreck was raised.

Source: Jutland to Junkyard by S C George.

21 November 1932. The wreck now lies close to Lyness pier and temporary Notice to Mariners 1874/32 has been issued.

14 July 1933. The wreck has been removed from Lyness Pier.

Report from Invergordon, and the temporary Notice to Mariners has been cancelled.

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 fourth of the five-strong Kaiser class. She was built by Howaldt at Kiel [also cited as Krupp's Germania Yard], being laid down in April 1910 (also cited as January 1911), launched on 17 February 1912 and completed in August (also cited as December) 1913. She fought in the Third Battle Squadron at the Battle of Jutland (May 1916). On scuttling, she capsized and listed in 105ft (32m) depth of water.

The wreck was raised inverted by Cox and Danks on 11 June 1931 (also cited as July 1931), being both the last ship of the Internment Formation raised by Cox and the largest vessel raised by air from such a depth. One man was killed by an internal explosion (probably of coal-dust) during the preparation of this wreck, while the conning tower was compressed into the hull (against an area of rocky seabed) and secured in place before what proved to be a difficult tow.

The cited location of this wreck falls about 0.5nm WSW of Calf of Cava light, in a charted depth of about 23m, and within what is apparently an extensive area of foul ground. No obstruction or remains are specifically indicated at this location and the nature of the seabed is not specified locally. No record of a diver survey is apparently available, but the survival of portable artifacts, loose fittings and (possibly) detached structural components appears probable.

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), 3 January 2003.

H M Le Fleming 1961; G Bennett 1983; 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.