Sms B109: Gutter Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney
Destroyer (20th Century)
Site Name Sms B109: Gutter Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney
Classification Destroyer (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) B-109; Hoy; Fara; Rysa Little; B109
Canmore ID 102277
Site Number ND39NW 8034
NGR ND 31955 97479
Datum WGS84 - Lat/Long
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/102277
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Maritime - Orkney
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Maritime
- Former County Not Applicable
ND39NW 8034 3195 9747
N58 51.5833 W3 10.7833
NLO: Gutter Sound [name centred ND 316 968]
Fara [name: ND 329 959]
Stromness [name: HY 253 090]
Scapa Flow [name centred HY 36 00].
For other ships within this group, see:
ND39NW 8009 V129 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8011 S136 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8012 G92 (destroyer: probable secondary location)
ND39NW 8016 S52 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8018 V70 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8019 S53 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8020 G89 (destroyer: possible secondary location)
ND39NW 8021 S55 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8022 G91 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8023 S36 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8024 S32 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8026 G86 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8027 G39 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8028 G35 (destroyer: identity uncertain)
ND39NW 8029 S138 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8030 S53 (destroyer: identity uncertain and possible secondary location)
ND39NW 8031 G40 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8032 B110 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8033 B112 (destroyer: possible secondary location)
ND39NW 8036 G104 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8037 G101 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8038 V83 (destroyer: secondary location)
ND39NW 8044 G103 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8053 B109 (destroyer: secondary location)
ND39NW 8055 S56 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8057 G38 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8058 H145 (destroyer: possible secondary location)
ND39NW 8059 B111 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8062 V127 (destroyer: possible secondary location)
ND39NW 8063 V126 (destroyer: secondary location)
ND39NW 8064 V125 (destroyer: secondary location)
ND39NW 8065 V82 (destroyer: secondary location)
ND39NW 8066 V81 (destroyer: initial location)
ND39NW 8068 V43 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8069 V100 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8070 V73 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8071 V80 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8072 S60 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8073 S51 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8074 S137 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8075 V128 (destroyer: doubtful location)
ND39NW 8076 V78 (destroyer: probable secondary location)
ND39NW 8077 S65 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8078 V46 (destroyer)
ND39NW 8079 V44 (destroyer: secondary location)
ND39NW 8082 G102 (destroyer: secondary location)
ND39NW 8083 S132 (destroyer: secondary location)
ND39SW 8002 V45 (destroyer: secondary location, probably formerly on ND39NW)
ND39SW 8005 S131 (destroyer: secondary location, probably formerly on ND39NW)
ND39SW 8012 S50 (destroyer: secondary location, probably formerly on ND39NW)
ND39SW 8013 S49 (destroyer: secondary location, probably formerly on ND39NW)
ND39SE 8003 S54 (destroyer: secondary location, probably formerly on ND39NW)
(All the above locations are apparently primary unless otherwise specified).
For (secondary) location of surviving remains, see also ND39NW 8053.
Formerly entered as ND39NW 8815.
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.
SMS B109: no. II flotilla, with G101, G102, G103, V100, B110 (leader), B111, B112 and G104.
D Van der Vat 1986.
Raised by Cox and Danks, 1926.
P L Smith 1989.
Attributed to 4th Division of No. 2 Flotilla.
G Ridley 1992.
Horizontal Datum = UND
Circumstances of Loss Details
-----------------------------
The German destroyer B109 was scuttled.
Surveying Details
-----------------------------
1926. The vessel was righted and lifted ready to be towed to Granton.
1926. The vessel was towed away to Alloa for breaking up.
Hydrographic Office, 1995.
(Classified as Destroyer: date of loss cited as 21 June 1919). [SMS] B109: this vessel was scuttled in 1919. All gone 29 March 1926, and re-sunk. Why?
Registration: German. 1374 tons displacement. Length: 98m. Beam: 9m.
(Location of loss cited as N58 50.33 W3 11.43).
I G Whittaker 1998.
Whittaker notes this wreck as having been raised and resunk for no known reason. This may explain the discovery of wreckage apparently from this vessel at ND 3138 9510 [N58 50.3 W3 11.3333], for which see ND39NW 8053.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 7 November 2002.
I G Whittaker 1998.
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.
Length: 321ft 6ins (98m)
Beam: 30ft 8ins (9.3m)
Displacement: 1374/1843 tons
Propulsion: steam turbines; 2 propellers; 36,000/40,000 hp; 35/37 kts
Armament: 4 x 104mm (4.1in) guns; 6 x 60cm (19.7in) torpedo tubes; 24 mines
Complement: 140/160
SMS B109. This ship was built by Blohm and Voss, Hamburg, launched on 11 March 1915 and completed in 1915 as the first unit of the four-strong B109 class (itself a variant of the B97 class). She was raised by Cox and Danks on 27 March 1926, and scrapped in 1926. The cited location of this wreck is apparently primary. It falls near the centre of the northern entrance to Gutter Sound, about 450m E of the SE end of Rysa Little.
This ship may be considered as falling within the Fara/Rysa (Gutter Sound) group of destroyers and torpedo craft, which were scuttled within the area of Gutter Sound [name centred ND 316 968]. This area of water may be understood as a narrow sheltered passage between the islands of Hoy, Fara and Rysa Little, to the W of the broad expanse of Scapa Flow. It has a level seabed at a charted depth of between 13 and 16m; the seabed type is indicated sparingly but is apparently a mixture of gravel, shingle and sand. Apart from the specifically-indicated wrecks, extensive areas of foul and spoil ground and numerous obstructions attest to the former presence of the High Seas Fleet. Wrecks (Wk or Wks) are noted at N58 50.3 W3 11.3 [ND 314 951], N58 50.75 [ND 310 959] and around N58 50.7 W3 11.5 [HY 312 958], the latter annotation having a buoy immediately to the W. Areas of foul ground are charted around N58 49.7 W3 10.5 [ND 321 939], N58 50.05 W3 10.9 [ND 317 946] and N58 51.l3 W3 10.7 [ND 320 969].
The recorded identical locations for ships in this group may reflect their being moored in trots.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 6 June 2003.
H M Le Fleming 1961; D Van der Vat 1986; S C George 1999; [Jane] 2001.
HO chart no. 35 (1980, revised 1991).
Reference (2011)
Whittaker ID : 7294
Name : B109
Latitude : 585020
Longitude : 31126
Registration : GERMAN
Type : DESTROYER
Tonnage : 1374
Tonnage Code : D
Length : 98
Beam : 9
Draught : 4m
Position : Exact Position
Loss Day : 21
Loss Month : 6
Loss Year : 1919
Comment : Scuttled in 1919, AG 29/3/1926 and re-sunk. Why?
Reference (19 April 2012)
UKHO Identifier : 001040
Feature Class : Wreck
State : LIFT
Classification : Unclassified
Position (Lat/long) : 58.85972,-3.17972
Horizontal Datum : ORDNANCE SURVEY OF GREAT BRITAIN (1936)
WGS84 Position (Lat/long) : 58.85931,-3.18129
WGS84 Origin : 3-D Cartesian Shift (BW)
Previous Position : 58.85972,-3.17972
Position Quality : Unreliable
Depth Quality : Depth unknown
Water Depth : 18
Vertical Datum : Lowest Astronomical Tide
Name : B109
Type : DESTROYER
Flag : GERMAN
Length : 97.8
Beam : 9.1
Tonnage : 1374
Tonnage Type : Displacement
Date Sunk : 21/06/1919
Contact Description : Entire wreck
Original Sensor : Reported Sinking
Original Detection Year : 1919
Original Source : Other
Circumstances of Loss : **SCUTTLED.
Surveying Details : **H8464/19 INS DWP WRECK (1919)(LEAST DEPTH 7FMS). (C7953).
**H6229/23 10.9.23 INS BY NM. - NM 1523/23.
**CP 6506/26 & CP 7649/26 SALVAGE.
**CP 10246/26 & CP 9891/26 RIGHTED AND LIFTED.
**CP 11325/26 READY TO BE TOWED TO GRANTON.
**CP 12167/26 & CP 19433/26 TOWED AWAY TO ALLOA FOR BREAKING UP.
**H143/26 ERASE FROM CHARTS.
Charting Comments : POSN FOR FILING ONLY
Date Last Amended : 01/02/2005
Date Position Last Amended : 01/02/2005
Project (15 January 2019)
The High Seas Fleet Salvage Sites Phase 2 project was undertaken by ORCA Marine, University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) Archaeology Institute and SULA Diving on behalf of Historic Environment Scotland (HES) as a second phase of a project to investigate the salvages sites of the German High Seas Fleet in Scapa flow, Orkney. The final project report details the results of survey work.
The aim of the project was to determine what remains of the many vessels of the German High Seas Fleet that were salvaged in the years that followed their scuttling in June 1919. Phase 1, undertaken over the winter of 2016/17, involved a side scan sonar survey of the main anchorages and other areas thought to have been involved in the salvage process. A process of ground-truthing the sonar contacts started in Phase 1 was completed in this Phase 2 project. Phase 2 ground-truthing surveys focussed on the remaining primary salvage sites associated with the SMS Moltke; SMS Printzregent Luitpold;SMS Derfflinger;SMS Friedrich der Grosse; SMS Kaiserin; SMS Kaiser; SMS König Albert;SMS Grosser Kurfürst; and miscellaneous contacts, including a German diesel pinnace discovered in 2017, SMS Bremse, SMS S36, SMS B109 and SMS V78.
Sula Diving, ORCA Marine and University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute, 15 January 2019