Kms F2: Gutter Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney

(Classified as escort vessel: date of loss cited as 30 December 1946). F-2: this vessel sank at moorings in Gutter Sound.

Registration: German. Built 1934. 756 tons displacement. Length: 81m. Beam: 10m.

(Location of loss cited as N58 50.77 W3 11.50).

I G Whittaker 1998.

(Noted as 'broken up': no location cited, but illustrated).

J C Taylor 1966.

F2. The wreck lies in about 15 metres, approximately 100 yards SE of the wreck of the barge YC21.

[Includes illustrations of transits for locating F2].

Source: Butland & Siedlecki, BAC Wreck Register, Scotland 1 (1987).

[Transits illustrated by Ridley].

G Ridley 1992.

NLO: Gutter Sound [name centred ND 316 968]

Mill Bay [name centred ND 307 955]

Stromness [name: HY 253 090]

Scapa Flow [name centred HY 36 00].

Formerly entered as ND39NW 8828.

For general plan of major High Seas Fleet wrecks in Scapa Flow, see Smith 1989, 4.

For adjacent and associated salvage (lifting) barge (YC21), see ND39NW 8043.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A814 3 bronze taps: from seabed.

NMRS, MS/829/34.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):

A1382 bunker cover: from seabed.

NMRS, MS/829/35.

Length: 249.1 ft (75.9m) on construction: increased to 262ft (80m) in 1938/9.

Beam: 28.9ft (8.8m)

Draught: 10.6ft (3.2m): also cited as 8ft 3ins (2.5m)

Displacement: 790 tons (cited [improbably] as reduced to 756 tons in 1938/9; also cited as 712 tons, with increase to 740 tons in 1938/9)

Propulsion: oil-fired; 2 sets of geared Brown-Boveri steam turbines; 2 shafts; 14,000 shp; 28 kts (26kts after 1938/9 rebuilding)

Radius of action: 1500 miles at 20 kts

Guns: 2 x 105mm deck mountings; 4 x 37mm AA (removed in 1938/9); 4 x 20mm AA

Complement: 121

This vessel was built by Germaniawerft (also cited as Germania Werft) at Kiel and completed in 1936 as a Geleiteboot ('escort boat', 'escort vessel', 'sloop' or 'corvette'); she was the second unit built of a class of 10. The design was essentially experimental, having high pressure boilers which proved problematic; they were also poor seaboats. Probably in consequence of these limitations, she was lengthened by 13 ft (4m) forward and converted to a torpedo recovery vessel at Wilhelmshaven in 1938/9.

The ship was handed over in reparation to Britain at the end of the Second World War but foundered at her moorings on 30 December 1946, having evidently sprung a leak. She was not considered worthy of salvage until 1967 or 1968, when she was sold for scrap to Messrs. Metrec Engineering. The wooden barge alongside her [YC21, for which see ND39NW 8043] was full of salvaged pieces from the F2, when this sunk itself on 15 November 1968. No salvage operations have been carried out on either wreck since.

The F2 lies at a (seabed) depth of 16m below High Water, and is buoyed as it reaches 7m below the surface. The wreck is frequently visited by recreational divers. The hull has been broken in half; the stern remains upright but the forward portion lies on its port side. Recognisable features and fittings include the forward gun and the starboard anchor cable (which leads out from the bow); the single mast lies flat on the seabed and the searchlight is recognisable.

This vessel and its associated salvage barge are presumably the features that are charted as [Wks] with a clearance of 1.5m in a charted general depth of about 13m, immediately SW of a can buoy. They are situated just off Mill Bay and to the N of Lyness. The seabed is evidently variable in nature, a variety of types being noted nearby.

Gutter Sound [name centred ND 316 968] 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].

[For photograph in service, see Macdonald 1990, 101 and Macdonald 1998, 106; for underwater artist's impression, see Macdonald 1998, 107].

Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 16 January 2003.

J C Taylor 1966; W D G Blundell 1972; D M Ferguson 1985; D M Ferguson 1988; P L Smith 1989; R Macdonald 1990; R Macdonald 1998.

HO Chart 35 (1980, revised 1991).

Whittaker ID : 70

Name : F-2

Latitude : 585046

Longitude : 31130

Date Built : 1934

Registration : GERMAN

Type : ESCORT VESSEL

Tonnage : 756

Tonnage Code : D

Length : 81

Beam : 10

Draught : 3m

Position : Exact Position

Loss Day : 30

Loss Month : 12

Loss Year : 1946

Comment : Sank at moorings in Gutter Sound.

Excerpt from the report:

'SCAPA FLOW WRECK SURVEYS

Archaeological Interpretation of Multibeam data and Desk-Based Assessment

WA Ref: 83680.03

Summary:

WA Coastal and Marine was commissioned by Historic Scotland to provide highresolution multibeam bathymetry data targeted on a number of wreck sites in Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. The list of targets were provided by Historic Scotland, ordered by priority, based on the importance of the wreck and the lack of prior survey at each site. Scapa Flow is a large natural harbour in the southern part of the Orkney Islands in

the North of Scotland, which served as Britain’s main naval base during WWI and WWII. Its waters hold Scotland’s highest concentrations of shipwrecks. Although some of the wrecks in Scapa Flow have previously been the subject of highresolution multibeam surveys there remain a number of important sites which had only previously been covered by low-resolution data acquisition or not covered at all.

WA Coastal & Marine conducted an archaeological assessment of the multibeam data and a Desk-Based Assessment (DBA) of the wreck sites it covered in order to enhance the historic environment record with respect to these sites and to support Historic Scotland’s work on the Scottish Marine Protected Areas Project. Through a thorough review of published and online material relating to the wrecks thought to be in the vicinity of Scapa Flow it has been possible to produce a detailed discussion of these sites in almost every case and also to clarify a number of conflicting sources. This has enabled us to state with certainty the exact location of

each targeted wreck from the multibeam survey, in some cases for the first time. In addition a thorough review of published material and diver accounts has enabled an informed analysis of features visible at each wreck site. The importance of these wreck sites can now be placed within their national and, in some cases, internationalcontexts.

A total of 18 wrecks were surveyed and assessed over the course this project. 16 of have been identified. The two remaining unidentified wrecks are both located in Burra Sound and are isolated pieces of wreck material, which may be associated with recorded losses in the area. The positions of all 16 identified wrecks have been improved, in some cases by over 100 metres. The survey has also greatly aided in understanding the relative positions of the wrecks to each other. The project has also highlighted discrepancies between some diver reports and observed details in the survey data, such as the structural details of some wrecks.'

Information also reported in Oasis (waherita1-136288) 18 June 2013

UKHO Identifier : 000997

Feature Class : Wreck

Wreck Category : Dangerous wreck

State : LIVE

Classification : Unclassified

Position (Lat/long) : 58.84611,-3.19167

Horizontal Datum : ORDNANCE SURVEY OF GREAT BRITAIN (1936)

WGS84 Position (Lat/long) : 58.84570,-3.19323

WGS84 Origin : 3-D Cartesian Shift (BW)

Position Method : Compass Bearing and Radar Range

Position Quality : Precisely known

Depth : 7.0

Depth Method : Found by echo-sounder

Depth Quality : Least depth known

Water Depth : 14

Water Level Effect : Always under water/submerged

Vertical Datum : Lowest Astronomical Tide

Name : F2

Type : FLEET SLOOP

Flag : EX-GERMAN

Length : 79.2

Beam : 8.8

Tonnage : 1065

Tonnage Type : Displacement

Date Sunk : 30/12/1946

Contact Description : Partial wreck

Original Sensor : Observed Sinking

Last Sensor : Diver Sighting

Original Detection Year : 1947

Last Detection Year : 1999

Original Source : Other

Last Source : Divers

Circumstances of Loss : **BUILT IN 1936. A WW2 ESCORT VESSEL KNOWN AS A GELEITEBOOTE. CAPABLE OF 28KTS WITH A CREW OF 121. ARMAMENT OF 2 BY 105MM GUS AND ANTI AIRCRAFT WEAPONS. SANK AT MOORINGS IN GUTTER SOUND, SCAPA FLOW. WAS BEING WORKED FOR SALVAGE BY BARGE YC21 WHEN THAT VESSEL SANK NEARBY.

Surveying Details : **H302/47 16.1.47 POSN 585046N, 031130W, OR 353DEGS, 3575FT FROM N END GOLDEN WHARF, MARKED BY B CAN BUOY, FL.G2S. (FO ROSYTH). INS AS DWP WITH BUOY. - NM 86/47.

**H302/47 13.6.47 LEAST DEPTH OVER WK 4FMS, NOW MARKED BY G CAN BUOY, GPFL(2)G.10S. (FO ROSYTH). AMEND TO WK 4FMS, AMEND BUOY. - NM 1506/47.

**H3319/71 8.6.71 BUOY REPORTED TO BE 700FT E OF CHARTED POSN. (HMS HECATE, ROS DTD 22.5.71).

**BUOY HAD BEEN TEMP MOVED 17.7.69 TO POSN 188 DEG, 2.48M FROM CAVA MINOR LIGHT DURING SOME DISPERSAL OPS. (NLB, 24.6.71)

**SALVAGE WORK CARRIED OUT IN 1968. (SHIPWRECKS OF ORKNEY, SHETLAND & PENTLAND FIRTH).

**H4473/70 20.5.77 BUOY NOW R CAN, GP FL(2)R. (ORKNEY ISLANDS NM 11/77). AMEND BUOY. - NM 1255/77.

**8.12.77 AMEND TO WK 7MTRS. NC 35.

**H3319/71 26.1.82 FULL DETAILS OF F2 GIVEN. (NHB).

**H1310/82/4 4.2.82 BOW SECTION VIRTUALLY INTACT. MIDSHIPS AND AFTER SECTIONS HAVE BEEN HEAVILY BLASTED. LIES IN GEN DEPTH 18MTRS. (B. WINFIELD, 25.1.82).

**24.12.82 LIES ON PORT SIDE WITH DECK ALMOST VERTICAL AND WITH A SINGLE BARREL OPEN GUN TURRET IN PLACE. MAST ASTERN OF BRIDGE LIES WITH MASTHEAD EMBEDDED IN BOTTOM. AFTER PART OF WK EXTENSIVELY SMASHED. (BSAC WK REGISTER).

**H1310/85/10 13.3.85 BUOY REPD TO BE SOME 70 TO 100MTRS S OF WK. (B WINFIELD). NCA.

POSITIONS BELOW THIS POINT ARE IN DEGREES, MINUTES AND DECIMALS OF A MINUTE

**HH100/351/16 12.10.00 LIES ON PORT SIDE AND IS HEAVILY SALVAGED FROM THE STERN TOWARDS THE BOWS. REPORTS HAVE THAT THE STERN IS STILL UPRIGHT ON THE SEABED AND IS IN REASONABLE CONDITION. BRIDGE AREA AND MAST HAVE COLLAPSED AND ARE NOW TO BE FOUND ON THE SEABED. YC21 SALVAGE BARGE IS SOME 20MTRS AWAY FROM THE KEEL. (T JOHNSON, LTR DTD 10.10.00). NCA.

General Comments : BOWS INTACT, ON PORT BEAM ENDS. STERN BROKEN UP

Chart Symbol : WK 7.0

Date Last Amended : 07/01/1983

Sitename : KMS F2: Gutter Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney

Source :

Aspect Survey,Lyness SeaZone TruDepth Points SeaZone in OSGB36 SeaZone Dataset 109871,SeaZone,2011