Sms Nurnberg: Bring Deeps, Scapa Flow, Orkney

ND39NW 8051 3223 9964

N58 52.75 W3 10.5

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)

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).

Formerly entered as ND39NW 8838, classified as Light Cruiser and assigned [in error] to the Gutter Sound/Rysa Little group.

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.

Beached; retained by Britain. Used in gunnery tests and sunk off Portsmouth in 1922.

P L Smith 1989.

Listed among 'German salvage sites'.

G Ridley 1992.

Horizontal Datum = OGB

Circumstances of Loss Details

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The German light cruiser NURNBURG ran aground after a British destroyer crew used explosive to break her anchor chain.

Source: The Grand Scuttle by Dan Van der Vat.

Surveying Details

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29 May 1930. The wreck lies with her bow high on beach at 58 52 45N, 003 10 30W. She was used in connection with the salvage of the HINDENBURG. (authority not stated)

15 October 1975. From local information and book entitled 'Jutland to Junkyard' by S C George, the wreck is thought to be the NURNBURG. The wreckage is consistent with that of a light cruiser. Only the bow section remains, and what remains of that is considerably broken up.

Report by CPO Dunford, Phantom Servicing School, RAF Lincoln 15 August 1975.

2 November 1977. An enquiry, regarding the purchase of the wreck, was made by A C Crothall.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.

Length overall: 497ft (151.4m)

Length waterline: 478ft 3ins (145.8m)

Beam: 47ft (14.3m)

Draught: 16ft (4.8m) (also cited as 6.32m)

Displacement (standard): 5440t

Displacement (full load): 7125t (also cited as 5300/6150 tons)

Armament: 8 x 15cm (5.9ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 2 x 8.8cm AA (3.4ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 4 x 50cm (19.7ins) torpedo tubes; 120 deck-mounted mines (also cited as having only two torpedo tubes)

Armour: belt 2.5in (64mm); deck 0.75in (19mm); conning tower 3.9 ins (100mm)

Propulsion: ten coal- and two oil-fired Schulz-Thorneycroft boilers; two sets steam turbines; two propellers; 45,000 shp; 28.5kts

Fuel: 1340t coal; 500t oil

Range: 1200 miles at 27 kts

Complement: 475/500

This second class cruiser (the last unit of the four-strong Konigsberg II class) was built by Howaldt at Kiel, and completed in 1916, being one of five such ships to join the fleet that year. Nurnberg II and the three other ships of her class (Emden II, Konigsberg II and Karlsruhe) were a great improvement on their predecessors. They were faster, carried heavier guns, and were fitted with compact but powerful geared steam turbines. These produced 45,000 shp to drive the ship at 28.5kts through two propellers. Ten coal-fired and two oil-fired water-tube boilers were provided, the latter being only used to attain maximum speed. Coal was carried in longitudinal side-bunkers and oil in tanks within the double bottom. The class was approximately equivalent to the British 'Town' class, but were longer, faster and more powerful.

Members of the class were significantly larger than previous light cruisers and had finely-raked bows with a marked flare forward and an uncluttered midships portion. Seven boats were carried, as well as four anchors (two bower and a kedge forward; a stern anchor aft). The officers' accommodation was aft and that for the ratings forward.

Eight 5.9in guns were dispersed in single mountings roughly evenly spaced along each side. Two 3.4in HA guns (also in single mountings) were set on the superstructure deck of the midships deckhouse. Two 50cm torpedo tubes were fitted on the upper deck amidships; a further two were installed underwater. Four powerful carbon-arc searchlights were mounted on platforms on the mast, all being capable of remote operation. The gun rangefinder was mounted on the conning tower, and 120 deck-mounted mines were also carried.

This ship was not scuttled, but was beached by the Royal Navy after her anchor cable was cut be explosives. The wreck was sent to Britain 'for destruction' in 1920.

The location cited falls on the W side of the island of Cava, and is evidently secondary. Van der Vat (1986, endpaper map) places it at ND c. 320 990, within the S fringe of the Bring Deeps group, within which many of the other units of this size were placed. This location falls about 1nm S of Calf of Cava light and within an extensive area of foul ground in a charted depth of about 15m. The seabed is charted as mixed sand and stone.

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), 8 January 2003.

H M Le Fleming 1961; D Van der Vat 1986; [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.