Sms S36 [final Position]: Cava, Scapa Flow, Orkney
Salvage Debris (20th Century), Destroyer (20th Century)
Site Name Sms S36 [final Position]: Cava, Scapa Flow, Orkney
Classification Salvage Debris (20th Century), Destroyer (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) 'On The West Shore Of Cava'
Canmore ID 287720
Site Number ND39NW 8091
NGR ND 3225 9963
NGR Description ND c. 3225 9963
Datum Datum not recorded
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/287720
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Maritime - Orkney
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Maritime
- Former County Not Applicable
ND39NW 8091 c. 3225 9963
N58 52.74 W3 10.52
NLO: Cava [name: ND 327 995]
Scapa Flow [name centred HY 36 00].
For original position of this wreck (at ND 3179 9664, in Gutter Sound), see ND39NW 8023.
(Classified as destroyer: date of loss cited as 1929). [SMS] S 36: this vessel was scuttled, salvaged, used in salvage work, beached here and left.
Registration: German. 789 tons displacement. Length: 81m. Beam: 9m.
(Location of loss cited as N58 52.75 W3 10.50).
I G Whittaker 1998.
Multi Beam Sonar Scan (January 2017)
A multibeam sonar survey undertaken in January 2017 indicates that at least 60 metres of the keel of the ship is still present, with the watertight framing visible, but with the stern having broken away slightly, possibly as a result of the salvage works aimed at removing the propellers. I. McCartney 2019
Diver Inspection (13 April 2018)
Side scan sonar image records the broken up remains of the destroyer S36 close into the shore on the west coast of Cava. Ground-truthing survey of sonar anomalies by a team of volunteer divers from BSAC confirmed that only a couple of pieces of wreckage stand higher than 2m off the seabed, with hull plating stripped of all fittings apart from through hull valves which would have been left to maintain watertight integrity for towing to final sinking position. All engines and boilers had been removed, as had the propellers, although both propeller shafts were still in place, along with deck fittings. This class of destroyer was fitted with a bow rudder, and the steering mechanism and a section of the bow is exposed at low water.
Information from ORCA and Sula Diving 2019
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
Change Of Classification (13 February 2024)
The classification (form) of this site record has been reviewed and changed from Casualty to Wreck as part of record revision work carried out by HES Designations in connection with the Scottish Marine Protected Areas Project. Information from HES Designations (P Robertson) 13 February 2024.
