Sms S131 [secondary Location]: Gutter Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney
Destroyer (20th Century)
Site Name Sms S131 [secondary Location]: Gutter Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney
Classification Destroyer (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) S-131; Ore Bay; Weddell Sound; Hoy; Fara; S131
Canmore ID 102244
Site Number ND39SW 8005
NGR ND 32150 94009
Datum WGS84 - Lat/Long
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/102244
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Maritime - Orkney
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Maritime
- Former County Not Applicable
ND39SW 8005 3215 9401
N58 49.7167 W3 10.5167
NLO: Ore Bay [name centred ND 312 942]
Weddel Sound [name centred ND 335 943]
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 8034 B109 (destroyer)
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 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).
Possibly (formerly) on map sheet ND39NW.
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 S131: no. VI flotilla, with:
No. 11 half-flotilla: V43, V44 (leader), V45, V46, S55, S49 and S50,
No. 12 half-flotilla: V125, V126, V127, V128 and S132.
D Van der Vat 1986.
Raised by Scapa Flow Salvage, 1924.
P L Smith 1989.
Listed among 'German salvage sites' with destroyers SMS S49 (ND39SW 8013), S50 (ND39SW 8012) and V45 (ND39SW 8002). Attributed to 11th Division of No. 6 Flotilla.
G Ridley 1992.
Horizontal Datum = UND
Circumstances of Loss Details
-----------------------------
The German destroyer S131 was scuttled
Surveying Details
-----------------------------
1925. The vessel was raised and moved to Ore Bay, where it was repaired for removal and delivery to Granton Shipbreaking Co.
Hydrographic Office, 1995.
The location cited above falls within the broad entrance to Ore Bay and SE of Lyness. The ship was presumably scuttled and salvaged within the main group of destroyers in Gutter Sound (probably on map sheet ND39NW) but was later beached in Ore Bay.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 8 November 2002.
R and B Larn 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: 272ft 8ins (83.1m)
Beam: 27ft 6ins (8.4m)
Displacement: 939/1170 tons
Propulsion: steam turbines; 2 propellers; 23,500/25,5000 hp; 34/37 kts
Armament: 3 x 104mm (4.1in) guns; 4 x 60cm (19.7in) torpedo tubes; 24 mines
Complement: c. 130
SMS S131. This ship was built by Schichau at Elbing, launched on 3 March 1917 and completed in 1917 as the first unit of the nine-strong S131 class. She was apparently sunk in shallow water, from which she was raised by the Scapa Flow Salvage and Shipbreaking Co, on 29 August 1924. [No date or place of salvage cited].
The cited (secondary) location of this vessel falls on the S side of the entrance to Ore Bay and about 250m from shore.
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 (19 April 2012)
UKHO Identifier : 000981
Feature Class : Wreck
State : DEAD
Classification : Unclassified
Position (Lat/long) : 58.82861,-3.17528
Horizontal Datum : ORDNANCE SURVEY OF GREAT BRITAIN (1936)
WGS84 Position (Lat/long) : 58.82819,-3.17686
WGS84 Origin : 3-D Cartesian Shift (BW)
Previous Position : 58.82862,-3.17528
Position Quality : Unreliable
Depth Quality : Depth unknown
Water Depth : 15
Vertical Datum : Lowest Astronomical Tide
Name : S131
Type : DESTROYER
Flag : GERMAN
Length : 82.9
Beam : 8.2
Tonnage : 919
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 (1919) (LEAST DEPTH 6FMS). (C7953).
**H6229/23 INS ON CHARTS. - NM 1523/23.
**CP28047 CP 2594 CP26437 RAISED AND MOVED TO ORE BAY.
**CP31325 ARRIVED AT ORE BAY.
**CP2309/25 CP4945/25 CP5710/25 REPAIRED FOR REMOVAL AND DELIVERY TO GRANTON SHIPBREAKING CO.
**H204/25 ERASE WK FROM CHARTS.
Charting Comments : POSN FOR FILING ONLY
Date Last Amended : 03/02/2005
Date Position Last Amended : 03/02/2005
Reference (March 2012)
Sitename : SMS S-131
Altname : Gutter Sound
Note : From MBES geophysical data - low mounds off Ore Bay c. 0.7 metre high, c.148 by 129 metre in size, in 17 metre of water that could be associated with anchorages or the salvaging of the German High Seas Fleet off Lyness. It is part of an area of similar sized mounds covering 1.2 kilometre between Hoy and Fara extending from offshore of Mill Bay to Ore Bay. High potential.
Source :
Aspect Survey,Lyness SeaZone TruDepth Points SeaZone in OSGB36 SeaZone Dataset 109871,SeaZone,2011
Side Scan Sonar Survey (2013)
58 49.6914 N 3 10.611 W The site was assessed by side scan surveys. No contacts were found on or near to the target and as such the site was not dived.
Analysis
The target is noted as the salvage site of the SMS S131 destroyer. The wreck is recorded as having been successfully salvaged by Scapa Flow Salvage and Shipbreaking Co. in 1924. Launched on 3rd March 1917 and interned at Scapa Flow with the majority of the German High Seas Fleet in November 1918, historical source record that the SMS S131 was scuttled in 1919 with the rest of the Fleet.
The area was surveyed as it was unclear whether any debris from the salvage remained in situ. Previous MBES survey data assessments of the site had noted a low mound in the area.
Information from Annalisa Christie, Kevin Heath and Mark Littlewood (ORCA) March 2014
Project (2013 - 2014)
The Scapa Flow 2013 Marine Archaeology Survey Project, commissioned by Historic Scotland, undertook remote sensing surveys and archaeological diving evaluations at some of the sites within Scapa Flow, Orkney and at the Churchill Barriers.
The project aimed to establish or confirm the identification, extent of survival, character and condition of around 28 known but mostly poorly recorded First and Second World War wreck sites, 8 salvage sites, several sites thought to be associated with Second World War Boom Defences, and a limited sample of geophysical features identified in previous studies (Project Adair).
The work built on that of previous surveys including those completed as part of the ScapaMap Project (2001 and 2006) and by Wessex Archaeology Scapa Flow Wrecks Survey (2012), amongst others.
The project was completed by ORCA Marine and SULA Diving
