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Ac6: Skerry Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney
Barge (20th Century), Crane Barge (20th Century)
Site Name Ac6: Skerry Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney
Classification Barge (20th Century), Crane Barge (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Ac-6; F/c Pontoon; Glimps Holm; Churchill Causeway; Churchill Barrier No. 2; North Sea; Ac6; Ac 6
Canmore ID 102358
Site Number ND49NE 8014
NGR ND 48120 99608
Datum WGS84 - Lat/Long
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/102358
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Maritime - Orkney
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Maritime
- Former County Not Applicable
ND49NE 8014 4736 9962
N58 52.8667 W2 54
NLO: Glimps Holm [name: ND 472 991]
Glimpsholm Skerry [name: ND 482 995]
Stromness [name: HY 253 090]
Scapa Flow [name centred HY 36 00].
Formerly entered as Site no. 8903 and classified as Floating Crane.
For adjacent and successor causeway (Churchill Barrier No. 2), see ND49NE 15.
For other blockships in this group, see HY40SE 8002, ND49NE 8015-21 and ND49NE 8023-4.
For plan indicating the relative locations and orientations of blockships in this group, see Macdonald 1990, 125.
Horizontal Datum = OGB
Circumstances of Loss Details
-----------------------------
The AC6, an ex Metal Industries Ltd barge, was sunk as a blockship.
Source: Ferguson 1985
Surveying Details
-----------------------------
9 July 1928. The wreck's position is given as 58 52 54N, 002 54 08W [the ARGYLL is in the same position].
14 March 1972. A position of 58 52 52N, 002 54 00W, or bearing 217.5 degrees, 838 metres from Lamb Holm trig stn (61). This is a very small wreck and very little remains only a large quantity of debris, plates and girders covered with weed.
Report by Undermarine Operations 5 March 1972.
27 August 1992. The wreck is dispersed amongst the remains of several other blockships.
Source: Dive Scapa Flow.
Hydrographic Office, 1995.
(Classified as crane barge: date of loss cited as 4 April 1941). AC 6: this vessel was sunk as a blockship in Skerry Sound.
Registration: British.
(location of loss cited as N58 52.87 W2 54.03).
I G Whittaker 1998.
(Noted under separate headings, as F/C pontoon and AC 6).
G Ridley 1992; L Wood 2000.
Skerry Sound is not noted as such on the 1998 edition of the OS 1:50,000 map. The name apparently applies to the ill-defined sound leading E from St Mary's Bay {name centred ND 473 002] into Holm Sound [name centred ND 500 992] between Lamb Holm [name: HY 485 003] to the N and Glimps Holm [name: ND 473 992] to the S. It is now closed by Churchill Barrier No. 2 (ND49NE 15: ND 4822 9999 to ND 4785 9952).
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 18 August 2005.
Skerry Sound is not noted as such on the 1998 edition of the OS 1:50,000 map, but the current edition of the OS (GIS) notes the name around ND 4814 9995, between Glimps Holm and Glimpsholm Skerry.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 28 March 2007.
Reference (2011)
Whittaker ID : 2553
Name : AC 6
Latitude : 585252
Longitude : 25402
Registration : BRITISH
Type : (BARGE)
Position : Exact Position
Loss Day : 4
Loss Month : 4
Loss Year : 1941
Comment : Crane barge sunk as a blockship in Skerry Sound
Reference (19 April 2012)
UKHO Identifier : 001259
Feature Class : Wreck
State : LIVE
Classification : Unclassified
Position (Lat/long) : 58.88111,-2.90000
Horizontal Datum : ORDNANCE SURVEY OF GREAT BRITAIN (1936)
WGS84 Position (Lat/long) : 58.88069,-2.90162
WGS84 Origin : 3-D Cartesian Shift (BW)
Position Quality : Unreliable
Depth Quality : Depth unknown
Water Depth : 5
Vertical Datum : Lowest Astronomical Tide
Name : AC6
Type : BARGE
Flag : BRITISH
Date Sunk : ??/??/1941
Contact Description : Entire wreck
Original Sensor : Reported Sinking
Last Sensor : None reported
Original Detection Year : 1941
Last Detection Year : 1992
Original Source : Other
Last Source : Other
Circumstances of Loss : **EX METAL INDUSTRIES LTD BARGE, SUNK AS A BLOCKSHIP. (WKS OF SCAPA FLOW).
Surveying Details : **H3875/28 9.7.28 POSN 585254N, 025408W. (ARGYLL IN SAME POSN). INS AS DWP. BR STD.
**H7308/56 13.5.59 INS CAUTION NOTE ON 35. - NM 1924/58.
**H2496/72 14.3.72 POSN 585252N, 025400W, OR 217.5DEG, 2750FT FROM LAMB HOLM TRIG STN (61). VERY SMALL WK AND VERY LITTLE REMAINS. LARGE QUANTITY OF DEBRIS, PLATES & GIRDERS, COVERED WITH WEED. (UNDERMARINE OPERATIONS 5.3.72). INS DWP. BR STD.
**3.7.80 NOT SHOWN ON NC 35 (AREA BLUED OUT).
**11.12.81 COVERED BY LEGEND 'WKS' ON NC 2250.
**27.8.92 DISPERSED AMONGST REMAINS OF SEVERAL OTHER BLOCKSHIPS. (DIVE SCAPA FLOW).
Charting Comments : POSN FOR FILING ONLY
Date Last Amended : 09/02/2005
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
Diver Inspection (2013)
58 52.841 N 2 54.000 W The midsection of AC6 sits out of water and is visible at all states of tide measuring 12m long by 10m beam. The remains are oriented east to east but it is unclear which way the bow would have pointed as this is no long visible. There are four steam winches on the top of the barge and a small Scotch boiler submerged within the box section which would have been used to operate the barge machinery not forpropulsion. The block stands on lattice work support legs that drop to the seabed.
East and west of the visible wreckage the submerged remains lie on a sand and rock bottom in 5m - 7m of water and have a moderate coverage of short animal turf. The well scattered broken down wreckage includes rib fragments, sections of hull plating, a winch and some bitts. The remains can be affected by storm swells but are generally sheltered from tide. The wrecks in Skerry Sound are subject to coastal accretion with an increase in sedimentation caused by the construction of the barriers.
There was no visible evidence of modern debris.
Analysis
A British barge used to facilitate salvage activities by Metal Industries Ltd it is unclear whether these are the remains of the Floating Crane Pontoon or the remains of the AC 6 as descriptions of both these vessels are the same.
The ADM report of blockships requisitioned during World War II available from the PRO refer to the AC6, but make no mention of the FC Pontoon. It is possible that the AC 6 is the name of the FC Pontoon. The UO surveys in 1972 do not record any protruding remains which is incongruous in light of the scale of the visible superstructure, which is likely to have been more extensive in the 1970s. There is no UKHO report for FC Pontoon.
Information from Annalisa Christie, Kevin Heath and Mark Littlewood (ORCA) March 2014
Side Scan Sonar Survey (2013)
58 52.841 N 2 54.000 W The site was assessed by side scan surveys using a pole-mounted towfish and diver ground-truthed. The exposure of the remains above the water made scanning the site difficult and the images of the remains are not very clear.
Information from Annalisa Christie, Kevin Heath and Mark Littlewood (ORCA) March 2014
