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Gondolier: Water Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney
Craft (20th Century), Paddle Steamer (20th Century)
Site Name Gondolier: Water Sound, Scapa Flow, Orkney
Classification Craft (20th Century), Paddle Steamer (20th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Ayre Of Cara; Grimness; South Ronaldsay; Churchill Causeway; Churchill Barrier No. 4; North Sea; Gondolier
Canmore ID 102349
Site Number ND49SE 8001
NGR ND 48105 94907
Datum WGS84 - Lat/Long
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/102349
- Council Orkney Islands
- Parish Maritime - Orkney
- Former Region Orkney Islands Area
- Former District Maritime
- Former County Not Applicable
ND49SE 8001 4810 9490
N58 50.3333 W2 53.95
NLO: Water Sound [name centred ND 460 950]
Ayre of Cara [name: ND 476 949]
Stromness [name: HY 253 090]
Scapa Flow [name centred HY 36 00].
For adjacent (and successor) Churchill Barrier No. 4, see ND49NE 17.
Formerly entered as Site No. 8894.
For other blockships in this group, see ND49NE 8002-9 and 8022.
For plan indicating the relative locations and orientations of blockships in this group, see Macdonald 1990, 125.
Quality of fix = CR
Horizontal Datum = OGB
Circumstances of Loss Details
-----------------------------
The paddle steamer GONDOLIER, built in 1866, sold to the Admiralty in 1939. It was sunk as a blockship.
Sources: Ferguson 1985; MacDonald 1990
Surveying Details
-----------------------------
14 March 1972. The wreck's position is given as 58 50 20N, 002 53 57W, or bearing 180.5 degrees and 838 metres from the spot height (107) on Burray. The entire shell of the hull is intact, but the decks and superstructure are missing. The engine and fittings have been salvaged. The paddle wheels have gone. The highest part is the boiler which stands about 2.4 metres high and is 2.4 metres below the surface at low water.
Report by Undermarine Operations, 5 March 1972.
1 September 1992. The wreck is stated to have rolled over and sunk in deep water.
Source: Ferguson 1985
Hydrographic Office, 1995.
(Classified as iron paddle steamship: date of loss cited as 21 March 1940). Gondolier: this vessel was placed [scuttled] as a blockship, rolled over and sank in deep water.
Registration: Glasgow. Bult 1866. 250 grt. Length: 45m. Beam: 6m.
(location of loss cited as 21 March 1940).
I G Whittaker 1998.
Water Sound is the most southerly of the four sounds that pierce the Eastern side of Scapa Flow. It formerly separated the islands of Burray (to the N) and South Ronaldsay (to the S), but is now crossed by Churchill Barrier No. 4 (ND49NE 17), which blocks it near the E (North Sea) end.
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 2 April 2007.
Desk Based Assessment (August 1997)
Throughout the two World Wars Scapa Flow served as the base of the British Home Fleet. Access to these waters was guarded by a series of coastal batteries, booms and blockships. The blockships comprised old and damaged vessels which were deliberately sunk in position so as to form a submarine obstacle to deter enemy incursions. By 1943, the completion of the Churchill barriers, which cut off the eastern approaches to Scapa Flow, rendered the blockships obsolete. After 1945 some of the blockships were dispersed by explosive to clear the shipping lanes while many others were salvaged for parts and metal. The wrecks of several blockships remain on the sea bed and in the inter tidal zone.
(i) The Pontos (ND 49 NE 8002), a 3, 265 ton steel single-screw steamer was built in Glasgow in 1891. She was sunk in 1914 and now rests c.12m offshore to the SE of Water Sound.
(ii) The Clio (ND 49 NE 8006), a 2,733 ton steel single-screw steamer was built in Hartlepool in 1889. She was sunk in 1914 and is visible to the centre of Water Sound at low tide.
(iii) The Lorne (ND 49 NE 8008), a 1,186 ton single-screw steamer was built in Hull in 1873 and sunk in 1915. The wreck was later dispersed by explosives and only fragments now survive.
(iv) The Naja (ND 49 NE 8008), a concrete barge, was sunk in 1939 and lies to the centre of Water Sound.
(v) The Carron (ND 49 NE 8004), a 1, 017 ton single-screw steel steamer, was built in Dundee in 1894. She was sunk as a blockship in 1940 and now lies, partially buried under sand, to the NE side of Churchill Barrier #4.
(vi) The Juniata (ND 49 NE 8022), a twin-screw steel motor tanker, was built in Sunderland in 1918. Sunk in 1940, she now lies to the NE side of Churchill Barrier #4.
(vii) The Gondolier (ND 49 SE 8001) was a 173 ton paddle steamer built in Glasgow in 1866. Sunk in 1940, she now lies on the SE side of the barrier.
(viii) The Collingdoc (ND 49 NE 8005), a 1,1780 ton steel single-screw steamer was built in 1925 in Hill-on-Tees. She was sunk in 1942 and lies partially buried under the sand to the SE end of the barrier.
(ix) Unidentified wreckage (ND 49 NE 8003) stands above HWM.
Reference (2011)
Whittaker ID : 1277
Name : GONDOLIER
Latitude : 585020
Longitude : 25357
Date Built : 1866
Registration : GLASGOW
Type : SS (IRON)(PADD)
Tonnage : 250
Tonnage Code : G
Length : 45
Beam : 6
Draught : 2m
Position : Exact Position
Loss Day : 21
Loss Month : 3
Loss Year : 1940
Comment : Placed as blockship, rolled over and sank in deep water
Reference (19 April 2012)
UKHO Identifier : 001244
Feature Class : Wreck
State : LIVE
Classification : Unclassified
Position (Lat/long) : 58.83889,-2.89917
Horizontal Datum : ORDNANCE SURVEY OF GREAT BRITAIN (1936)
WGS84 Position (Lat/long) : 58.83847,-2.90078
WGS84 Origin : 3-D Cartesian Shift (BW)
Position Method : Compass Bearing and Radar Range
Position Quality : Unreliable
Depth Quality : Depth unknown
Water Depth : 10
Vertical Datum : Lowest Astronomical Tide
Name : GONDOLIER
Type : BLOCKSHIP
Flag : BRITISH
Tonnage : 173
Tonnage Type : Gross
Date Sunk : 21/03/1940
Contact Description : Entire wreck
Original Sensor : Reported Sinking
Original Detection Year : 1940
Original Source : Other
Circumstances of Loss : **BUILT IN 1866 AS A PADDLE STEAMER. ONE BOILER, COMPOUND EXPANSION ENGINE. FORMALLY OWNED BY DAVID MACBRAYNE LTD, THE CALEDONIAN CANAL SERVICE, SUNK AS A BLOCKSHIP BUT ROLLED OVER WHILE FILLING AND SANK IN DEEP WATER. (WKS OF SCAPA FLOW, DIVE SCAPA FLOW & SIBI).
Surveying Details : **H2496/72 14.3.72 POSN 585020N, 025357W, OR 180.5DEG, 2750FT FROM SPOT HEIGHT (107) ON BURRAY. ENTIRE SHELL OF HULL INTACT BUT DECKS AND SUPERSTRUCTURE MISSING. ENGINE & FITTINGS SALVAGED. PADDLE WHEELS GONE. HIGHEST PART IS BOILER ABOUT 8FT HIGH & 8FT BELOW SURFACE AT LW. (UNDERMARINE OPERATIONS, 5.3.72). INS AS DWP. BR STD.
**20.8.80 COVERED BY 'BLOCKSHIPS SEE NOTE' LEGEND ON NE 2162.
**1.9.92 STATED TO HAVE ROLLED OVER & SUNK IN DEEP WATER. (WKS OF SCAPA FLOW).
Charting Comments : POSN FOR FILING ONLY
Date Last Amended : 09/02/2005
