Scuba Geek

Dive bids to solve wreck mystery June 29, 2006

Posted by Andy Carroll in : WreckDiving , trackback

There is some confusion being created by the Caithness Diving club up in Scapa Flow, as they claim to have found a wreck which shouldn’t be there. The V81, which was at the Battle of Jutland in 1916, was raised in 1937 after foundering off the Caithness coast, but the members of the diving club say that they have found it still on the seabed;

From the BBC;

Mr Davidson said information on the fate of the V81 was “cloudy”.

The destroyer was part of the German High Seas Fleet which fought the Royal Navy in the Battle of Jutland, off Denmark’s coast.

Some 8,648 British and German sailors lost their lives in one day’s fighting on 31 May into 1 June 1916.

In 1919, the vessel and 73 other German warships were scuttled in Scapa Flow, Orkney.

Many were later salvaged, including the V81 whose sister vessel the V83 remains submerged at Scapa Flow.

“The V81 had been beached, but was re-floated in 1921 and was being towed to Rosyth when it hit fog off the Caithness coast,” said Mr Davidson.

“The tow was lost and V81 broke free and it ran aground just north of Sinclair Bay and there it lay for several years.”

Scapa Flow in Orkney, where 74 warships were scuttled

Mr Davidson said it was supposedly salvaged and taken away for scrap in 1937, but in 1985 divers reported to have found it wrecked on the seabed.

The club will continue investigating the ship and try to identify her.