Gutter Sound

German battlecruiser Derfflinger scuttled at Gutter Sound.

Gutter Sound is an inlet of the vast anchorage of Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. Gutter Sound was the site of the mass-scuttling of the interned German Imperial High Seas Fleet in 1919^{[citation needed]}.

Following the defeat of the German Empire in the First World War, 74 ships of the Kaiserliche Marine's High Seas Fleet were interned in Gutter Sound at Scapa Flow pending a decision on their future in the peace Treaty of Versailles. They arrived in November 1918, after the Armistice, and soon became something of a tourist attraction. On June 21, 1919, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, the German officer in command at Scapa Flow, after waiting for the bulk of the British fleet to leave on exercises, gave the order to scuttle the ships to prevent their falling into British hands. Fifty-three ships sank, 17 were towed into shallow water and beached, and only four torpedoboats remained afloat. The nine sailors killed were the last casualties of the First World War.

Casualties

Battleships

Ten battleships were sunk: SMS Bayern, SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm, SMS Markgraf, SMS Großer Kurfürst, SMS Prinzregent Luitpold, SMS Kaiser, SMS Kaiserin, SMS Friedrich der Große, SMS König Albert and SMS König.

SMS Baden was saved from scuttling by beaching.

Battlecruisers

Five battlecruisers were sunk: SMS Hindenburg, SMS Derfflinger, SMS Seydlitz, SMS Moltke and SMS Von der Tann.

Light Cruisers

Four light cruisers were sunk: SMS Cöln II, SMS Karlsruhe II, SMS Dresden II, and SMS Brummer.

SMS Nürnberg II, SMS Frankfurt, SMS Emden II and SMS Bremse were beached.

Destroyers/Torpedo Boats

Thirty-four torpedo boat destroyers/torpedo boats were sunk and twelve were beached:

• First Flotilla (G 40, G 38, G 39, V 129, S 32)
• Second Flotilla (G 101, G 103, V 100, B 109, B 110, B 111, B 112)
• Third Flotilla (S 53, S 54, S 55, S 91, V 70, V 73, V 81, V 82)
• Sixth Flotilla (V 43, V 44, V 45, V 46, S 49, S 50, V 125, V 126, V 127, V 128, S 131)
• Seventh Flotilla (S 56, S 65, V 78, V 83, G 92, S 136, S 137, S 138, H 145, G 89)
• Seventeenth Half Flotilla (S 36, S 51, S 52).

Four remained afloat.

Aftermath

Ernest Cox bought and salvaged 43 of the High Seas Fleet ships in the 1920s, an achievement most people at the time thought impossible. He used a variety of techniques. He lifted the smaller ships with floating docks and hawsers. With the larger ships, culminating with the 28,000-ton SMS Hindenburg, he patched all holes and then pumped the hulls with compressed air to force out the water and make them float upside down. Eight of the wrecks are still in Scapa Flow, and are a popular target for divers. These wrecks are: Bremse, Brummer, Dresden, Cöln, Karlsruhe, König, Kronprinz Wilhelm, and Markgraf.

Commercial salvage work on the vessels ceased in the late 1970's and further salvage is no longer technically possible. There was some minor salvage work in the 1990's to remove some of the radiation free metal plating from the wreck of the 'Kronprinz Wilhelm'. ^[1], that been used in space satellites ad some medical equipment. Metal forged before the first nuclear detonation in 1945 does not contain any trace of radioactive isotopes that are now present in the atmosphere. The background radioactivity of these isotopes could exhibit an effect on fine sensors used in space.

The eight vessels that remain are protected as maritime scheduled ancient monuments.

Diving the wrecks

Today eight remaining wrecks make for popular and interesting dives for scuba divers.

Five are light cruisers:

• SMS Bremse - Gross Tonnage: 4500. Length: 140m.
• SMS Brummer - Gross Tonnage: 4500. Length: 140m. The SMS Brummer lies in 36m of water.
• SMS Cöln II - Gross Tonnage: 4500. Length: 140m. The SMS Cöln lies in 36m of water.
• SMS Dresden II - Gross Tonnage: 5531. Length: 156m. The SMS Dresden lies in 36m of water.
• SMS Karlsruhe II - Size: Gross Tonnage: 5500. Length: 150m. The SMS Karlsruhe lies in a 25m of water.

Three are battleships:

• SMS König - Gross Tonnage: 26000. Length: 175m. The SMS König lies in 43m of water.
• SS Kronprinz Wilhelm - Gross Tonnage: 26000. Length: 175m. The Kronprinz Wilhelm lies in 38m of water.
• SMS Markgraf - Gross Tonnage: 26000. Length: 175m. The Markgraf lies in 47m of water.

External references

• The Grand Scuttle: The sinking of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow in 1919. Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1982

Coordinates: 58°51′03″N, 03°11′14″W

References

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