Tags
German High Seas Fleet, Hamburg, Orkney Islands, Scapa Flow, Scuba Diving, Triton Werke Ferdinand Muller, Wrecks of Scapa Flow
It was about thirty years ago that I took up scuba-diving. I learned with a small British Sub Aqua Club and went on to dive with the club for over ten years. It was all cold water diving around the U.K. so dry suits were essential, especially for Scotland in spring and autumn.
Some people have said to me that there can’t be much to see in the waters around the UK, but they are completely wrong. You only have to look on the seabed, in the rocks, on rock walls, amongst the kelp, and on wrecks to find the most beautiful flora and fauna. You do need a torch at depth because the deeper you go the more light you lose. Sport divers diving on air are limited to an eight minute dive at forty metres, after that, depending how long you stay down, you have to do decompression stops on the way up.
In about 1990 we dived the World War I German wrecks which were scuttled and lie in Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland. You can read about the history here: http://www.scapaflowwrecks.com/history/
It was the best diving ever. I remember so well on the first dive as me and my buddy floated down into the depths how amazingly clear the water was. It felt like flying as we fell further and further down, a wonderful sensation of freedom as the heavy weight of all the diving kit when on board the boat suddenly became weightless.
Unfortunately since moving to France I’ve mislaid all my dive logs and so have no record of which wrecks we dived and when. I do know we dived some of the enormous battleships, some of the cruisers, and one of the block ships. I remember we barely had time to get around some of these wrecks because they were so big. And I also remember peering in to the port holes through the murky gloom – kind of eerie – and imagining the time when the German sailors were living aboard.
Information about the wrecks and diving them can be seen here: http://www.scapaflowwrecks.com
I dug out a few photos of that wonderful week’s diving. Unfortunately underwater cameras weren’t that common back then so no pics of the wrecks beneath the waves.
Kirkwall
On board The Triton
Going In
Coming Out
On One of the Blockships
Keeping Warm
To end this post I must tell you about my little bit of treasure! On one of my dives, I think it may have been the Dresden, I picked something up that was partly hidden in the sand. I have always thought it was a piece of a dish, but when I recently searched the name I found that it’s most likely from a hand-basin.
The company, from Hamburg, used to make sanitaire equipment for ships. So this is my rather special little treasure from my dive in Scapa 1n 1990.
Ladybuggz said:
That is so cool! Get back out there and take photo’s of the wrecks!! lol.. You’ve lead such an interesting and active life, your so lucky Jude! 🙂 I love the piece of ceramic!
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Jude said:
Thanks so much T! I gave up diving in the end due to cost. I was a single mum back then, with a mortgage. I’d love to think I could still do it but I’m nowhere near fit enough, I just loved being under water, felt completely at home – far less scary than being up in the air!
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Jude said:
Cave divers in the BBC news today – in Mallorca – maybe you read it. Trapped for two days in an underwater cave and had only enough air for one to get out for help! A story could well start here!
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Jack Probyn said:
I haven’t been diving in years, and seeing this post has made me miss it! Unfortunately, I’ve never been anywhere as exciting, seen anything as exciting, nor found something as exciting as you have – I think the most exotic it got for me was a stone in a quarry…
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Jude said:
Jack, you must have seen some fish and some crabs and some wonderful sea anemones! I don’t suppose that the quarry was Stoney Cove near Leicester? We used to train there sometimes. I haven’t dived for probably over fifteen years now, and writing this post made me miss it too.
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Jack Probyn said:
It was indeed Stoney Cove in Leicester! I used to train there – my friends and I went in February time and I didn’t have a dry suit. After wearing two wetsuits it didn’t end well and I was almost frozen at the end of it!
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Jude said:
Did they still have the aeroplane there to dive through? And a bus too I think? And it was perishing cold!! Must be a short story to be had from diving – meeting something ghostly staring back at you out of a port hole? 🙂 🙂
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Jack Probyn said:
Yeah there was the aeroplane, bus and also a Mini Cooper if I remember correctly!
Yes, I think there is – or perhaps you’re in a cave somewhere and you run out of air but stumble on a secret civilisation!?
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mwgeoguy said:
Wow! That’s really cool. Just when I think I’m adventurous, I need to recalibrate my way of thinking and try scuba diving. Nice. I hope you continue.
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Jude said:
I’d love to think I could but I’m not fit enough these days. I had a wonderful ten years all round the UK on all sorts of dives. Now I enjoy the memories and go biking instead! 🙂
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Playamart - Zeebra Designs said:
it’s always great to see ‘oldie’ photos… each image snapped was most likely one of 24 or 36, and each ‘snap’ was carefully considered. My, how photography has changed!
Your little treasure is very special, and it has a second value of connecting you with those early years – and memories – of diving.
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Jude said:
Oh heck Lisa, I just noticed I never replied to you! As you said, my little treasure does take me right back to Scapa, and since then I found my old dive log, and I’d noted that my ‘find’ was actually picked up on the wreck of the Derfflinger – a battle cruiser from 1913 – 1919. I did love my diving days 🙂
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Amy said:
Diving, riding motorcycle… what a fun life, Jude! That is a precious treasure. 🙂
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Jude said:
Thanks Amy, I’m glad I have those memories. Hobbies come and go and are replaced by other things – like writing and photography 🙂
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a piecemeal adventurer said:
Looked over the water to scarpa flow from John O, Groats
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Jude said:
Ah, the Orkneys were so wild and windswept, I just loved them!
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mdhoffmannphoto said:
Hi Jude – I really enjoyed reading of your diving adventures. I may still take some lessons one day. Whenever I go swimming, I’m always diving down deep – such a great feeling of being suspended in water. I guess that’s why I also prefer taking a bath instead of a shower.
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Jude said:
It’s a different, silent world down there Michael. Even the very first time I was under water – sitting on the bottom of a swimming pool – I thought how amazing it was. It’s a world we have no right to be in, and it’s quite wonderful! Some people try it and find it claustrophobic, I found a new freedom, and there’s just so much sea-life to wonder at. 🙂
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mdhoffmannphoto said:
A different way to see life alright! I sea what you mean.
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Jude said:
Sea-sea! … that’s Spanish for yes!
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mdhoffmannphoto said:
Good one!
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joshi daniel said:
that looks like a great experience 🙂
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Jude said:
It was one of those unforgettable experiences! Thanks Joshi 🙂
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Dina said:
Awesome, Jude!! Gosh, we saw the diving schools there. It must be pure magic to be under water at this iconic place. Gives me the chills to think of it. x
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Jude said:
Thanks Dina. The only chill was the cold water on my face, that’s the only bit uncovered! It was magic at Scapa, I’m so glad I took up diving when I got the opportunity!
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