Clifton has just come back from a weeks diving the historic World War One German High Seas Fleet wrecks at Scapa Flow, in the Orkneys, Scotland. On June 21st 1919 Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter mistakenly got the message that the British were to re engage the Germans after the Armistice in the previous year. The German high seas fleet had been interned in Scapa Flow since that time. Believing the British wanted to capture the fleet Reuter gave the command to scuttle the entire fleet and 52 ships sank to the seabed, the greatest loss of shipping in a single day. Most of the wrecks have been extensively salvage and many reflected. There remains 3 battleships, one of the only places in the world to see Dreadnaught battleships (let alone three!) and 4 small cruisers and mine layers. Having spent almost 100 years under the waves with some salvage operations they lie in a fragile state but are still diveable. On top of that we also used the MV Huskyan, the newest dive boat in the area with luxury facilities including a multimedia platform that can be used to deliver 3D model dive briefings before getting in the water. Everyone had an amazing week even if it is a long way to travel back!
