Customer Reviews

Dive Scapa Flow

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Rod Macdonald has put together a very professional guide book to the dive sites of Scapa Flow. Personally, I have conducted professional assignments to Scapa on a number of occasions and, as a "guide," I have yet to find this book lacking in any way. It also served another very important purpose in that it is a very good read.

"Dive Scapa Flow" measures a little under 10" x 7" with a hard cover and comes from "Mainstream Publishing" of Edinburgh. There are 160 pages of narrative - all well supported by a large number of black and white photographs (most of which are historic), diagrams and maps plus a further eight pages of colour photographs in the middle. The book is well laid out. The first 2 chapters are devoted to historical events - the scuttling of the Imperial German Fleet and the incredible salvage operation that took place in later years, with the remainder of the book being dedicated to diving.

1919 was a time when Europe was coming to terms with the revelation that "millions" had died on all sides during the carnage of WW1. The Imperial German Fleet had been defeated and was interned in Scapa Flow with a skeleton crew on each vessel. The German Navy itself was in complete disarray with lawful orders being ignored and workers co-operatives running most of the ships. This was a time when all sides awaited the outcome of the Armistice from which the final decisions with regard to the disposal of each German ship would come. Basically, the ships would be distributed amongst the victorious allied navies with the Royal Navy getting the lion's share - thus making the British Fleet so large as to be unassailable throughout the world. Despite his many difficulties, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter retained overall command of the fleet - and he had other ideas. Knowing he could rely on sufficient people on each vessel to carry out his final command, Admiral von Reuter ordered the German Fleet scuttled and that order was executed on 21st June 1919 - right under British noses.

Rod Macdonald's account of those historic events is a fine précis and most relevant to this book. The same comment applies to the following chapter describing the incredible salvage operation which explains why so many of the scuttled ships are no longer to be found in Scapa Flow.

So, after two chapters of well-researched material and some equally excellent historic photographs, we now get down to the diving. This commences with an overview of what the diver can expect to find. All the ships are listed and this is followed by information on such important factors as; bye laws, visibility, seabed, equipment, photography, decompression and the various means of getting to and from each site.

The scene is now well and truly set and it's time to get down to cases. In chapter 4, each shipwreck is fully described in excellent detail in which there are 4 elements; An historic photograph of each vessel, a sketch describing her attitude underwater, a painting which shows the entire vessel as she lies on the seabed and a narrative which not only gives the technical details of the vessel in question but also goes on to describe the specific diving conditions relevant to that ship.

Of course, the wrecks of the Imperial German Fleet are not the only shipwrecks in Scapa Flow and the next 3 chapters are entitled; Alternative Wreck Dives, Diving the Blockships and Scapa's War Graves - all of which are self-explanatory. With a final chapter reserved for travel, accommodation and dive boat charters, this book is as complete a guide as one would hope to find.

NM

When people talk of ship graveyards, typically Truk Harbor comes to mind. Yet Scotland's Scapa Flow contains a number of sunken World War I and II British and German warships including High Seas Fleet units and HMS Royal Oak. Professional diver-author Rod Macdonald provides a fascinating travel guide/history to Scapa Flow's wrecks in this 1998 Mainstream Publishing release.

The main part of DIVE SCAPA FLOW deals with the German High Seas Fleet who scuttled their ships in June 1919, the subsequent efforts to salvage those ships and diving on the remaining wrecks circa 1998. Macdonald also details other ships resting in Scapa Flow such as numerous blockships, the battleship Royal Oak, which was torpedoed and sank in October 1939, and the battleship HMS Vanguard, which suffered a disastrous magazine explosion and sank in July 1917. The last two ships are 'forbidden wrecks' with no diving allowed; they're classified as war graves. Lastly Macdonald also details the loss of the cruiser HMS Hampshire in June 1916 and the loss of over 600 officers and men including Lord Kitchener.

Along with relating a great deal of fascinating history, Macdonald also discusses diving on the wrecks, their appearance, diving facilities/services, nearby motels, etc. Black and white and color photographs and diagrams of the sunken ships compliment the text; it's a very thorough and appealing package.

Even though the book is a bit long in the tooth (1998), DIVE SCAPA FLOW is a fascinating and well-done travelogue/history to the history and ships of Scapa Flow. Recommended.