"As complete a Guide as one would hope to find", 9 Sep 2001

By	Ned Middleton (British professional underwater photo-journalist & author.) - See all my reviews

"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

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