Stromness, Scotland, United Kingdom

SMS Konig

SMS Konig was a German Konig-class battleship scuttled with the rest of the High Seas Fleet on 21 June 1919 in Scapa Flow, Orkney. The wreck rests upside down at around 38-40 metres on a seabed of fine silt, with the keel reaching up to about 20 metres. As one of the three remaining battleships in Scapa (alongside Kronprinz Wilhelm and Markgraf), Konig is one of the largest and most historic dives in British waters. Divers can explore the massive 175-metre hull, the upturned 30.5cm gun turrets that have collapsed onto the seabed, the rudder and propeller shafts, and salvage cuts where parts of the ship were recovered in the twentieth century. Visibility is typically 5 to 10 metres, occasionally better in summer, and water temperatures range from 6 to 12 degrees Celsius year-round, requiring drysuits. Marine life is abundant for a temperate site: plumose anemones blanket the hull, while wolffish, ling, conger eels and pollack patrol the wreckage. Tidal currents in the Flow are moderate but predictable, and dives are usually planned around slack water from a hardboat with surface support.