Stromness, Scotland, United Kingdom

SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm

SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm is one of the three surviving Konig-class battleships of the Imperial German Navy lying in Scapa Flow, Orkney, scuttled on 21 June 1919. The wreck sits upside down with the keel at around 12 metres and the seabed at roughly 38 metres, making it one of the more accessible of the great battleships for properly trained recreational and technical divers. Highlights include the massive bow, the upturned hull plating with intact armour belt, fallen 30.5cm main turrets, casemate guns, and the steering gear at the stern. Salvage operations during the 1930s and again later in the twentieth century cut into parts of the ship, exposing internal compartments. Visibility ranges from 5 to 12 metres in summer and water temperatures sit between 6 and 12 degrees Celsius. The wreck is colonised by dense plumose anemones, dead man's fingers and hydroids, and is patrolled by wolffish, conger eels, ling and pollack. All dives are run from charter boats out of Stromness or Houton, planned around slack water and predictable Pentland Firth tidal influences.