Stromness, Scotland, United Kingdom

Tabarka Blockship

The Tabarka is a French steamer scuttled in 1944 as a blockship at the western entrance to Scapa Flow through Burra Sound, between the islands of Hoy and Graemsay. The wreck lies upside down on a clean sand and shingle bottom at 16 to 18 metres, with the keel rising to about 12 metres. Burra Sound is famous for fierce tidal flow but the Tabarka can only be dived at slack water, making timing absolutely critical. The reward is one of the most spectacular wrecks in the UK: the upturned hull is a cathedral of plumose anemones, dead man's fingers and hydroids, with shafts of light penetrating through holes in the plating. Divers can swim through the engine room, the boiler space and large hold openings on a swim-through circuit. Visibility on a good day exceeds 12 metres because of the strong tidal flushing. Marine life includes lobsters, edible crabs, ballan wrasse, pollack, conger eels and occasional grey seals. The site is run from charter boats out of Stromness in tightly scheduled slack-water dive plans.