Scuba diving Scapa Flow day 2

The fierce hiss of the cold water of Scapa Flow roaring into the ballast tanks of the Coln lightcruiser would have been deafening.

In a final act of defiance, the German crew were putting into action 'Paragraph 11'. Each member of the skeleton crew were doing their bit to scuttle the ship.

It had been a miserable and cold seven months interned in the Orkney Isles as the politicians dithered over the spoils of war following the declaration of peace in November 1918.

But as the sailors raced around the ship opening the valves that would fill the ship with water and take her to the sea bed some 35m below, the spirits would have been warmed.

Thanfkfully, their defence of the Motherland and two-fingered salute to the political windbags has left us one of the world's best shipwrecks.

The full scale of the oln slowly emerged from the green-tinged water as we descended the shotline to her port side at about 17m. The line from the surface is tied off close to one of the lifeboat davits about two thirds from the bow.

Following their arch-like shape, we headed deeper along her deck, sitting at a 90-degree angle from the sandy bottom.

With the wreck on our right shoulder, the six of us headed forward towards the bridge. Now just a skeleton framework, the bridge's soft steel outer has rotted away and, where she should be linked to the conning tower is now a twist of metal.

Initially, I missed the importance of the lump of metal sitting isolated from the bridge, until I recognised the range finder sitting on top of the armour-clad control tower with the ring of narrow letterbox-sized viewing slits. From here the crew were have operated her 5.9in guns that have long since disappeared from the wreck.

Continuing foward we passed the anchor chain capstans, the holes for the crew to manually turn the winch in the event of mechanical failure still visible.

Drifting off the wreck at the bow and looking back, the wreck looked immense, the deck disappearing ghostlike into the distance in one direction and the straight lines of her bow in the other. Her body was covered in a layer of marine growth with colourful plumrose anenomes and bright deadman's fingers scattered across he skin.

Most of the dive had been spent in that 30m region so we headed shallower and headed back along her portside, poking into the surface damaged by deterioration and salvage. Part way along, we can across the fixing for the armoury that looked like a three tiered wedding cake with a nipple on top (words of Emily, our skipper, not mine).

Sadly, we were soon at the limits of our EANx30 and had to ascent back to the surface. A massive shoal of fish, (fishy-shit, according to wreck-loving Emily) schooled around the davits as it to give us a sent-off.

We had only scratched the surface of the immense cruiser.

After lunch and another chat with Emily (her briefing are as in-depth as you could hope, and such are the directions, you can't fail to spot all the features) we headed to the second dive of the day, The Karlsruhe.

Sitting in about 26m, the years and the salvors have not been kind to her. Parts of the deck at her bow have slipped towards the seabed, leaving much of her innards exposed. It means that the anchor capstans can be seen through the wreckage to a platform and hydraulics that should sit two decks down.

The great thing about the Karlsruhe is that her guns are still there. One sits about seven metres below the shotline, lying on the seabed. Her barrel was impressive, but the loading breach of the gun, that is usually hidden away within the turret, looked huge.

We headed towards the stern past a lot of twisted metal at the damaged midships trashed by salvors. Jono and Ash found a smim through and disappeared inside her body while Andy, myself, Number One and Number Two, headed through the wreckage, past another gun (this one with her barrel inbeded in the sand) and onto her hull.

While the bottom of the ship might not sound that fascinating, it provided some of her best features. The hudge rudder lay on the sandy bottom just behind the giant A-frames that jutted from her bottom. Support for the giant propellors that powered her through the oceans, the frame was covered in vibrant coloured marine growth - or hairy, as Emily called it - they were instantly recognisable as a unique feature to the cruiser.

At the rear of the ship her teak decking is still intact, although for how much longer remains to be seen. There was a small capstan on the rear that looked stunning. However, it is feared that the ravages of time and the sea will take her to the seabed as well.

Fifty-five minutes later it was time to head back to the surface and a well-earned pint mug of tea. Yep a pint mug. During the post-dive chat, Rich, sorry Number One reminded us that the wreck was no deeper than Dosthill. The quarry will never be same again!

We would all agree that today presented us with two of the best dives we have done and we could spend days on them both, getting to know their intimate secrets that have been hidden beneath the waves for 90-odd years.

Visibility was about 10m, and water was about 13 degrees. Current was non-existent on the Koln and only slight on the Karslruhe as it pushed us towards the stern. While the wind was Force 4s and 5s, because they were north-westerlies, the surface was choppy but happily devoid of too much swell.

Tomorrow: The first of the giant battleships.