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Lying upside down on the seabed of
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Scapper Flow is one of the most iconic
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battleship dives in the world. The SMS
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Crom Prince Vilhelm with a maximum depth
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of 38 m and the shallowest parts at only
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12. It's also a great depth for
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recreational divers. This 175 m long
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German battleship was scuttled by her
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own crew on the 21st of June 1919. And
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today she offers divers an extraordinary
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journey through naval history. In this
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video I'll guide you through the
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sections every diver should explore on
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this magnificent wreck. From her massive
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aft turrets to the famous gun run along
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her port side where you can see seven
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150 mm guns. We'll visit the incredible
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armored spotting top from where lookouts
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observed gunfire during the battle of
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Jutland. There's also the incredible
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sight of one of the forward guns which
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has been ripped out of its turret by the
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anchor chain when the battleship turned
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turtle and sank. We'll also visit the
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stern which has been extensively
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remodeled by explosives during the
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salvage operations and see the two
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massive rudders that dominate the hull.
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I'll also take you inside for a brief
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taste of what it's like to penetrate
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this incredible wreck. Even this though
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is only going to scratch the surface of
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what there is to do. But hopefully it
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will give you a taste for why people
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come back and dive it year after year.
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So let's start off with those aft
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turrets which in many ways are the
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poster boy for diving in Scappa and the
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bits that pretty much everybody wants to
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see. We're descending the shot line to
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38 m, the deepest point of the wreck.
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And this is where most dive boats tie in
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because they know everybody wants to see
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What you're looking at now are turrets D
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and E. Each originally mounted two 305
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mm guns. That's over 12 ines of naval
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firepower. And because the ship lies
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upside down, these massive gun barrels
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are now pointing down into the seabed.
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Most of the barrels themselves are
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partially buried into silt, but you can
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still make out their enormous diameter.
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The crews for these guns were protected
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in two massive turrets, each of which
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boasts 30 cm of frontal armor, thick
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enough to withstand direct hits from
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enemy battleships. Now, because you're
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swimming beneath the wreck, buoyancy
2:39
control is absolutely critical here. One
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careless fin kick and you'll stir up a
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silk cloud that will ruin visibility for
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everyone. Stay neutral, move slowly,
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But take the time to understand the
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scale of these things. They are truly
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Think what that was like, not only for
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the people who built them, but also on
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the other wrecks, the similar wrecks to
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this in Scapplow that were salvaged.
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Just think of what it takes to do that.
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It's it was an unbelievable achievement,
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especially when you consider most of it
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was done in the 1930s.
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Also, of course, you have to think that
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these guns fired at the Battle of
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Jutland. They were used in anger and
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they are unchanged since that moment in
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time. Truly a piece of history and
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really easy to see why everybody wants
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to come and see this this part of the
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wreck. Even little details like this.
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You can see above us here is the deck.
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And we're now beneath one of the
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turrets. That hatch there that's been
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illuminated by Bob. That is where shell
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cases would have been thrown out of the
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turret once they' been fired. As we look
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down the side, you can see the size of
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the turret. The divers give it scale.
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It's amazing to think that 80 men would
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have been responsible for each turret.
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Incredible number. The next part is just
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as good in my opinion because we're
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going to travel along the port side
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where we're going to see the secondary
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arament that the ship bristles with.
4:16
These are the Casemate guns, the famous
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gun. The Crump Prince Vilhelm carried
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mm secondary guns, seven on each side.
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Now, because she's lying slightly tilted
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over to her starboard side, the ones on
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the port side are perfectly positioned
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for exploration and photography.
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Personally, I think they're incredibly
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photogenic. This one hanging from the
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ceiling is a really good example. You
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can also see it's covered in life. It's
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uh an incredibly beautiful, beautiful
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thing. Although, you have to remember
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its original purpose whenever you look
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at something like this. Each gun is
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contained in a heavily armored
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compartment. And these would guns were
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designed to defend against torpedo boats
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and destroyers at closer ranges than the
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main battery could engage.
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What's really interesting about the guns
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is that to access them, you've got to
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travel over and under bits of the ship
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that have fallen down from above. Now,
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the reason it's fallen down from above
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is because the main armor belt was
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situated below or now above the ship,
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and that was salvaged. The reason it was
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salvaged is because it's got the famous
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uh subatomic steel on it. So, really
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high quality, really valuable steel that
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was created before the first nuclear
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explosions. So, isn't contaminated like
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every piece of steel that has been made
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since. that makes it useful for certain
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very sensitive applications. Albeit, I
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don't think there's a huge demand for it
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and it's no longer possible to get it
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from Scapper Flow because all salvage on
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Scapper Rex is now prohibited by UK law.
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Commercial salvage did take place though
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all the way from the 1930s through to
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They blew off the armor plates and then
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would pick them up from the seabed. But
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in the process of blowing them off, they
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also created a huge amount of much less
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valuable debris, and that's what
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restricts access to the guns. That's the
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stuff that you've got to go over and
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under. Some of them are more accessible
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than others. Some of them are easier to
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spot, and it definitely helps if you've
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had somebody who's dived it before to
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show you the way. Trust me, they're all
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there, though. It's just a case of
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finding them. Following the gun run
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forward takes us nicely to one of the
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most distinctive features of any
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Scapperflow battleship, the armored
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spotting top. And there it is. But
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before we get to the top itself, look at
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this. The armored access tube. This is a
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vertical steel tube that allowed crew
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members to climb from the main deck up
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to the spotting position. And the reason
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it's armored is critical because the men
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using it were exposing themselves to all
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sorts of potential injury, but mainly
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from enemy shell splinters. Once they
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reached the top, they were performing
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one of the most vital jobs in naval
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warfare, spotting the fall of shot. And
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this is where the history happened. The
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Crown Prince Wilhelm fought at the
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Battle of Jutland on the 31st of May
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1916, the largest naval battle of World
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War I. And the men stationed up here in
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this spotting top were the eyes of the
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ship and saw firsthand this incredible
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naval conflict. Their job was to observe
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where the ship's massive 305 mm guns
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shells were landing, where they were
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falling short, over or on target, and
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relay corrections back to the gunnery
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officers below. Without accurate
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spotting, those huge guns were firing
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blind, and the shells were wasted. At
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Jutland, the Crom Prince Vilhelm was
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part of the third battle squadron. It
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engaged British battle cruisers at range
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exceeding 18,000 m. That's over 11 mi.
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At those distances, accuracy was super
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important, and that meant spotting the
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fall of shot was everything.
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Can you imagine being up here during
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that battle? The concussion from your
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own guns firing. Enemy shells landing
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around the ship. Trying to track shell
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splashes through smoke and spray while
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calling down corrections through voice
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pipes. The crown prince survived the
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battle of Jutland with only minor
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damage. Testimony to the skill of her
8:45
crew and the quality of her armor. But
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it wasn't enough to stop it ending up at
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the bottom of the sea. And what we're
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going to see next is absolute tangible
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evidence of the trauma of the sinking
8:58
because there's something absolutely
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extraordinary on the alpha turret, the
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very forward turret that you have to see
9:05
to believe. This is evidence of
9:08
something that happened during the
9:10
actual sinking that's been frozen in
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place for over a century. Look at this.
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The anchor chain wrapped completely
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around one of the 305 mm gun barrels.
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And this happened on the 21st of June
9:26
As the battleship rolled and capsized,
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her massive anchor chains. Each link
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wing several kilograms came loose and
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fell across the deck. The gun barrel
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caught the chain as the ship went over
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and it's been wrapped around it ever
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since. The forces involved are
9:43
absolutely mind-boggling. The ship
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weighed over 26,000 tons. When it rolled
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onto its side, everything that wasn't
9:50
secured started moving. Equipment,
9:53
anchor chains, ships, boats, the whole
9:55
lot. This chain found the gun barrel in
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those final chaotic moments. What makes
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this so powerful is that it was
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completely accidental. Nobody tried to
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allow this to happen. It's just a
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snapshot of the exact moment that the
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warship died. The anchor chain that was
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meant to hold it in place to keep it
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steady in harbor became part of the
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final story and a really important
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visual reminder of the way it ended.
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Now thinking about these turrets, each
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of them weighed over 600 tons and
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required a crew of 80 men, gun layers,
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loaders, rammers, magazine handlers, all
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working in precision. At Jutland, the
10:39
Crown Prince Wilhelm engaged Brit
10:41
British battle cruisers and her gunnery
10:43
was accurate, contributing to the
10:46
devastating f firepower that sank the
10:49
perhaps poorly named HMS Invincible.
10:53
The rate of fire was around two rounds
10:55
per minute per gun when the crew was
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well drilled. This means that the ship
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could throw 10 405 kg shells every 60
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seconds at targets over the horizon.
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These guns fired their last shots in
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anger at Jutland in 1916.
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3 years later, wrapped in their own
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anchor chain, they were silenced forever
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when the battleship settled to the
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bottom of Scappa Flow. Now, the bit of
11:23
video that you're seeing at the moment
11:25
shows the breach of the 305 mm gun that
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has the anchor chain wrapped around it,
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it's been illuminated by the diver you
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can see on the right. We've also just
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seen the shell loading and handling
11:37
mechanism on the left hand side. And
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that's one of the great things about
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this gun because it was ripped out and
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the roof was ripped out. You can
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actually see inside it and get to the
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brereech. It's a fantastic thing to be
11:51
able to do. Although you're always aware
11:53
that directly above is the remains of a
11:58
What we're going to do now though is
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head to the stern. It's shallower than
12:01
the bits that we've seen so far. It's
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also extremely unlikely that you would
12:06
go there from the forward turrets. More
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likely you'd either do it on a second
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dive or before or after a visit to those
12:15
As you'd expect, the stern is where the
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ship's steering mechanism is located. It
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would also have had large amounts of the
12:23
engine components and that's why this
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was a favorite area for salvers. What
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they would do is they would drop down
12:30
onto the ship and they would blow holes
12:32
in the hull until they found things that
12:35
were of interest. They would then expand
12:37
those holes, recover the things and move
12:40
on to the next part of the ship where
12:41
they would thought they could find
12:42
something else valuable. That means that
12:45
large parts of the stern area not only
12:48
are extensively damaged due to
12:50
explosives, but stuff that is valuable,
12:52
such as the massive bronze propellers,
12:55
are long gone. Also, large quantities of
12:58
the engine components are missing as
13:00
well. Although if you search around
13:01
inside, you can see plenty of evidence
13:04
of the three sets of Parson's turbines
13:07
that drove the crown prince providing
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43,000 shaft horsepower, which was
13:14
enough to ensure that the 26,000 ton
13:16
battleship was able to reach speeds of
13:19
up to 20 knots, fast enough to keep pace
13:21
with the high seas fleet. You can also
13:24
see the rudders, which are a skew due to
13:27
the explosives. These were essential at
13:29
Jutland as rapid course changes and
13:32
evasive action helped her avoid serious
13:34
damage whilst concurrently engaging the
13:37
British battle cruisers. Because it's
13:39
shallower, has more light, and there's a
13:42
greater current flow over the top of it.
13:44
This area is also a haven of life, so if
13:47
that's your thing, there's plenty of
13:49
stuff to see. That's not really my
13:52
thing, though. But what I do like to do
13:54
is go inside Rex. And the size and the
13:57
scale of the crop prints mean that there
13:59
is a huge amount of potential to do
14:02
that. As always with any wreck
14:04
penetration, it needs to be done
14:06
properly. You need appropriate training.
14:08
You need to carry out reconnaissance.
14:11
You need to lay lines and all that kind
14:13
of stuff. But for those of you who have
14:15
those qualification for people who like
14:18
to do it, it is absolutely incredible.
14:20
The ability to get inside a wreck of
14:22
this scale, to move around, to see the
14:25
different compartments, to see the
14:27
evidence of the vast amount of stuff
14:29
that would have been inside there. Well,
14:31
it's it's just incredible. And for the
14:33
people who come back year after year,
14:36
this is what an awful lot of them like
14:37
to do. Get inside, swim around, explore
14:41
new places, find new things. And because
14:44
the wrecks are decaying and changing
14:47
continuously, that means new areas open
14:49
up all the time. In this video, you can
14:52
see that I've entered through a small
14:54
hatch. It's about halfway up the wreck
14:58
on the port side and I'm heading towards
15:00
the bow. You can see that somebody has
15:03
already laid line and that was done on
15:05
the previous day. The divers that you
15:07
saw at the beginning of the video showed
15:08
me where this is and you can see that
15:10
I'm now inside it. I'm completely inside
15:14
the wreck. Above me is just the hull.
15:17
Below me, you can see there's large
15:19
amounts of stuff has collapsed down onto
15:21
the seabed. It's absolutely amazing.
15:24
There's so much room in here. And as you
15:26
can see, all sorts of uh bits and
15:28
pieces. The this whole section was just
15:32
full of interesting things. As you can
15:34
see, there's also a whole load of room.
15:37
My estimate is I traveled probably 50 or
15:40
60 m inside the wreck moving from stern
15:44
or from the stern direction to the bow
15:46
section and then there was a big exit
15:50
big opportunity to drop out of the wreck
15:53
that took me very close to where the two
15:55
forward guns are located.
15:57
Now, I'm sure I don't need to tell you
15:59
that this is great fun and really
16:02
exciting and the kind of thing I think
16:05
that many of us when we learned to dive
16:07
dreamt that we would be doing. So, I
16:10
never went through this door, but
16:12
there's definitely somewhere I'd like to
16:14
go and have a look next time. And that's
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the thing with a wreck of this sort of
16:18
size. There's always going to be
16:19
something else you'd like to do, another
16:21
place that you'd like to go to or a bit
16:24
that you've been that you'd like to go
16:25
back and check again. And certainly I
16:28
did three dives on the Cro Princeville
16:30
helm on my last trip to Scapper and it's
16:33
only really wetted my appetite. I'm
16:36
pretty certain I could spend an entire
16:38
uh week-l long trip up there going on it
16:40
and just going inside and going further
16:42
and finding more things. It's it's that
16:45
kind of wreck. Unfortunately, nothing
16:49
can last forever and this dive is one of
16:51
them. So that's the end of the line
16:53
there. That's the tie off point of the
16:55
bit of string. And the way out is just
16:57
down the slope to the right hand side
16:59
there. And that's where I head to get
17:01
out of the wreck and return to the
17:03
surface. Ascending from a wreck like
17:06
this is always an opportunity to review
17:09
what you've just done and also to think
17:12
about the wreck itself. The Crump
17:14
Princeville helm in many ways, many
17:17
people's opinion, the best diving
17:19
scapper flow. It's certainly a ship with
17:22
an unbelievable history. It participated
17:26
at the Battle of Jutland on the 31st of
17:30
It was the largest naval battle of World
17:33
War I and the greatest battleship on
17:35
battleship engagement that's ever taken
17:38
place. The Crown Prince Vilhelm fired
17:41
her massive 305 mm guns at British
17:45
battleships. She took hits. She
17:47
survived. But 3 years later, she was
17:50
sent to the bottom rather than let her
17:52
fall into British hands. That anchor
17:55
chain wrapped around the forward gun.
17:57
That moment of chaos as she rolled and
17:59
capsized. The turrets pointing into
18:01
sand. The spotting top where range
18:04
calculations were made. The casement
18:07
guns that defended against torpedo
18:09
boats. All still there. This is amazing
18:14
It's deep enough to require planning and
18:16
skill, but shallow enough that you get a
18:18
reasonable amount of time down there to
18:21
explore to understand exactly what
18:23
you're seeing. This video is just being
18:26
a taster, but I hope it's given you an
18:28
appetite for this wreck, the SMS
18:33
Koigass battleship, Jutland veteran,
18:36
scuttled warship, and now arguably
18:40
Scapperflow's most impressive dive site.
18:43
Thank you for joining with me. I'm Dom
18:45
Robinson, deep wreck diver. As always,
18:49
I'll see you on the next wreck.
