Alternative Names Kronprinz; Kron Prinz; Kronprinz Wilhem; Calf Of Cava
Site type BATTLESHIP (20TH CENTURY)
Canmore ID 102311
Site Number HY30SW 8008
NGR HY 3299 0129
Latitude N 58 53.65
Longitude W 3 9.7667
Council ORKNEY ISLANDS
Parish MARITIME - ORKNEY
Former Region ORKNEY ISLANDS AREA
Former District MARITIME
Former County MARITIME

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Archaeological Notes

HY30SW 8008 3299 0129
N58 53.65 W3 9.7667

NLO: Holm of Houton [name: HY 315 029]
Calf of Cava [name: HY 322 006]
Cava [name: ND 327 995]
Barrel of Butter [name: HY 352 009]
Point of Tuberry (Cava) [name: HY 334 993]
Stromness [name: HY 253 090]
Scapa Flow [name centred HY 36 00].

For other ships within this group, see:
HY30SW 8002 Dresden (cruiser)
HY30SW 8004 Konig (battleship)
HY30SW 8007 Markgraf (battleship)
HY30SW 8009 Brummer (cruiser)
HY30SW 8010 Koln (cruiser)
HY30SW 8011 Grosser Kurfurst (battleship)
HY30SW 8012 Friedrich der Grosse (battleship)
HY30SW 8014 Bayern (battleship)
HY30SE 8003 Frankfurt (cruiser: secondary location)
HY30SE 8004 Emden (cruiser: secondary location)
HY30SE 8005 Bremse (cruiser: secondary location).

Formerly entered as HY30SW 8852.

For general plans of High Seas Fleet (Internment Formation) wrecks in Scapa Flow, see Van der Vat 1986 (endpapers), Smith 1989, 4, Macdonald 1998, 19 and George 1999, 35.

KRONPRINZ WILHEM [sic]. The hull is upside down on starboard side and has been extensively salvaged. Transits for locating her are included in the source.
Source: Butland & Siedlecki, BSAC Wreck Register, Scotland 1 1987.

Remains at Scapa Flow.
P L Smith 1989.

Horizontal Datum = OGB
General water depth = 34
Orientation of keel/wreck = ESE/WNW

Circumstances of Loss Details
-----------------------------
The German cruiser KRONPRINZ WILHELM was scuttled.

Surveying Details
-----------------------------
1919. A dangerous wreck with the least depth of 10.9 metres was shown at 58 53 30N, 003 09 50W

8 April 1936. The wreck was sold to Metal Industries Ltd.

15 June 1976. Salvage operations have commenced at 58 53 31N, 003 09 50W approximately.
Report by Orkney Islands Council, Notice to Mariners 3/76 and Temporary Notice to Mariner's 1218/76.

12 May 1977. Salvage work is reported to have commenced as some of the hull plates are now missing. The hull is in good condition, still solid and showing no signs of collapsing.
Report by Lt M A Seaman, 5 May 1977.

20 August 1979. The wreck is to be salvaged by Undersea Associates Ltd.
Source: Lloyd's List 15 August 1979.

20 October 1981. The wreck was sold to Clark Diving Services.

4 February 1982. The vessel lies in approximately 34 metres. It has been blasted open in several places, other-wise there are no signs of deterioration.
Report by B Winfield, 25 January 1982.

5 April 1982. The vessel no longer resembles a ship, but is a twisted heap of steel plate.
Report by A Reece, 30 March 1982.

Hydrographic Office, 1995.

(Classified as battleship: date of loss cited as 21 June 1919). [SMS] Kronprinz Wilhelm: this vessel was scuttled 0.75 mile NE of Cava.
Registration: German. 25390 tons dispacement. Length: 174m. Beam: 29m.
(Location of loss cited as N58 53.63 W3 9.78).
I G Whittaker 1998.

Linescan survey carried out by I Oxley, September 1999.
NMRS, MS/829/23.

In July 2000 a side scan sonar survey of the area of Scapa Flow in which the seven wrecks are situated was carried out in conjunction with a bathymetric and seabed classification survey using Echoplous equipment. In addition, detailed sonar images were obtained and geo-referenced so that exact co-ordinates of the extreme ends of each wreck structure could be obtained.
ADU, MS/5450.

Scheduled with SMS Konig (HY30SE 8004) and SMS Markgraf (HY30SW 8007).
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 23 March 2001.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):
A604 steam gauge, brass boiler plate, switch box and brass oiler: from debris field on seabed.
NMRS, MS/829/34.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):
A1873 1 porthole: from seabed
A2463 3 lamps: from seabed
A2740 1 'electric gear': from seabed
A3032 1 switch: from seabed
A3485 2 brass cage lamps, 1 brass switchbox, 1 brass junction box, 2 brass oil taps, 2 brass wing nuts: from seabed
A3688 1 curved piece brass: from seabed
A4294 1 voice pipe: from seabed.
NMRS, MS/829/35.

Material reported under RoW amnesty (2001):
A4513 German Imperial Navy nameplate, marked 'Linker Aufzug', [and] electrical socket.
NMRS, MS/829/77.

Length over all: 583ft (177.7m)
Length waterline: 576ft (175.7m)
Beam (extreme): 100ft (30.5m)
Beam (waterline): 97ft (29.5m)
Draught (normal condition): 27ft (8.3m)
Draught (deep load): 30ft (9.3m)
Displacement (standard): 25,797 t
Displacement (full load): 29,669 t
Propulsion: 15 x Schultz-Thorneycroft 3-drum superheated boilers (12 coal, 3 oil: 235 psi wp); 3 x triple-stage Parsons turbines (built by Brown Boveri); direct drive to three shafts; 31,000/35,000 shp nominal; 21/23 kts maximum. (A proposal to fit a diesel engine to the centre shaft was apparently made but abandoned)
Fuel: coal (normal) 1000 tons, maximum 4,400 tons; also 700 tons oil.
Range: 4600nm (8500km) at 19 kts
Armament: 10 x 30.5cm (12ins: 50 cal: twin turrets); 14 x 15cm (5.9ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 6 x 8.8cm (3.5ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 2 x 8.8cm AA (3.5ins: 45 cal: single mountings); 5 x 50cm (19.7ins) torpedo tubes
Armour: Krupp cemented nickel alloy steel (of low carbon, but surface heat treated); lower belt 350mm max; deck 120mm max; turrets 300mm max; conning tower 350mm max
Complement: (variously cited as 1033 or 1136).
SMS Kronprinz (renamed SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm from 27 January 1918) was the last ship completed of the four-strong Konig or Koenig class, the fourth class of German Dreadnought battleship. She was built at Krupp's Germania Yard at Kiel, being laid down in April 1912, launched on 21 February 1914 and completed on 8 November 1914 (also cited as July 1915). As built, she was almost identical to SMS Konig in being built without the Flag accommodation (aft of the bridge) found on other units of the class, but was fitted from the outset with a heavy foremast of the type only fitted to other units of the class in later refits.
After a prolonged period of inactivity in 1915 and early 1916, Kronprinz and other ships of the Third Battle Squadron supported the battlecruisers at the bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft (April 1916). She fought in the Third Battle Squadron at Jutland (May 1916), sustaining no casualties or significant damage, and also took part in the Scarborough raid of 13 August 1916. She was torpedoed and holed aft of the bridge by HMS/M J1 (Cdr N Laurence, RN) on 4 November 1916 during an operation to recover U-20, which had become stranded off the Danish coast. After extensive repairs, the ship returned to service but was in collision with SMS Grosser Kurfurst while exercising at speed in the Heligoland Bight on 5 March 1917. She provided naval gunfire support in the Gulf of Riga later that year, and made an abortive sortie into the North Sea (on 23 April 1918) before being sent to Kiel in an attempt to isolate revolutionary elements among the crew. She was taken to sea by loyal sailors on 4 November 1918 to prevent her from being boarded by revolutionaries and to deploy her guns against shore establishments. She was the scene of extensive crew unrest at Kiel prior to the armistice, reached Scapa Flow on 27 November 1918, and was scuttled at 1315 on 21 June 1919. The wreck was long left unsalvaged on account of its depth but significant holes were blasted in the hull amidships by Nundy (Marine Metals) Ltd after the Second World War to recover non-ferrous metals from the engine room and adjacent spaces.
The wreck lies almost inverted in the relatively deep channel between Cava and the Barrel of Butter, the starboard decks being embedded in the silt and shale of the seabed while the port side decking remains some distance clear of it. The rudders and propeller shafts (but not the propellers) remain intact. The lateral bulges are particularly prominent on this wreck and there is a significant debris field around the vast and impressive hull, which is frequently visited by recreational divers and is fully described in various diving guides.
The wreck lies 0.6nm NE of Calf of Cava light and is charted (Wk) with a clearance of 10.7m above a seabed at a depth of about 30m (shelving to the S and W). The nature of the seabed is not indicated locally but is evidently of varied composition with areas of rock nearby.
This ship may be considered as falling within the Cava Sound group of heavy ships and cruisers, which were scuttled within the area defined by Holm of Houton [name: HY 315 029], Calf of Cava [name: HY 322 006], Barrel of Butter [name: HY 352 009] and Point of Tuberry (Cava) [name: HY 334 993]. Cava Sound (which is not noted as such on the chart) may be understood as a relatively deep eastwards extension of Hoy Sound, leading into the broad expanse of Scapa Flow. It has a generally flat bottom at a charted depth of between 30 and 45m; the seabed type is defined sparingly but is apparently of sand and stones.
Apart from the specifically-indicated wrecks, an extensive area of foul ground and numerous obstructions and wrecks attest to the former presence of the High Seas Fleet. The former is situated around N58 53.85 W3 11 [HY 31 01], while the latter form a broad band extending from E to W between about N58 53.8 W3 8.4 [HY 34 01] and N58 53.9 W3 10.8 [HY 32 01].
(For sectional arrangement of Konig class ships (SMS Konig, SMS Markgraf and SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm), see Smith 1989, 22. For underwater artist's impression (with SMS Markgraf and SMS Konig), see Macdonald 1998, 74 and for block section, see Macdonald 1998, 76).
Information from RCAHMS (RJCM), 12 November 2002 and 8 January 2003.
H M Le Fleming 1961; D M Ferguson 1985; D Van der Vat 1986; D M Ferguson 1988; R Macdonald 1990; R Macdonald 1993; R and B Larn 1998; R Macdonald 1998; I G Whittaker 1998; S C George 1999; Diver 2001; [Jane] 2001.
HO Chart 35 (1980, revised 1991); NMRS, MS/829/23.

(Unpaginated annexe) information from Dolphin Scuba Service
NMRS, MS/829/63

(Discussed in connection with Scheduling of wrecks in Scapa Flow).
Source: 'Wrecks, divers and scheduling: the case of Scapa Flow, Orkney', article by O Owen in Nautical Archaeology, 2002.3.
MS/2745.

Notes and Activities

5 July 2000 to 28 July 2000

SIDE SCAN SONAR SURVEY

Notes A side scan sonar survey of the area of Scapa Flow in which the seven wrecks are situated was carried out in conjunction with a bathymetric and seabed classification survey using Echoplous equipment. In addition, detailed sonar images were obtained and geo-referenced so that exact co-ordinates of the extreme ends of each wreck structure could be obtained.

Further details

5 July 2000 to 28 July 2000

DIVER INSPECTION

Notes A side scan sonar survey of the area of Scapa Flow in which the seven wrecks are situated was carried out in conjunction with a bathymetric and seabed classification survey using Echoplous equipment. In addition, detailed sonar images were obtained and geo-referenced so that exact co-ordinates of the extreme ends of each wreck structure could be obtained.

Further details

Books and References

Diver (2001b) 'Wreck tour 33: the Kronprinz Wilhelm', Diver
Held at RCAHMS E.5.14.DIV

Ferguson, D M (1985) The wrecks of Scapa Flow Stromness
Page(s): 40, 42-3 fig. p. 43 Held at RCAHMS E.5.14.FER

Ferguson, D M (1988) Shipwrecks of Orkney, Shetland and Pentland Firth, Newton Abbot
Page(s): 86 Held at RCAHMS E.5.14.FER

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