SMS Markgraf

Verified2026-09-24 checkedWreck

A German battleship scuttled in 1919, upside down in 45 m of Orkney water — the best preserved of the three that are left.

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Depth: 24–45 m79–148 ft
Difficulty: Technical
Entry: Boat
Typical current: Moderate
Coordinates: 58°53.616′N 3°11.898′W
Activities: Scuba · Technical

In June 1919 the interned German High Seas Fleet opened its own seacocks in Scapa Flow rather than be handed over. Most of the ships were salvaged between the wars; three battleships and four light cruisers were not, and the Markgraf is the finest of them. She lies inverted with her hull at about 24 m and the seabed at 45, so this is a deep, dark, cold dive on a ship 175 m long — you see a fraction of her per dive and divers come back for years. Visibility is Orkney visibility: five metres on a bad day, twenty on a good one, and a torch is not optional at any depth. She is a protected war grave and penetration is not part of a recreational plan.

Boats leave Stromness on Orkney. Ferry from Scrabster or Aberdeen, or fly to Kirkwall.

Best season

ExcellentMay–Aug
GoodSep
FairApr

Before you get in

Going inside a wreck is an overhead environment: silt can take the visibility in seconds, and there is entanglement. Swimming the outside of it is a different dive.
Deeper than recreational limits. It carries a decompression obligation and gas planning, and is not a dive to plan without that training.

Taken from this site’s recorded depth, type and current, and nothing else. An empty list is not a safe site — the sea on the day, the local geography and the boat traffic are not in it. The briefing on the spot comes first.

Conditions

Water temperature: 13°C55°F
Wave height: 1.1 m4 ft

Updated 2026-10-07 15:45 UTC · Source: Open-Meteo

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Conditions are reported for information only. Assess the site yourself and follow your guide and your training.

No live conditions for this site yet.

We only show numbers we can attribute to a source.

Sea state and tide

On a date

Tide · 10/7

High07:490.55 m
Low12:50-1.19 m
High19:250.70 m

Forecast heights against mean sea level. Real tides in a bay, a harbour or over a flat can differ — check an official tide table before you get in.

Pick a day to see its tide

Only wave height and wind are scored, because those are what close a boat ramp or a shore entry. Water temperature is reported and never scored: 12°C is an ordinary dive in a drysuit and punishing in a 3 mm, and a number that cannot see your suit has no business marking it down. Stars do not decide whether you get in — you and your guide do, on the day.

Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0)

Marine life you may see

NudibranchNudibranchiaCommon
Plumose anemoneMetridium senileCommon
Dead man’s fingersAlcyonium digitatumCommon
Grey sealHalichoerus grypusCommon
Harbour sealPhoca vitulinaSeasonal
Ballan wrasseLabrus bergyltaCommon
Atlantic codGadus morhuaCommon
European lobsterHomarus gammarusCommon
Lion's mane jellyfishCyanea capillataJun–SepSeasonal
LumpsuckerCyclopterus lumpusMar–MaySeasonal

From divers

What people who were in the water reported. Not a forecast, and not a judgement about whether the site is safe to dive.

No recent reports from divers. If you dived here in the last two weeks, you can say how it was.

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