THE WRECK EXPLORERDISCOVER WHAT LIES BENEATH
SCAPA FLOW / FLAGSHIP STORY 002 / INTERACTIVE ARCHIVE

THE WRECK EXPLORER PRESENTS

THE BATTLESHIP
BENEATH.

SMS MARKGRAF — a 175-metre dreadnought. A fleet's final order. A giant that has lain beneath Orkney's waters since 1919.

ENTER DEEP SCAN ↘1919 / TODAY ↗
AN INTERPRETIVE EXPERIENCE · NOT A DIVE PLAN
58° N / SCAPA FLOW / ORKNEYSCROLL TO DESCEND ↓
175 MAPPROX. LENGTH
1919YEAR SCUTTLED
46 MAPPROX. DEEPEST HULL
INVERTEDCURRENT ORIENTATION
CHAPTER I / THE LAST ORDER

She didn't fall
in battle.

On 21 June 1919, the German High Seas Fleet lay interned at Scapa Flow. Its commander, Ludwig von Reuter, ordered the ships to be sunk rather than handed over to the victors.

Crews opened seacocks and flooding valves. Across the anchorage, warships started listing. Markgraf sank at approximately 4:45 pm.

Two of her crew were killed during the scuttling. Across the fleet that day, nine German sailors were shot dead as British forces attempted to prevent the sinking. The scuttling was not a bloodless episode. Read the Imperial War Museums account ↗

Her remains now lie almost completely inverted, shaped by corrosion, marine life and 20th-century salvage. The bow, stern and rudders are among the features documented at the site.

Sources: Scapa Flow 1919; Historic Environment Scotland; ScapaMAP archaeological survey. The 4:45 pm time is a documented historical account, not a simulated measurement.
CHAPTER II / 21 JUNE 1919

Five hours that
changed the sea.

Select a moment to travel through the story. Times describe the fleet-wide events unless explicitly tied to Markgraf.

01

BEFORE / NOVEMBER 1918 – JUNE 1919

An empire’s fleet, held in silence.

After the Armistice, the German High Seas Fleet was interned in Scapa Flow with reduced crews, its future left to peace negotiations.

CHAPTER III / TIME TRANSFORM

One ship.
Two worlds.

Slide between a stylised view of the battleship in 1919 and an interpretive representation of its inverted remains today.

SMS MARKGRAF / RECONSTRUCTION STUDYDRAG TO REVEAL
Illustration of the upturned wreck today
Illustration of Markgraf afloat in 1919
1919 / AFLOATTODAY / INVERTED
VISUAL INTERPRETATIONS · NOT VERIFIED PHOTOGRAPHS, ORTHOGRAPHIC DRAWINGS OR SONAR RECONSTRUCTIONS
↖ DEEP SCAN EXPEDITION LAB
CHAPTER IV / DEEP SCAN 002

Explore the
inverted giant.

Drag to rotate. Pinch to zoom. Choose the original vessel or today's wreck, then select a feature to read its story.

WX–002 / VIRTUAL STRUCTURAL STUDYINTERPRETIVE MODEL · NOT TO SCALE
SONAR THEATRE / 002VISUAL STUDY ONLY
⟷ DRAG TO ROTATE · PINCH TO ZOOM
FIELD INSTRUMENTS / V11EXPLORE THE INTERPRETIVE MODEL
ACTIVE CONTACTINITIALISING…
SURVEY CLASSARTISTIC / UNSURVEYED
Tap a numbered feature or start a sonar pulse.
SELECTED SITE FEATURE

The broken bow

Surveys of the König-class wrecks document damage immediately forward of the forward turret, with the bow sections settled into the seabed. The exact shape here is illustrative.

This browser-rendered 3D interpretation is not a survey, photogrammetry model, navigation aid or dive-plan resource. Relative positions, structural detail and proportions are simplified.
CHAPTER V / LIFE AFTER THE SINKING

The sea kept
changing her.

Markgraf survived the huge postwar salvage campaigns that raised many other ships, but she was not left untouched. Salvors removed valuable material and cut through parts of the hull and machinery spaces.

The archaeological record describes a largely inverted vessel with features including the bow and stern, its rudders, and salvage openings. She is both a monument to 1919 and a record of a century of human intervention.

READ THE SCAPAMAP SURVEY ↗
PROTECTED HISTORIC WRECK / SCAPA FLOW
✦

Look.
Never take.

The surviving German fleet wrecks are scheduled monuments within the Scapa Flow historic marine protection framework. Avoid disturbing any artefacts, and check current permits and access rules with the local authorities and your dive operator.

OFFICIAL HERITAGE GUIDANCE ↗
ARCHIVE NOTES / PRIMARY & RESEARCH SOURCES

Every legend
needs evidence.

Follow the research behind this experience. The historical facts and legal notes come from these sources; the visuals are original artistic reconstructions.

01 / PROTECTIONHistoric Environment ScotlandScheduled battleships designation ↗02 / ARCHAEOLOGYScapaMAP survey reportOrientation, features, salvage cuts ↗03 / WRECK GUIDEScapa Flow WrecksInterpretation & site features ↗04 / THE SCUTTLINGScapa Flow 1919Timeline of 21 June 1919 ↗
CONTINUE EXPLORING

Forty-nine more
stories await.

SCAPA FLOW ARCHIVE ↗THE GARMO EXPERIENCE ↗
NEW · CINEMATIC HISTORICAL FILM

THE LAST SIGNAL.

Trace the interned German fleet, the scuttling of 21 June 1919 and the inverted wreck of SMS Markgraf through five cinematic chapters.

WATCH THE MARKGRAF FILM ↗