Exploring sunken war wrecks
Scotland’s Orkney Islands were home to a naval base during both World Wars and the waters around them are – quite literally – filled with military history.
Following the end of World War One, dozens of German warships were interned here and were deliberately sunk at the orders of a German Rear Admiral, who did not want the crafts to be used by the British. Now these and other wrecks are magnet for divers and history enthusiasts.
Part of the Orkney Islands are seen from above.
Divers get ready to explore a sunken German warship.
Skipper Angus Budge and his dog Hector take people out to dive in Scapa Flow.
A diver jumps into the water ahead of a dive around a German wreck.
A dive plan of SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm, a German World War One warship, is drawn on the window of a boat.
Divers explore the upturned blockship Tabarka in Burra Sound.
A diver illuminates a gun on the deck of SMS Karlsruhe.
A diver swims past the boilers of the blockship Tabarka.
A salvaged gun from SMS Bremse stands in the Lyness Museum in Orkney.
A memorial to Lord Kitchener, who died in 1916 when the HMS Hampshire hit a German mine off Orkney, stands at Marwick Head.
The graves of German sailors who died in the Grand Scuttle stand in Lyness Naval cemetery.
Rows of graves stretch into the distance in the cemetery.
A poppy memorial for Leading Seaman Elias Dymock, who died on HMS Vanguard, is seen on display at the Lyness Museum.
A group of people approach the Italian Chapel.
Italian prisoners of war, who worked on the Churchill Barriers during World War Two, pose for a picture in front of the little church.
