SMS Brummer.
SMS Brummer was a fast minelaying cruiser completed in 1916 and scuttled in Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919. She lies on her starboard side on a sandy seabed at about 36 m. Her bow and bridge area are well preserved, while the stern half is collapsing after salvage blasting.
What's down there.
- Curved, clipper-style bow
- Bridge and armoured control tower, now inverted near the seabed
- 5.9-inch deck guns along the centreline
- Searchlights on the mast platforms, one with its iris vanes intact
- Stern capstan, kedge anchor and exposed steering engine
- Salvaged engine room
- Starfish
- Sea urchins
- Crab
- Lobster
- Scallops
- Cod and pollock
- Small shoaling fish
- Seals (often seen)
Least depth c. 18–22 m by source; flat sandy seabed at 34–36 m
Little to no current; visibility typically 3–9 m. Operators rate her an easy dive for most levels on the outside, but the stern section aft of the boiler rooms is unstable and prone to collapse, so entry is not advised. Often described as one of Scapa Flow's best dives.
How it got there.
Brummer was the name ship of a two-ship class of fast minelaying cruisers, built by AG Vulcan at Stettin, laid down on 24 April 1915, launched on 11 December 1915 and commissioned on 2 April 1916. She was about 140.4 m long and displaced 4,385 tonnes normally and 5,856 tonnes at full load. Her best-known action came in October 1917, when she and her sister Bremse attacked a British convoy about 70 nautical miles east of Lerwick, sinking two escorting destroyers and nine merchant ships. Interned at Scapa Flow from November 1918, she was scuttled on 21 June 1919 and sank at about 13:05. Unlike Bremse, which was raised in 1929, Brummer was never raised. Her ownership passed through several hands and her turbine rooms were blasted open by salvors; the wreck was sold to Orkney Islands Council for £1 on 3 November 1986.
2 dives.
From the reconstructed log — the dates follow the pattern I dived, so read them as representative rather than exact.