List of shipwreck sites which are popular amongst scuba divers for wreck diving, arranged by geographical distribution.
List of shipwreck sites which are popular amongst scuba divers for wreck diving, arranged by geographical distribution.
Scapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an important role in travel, trade and conflict throughout the centuries. Vikings anchored their longships in Scapa Flow more than a thousand years ago. It was the United Kingdom's chief naval base during the First and Second World wars, but the facility was closed in 1956.
Wreck diving is recreational diving where the wreckage of ships, aircraft and other artificial structures are explored. The term is used mainly by recreational and technical divers. Professional divers, when diving on a shipwreck, generally refer to the specific task, such as salvage work, accident investigation or archaeological survey. Although most wreck dive sites are at shipwrecks, there is an increasing trend to scuttle retired ships to create artificial reef sites. Diving to crashed aircraft can also be considered wreck diving. The recreation of wreck diving makes no distinction as to how the vessel ended up on the bottom.
The National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) is a private non-profit organization in the United States founded in 1979. Originally it was a fictional US government organization in the novels of author Clive Cussler. Cussler later created and, until his death in 2020, led the actual organization which is dedicated to "preserving our maritime heritage through the discovery, archaeological survey and conservation of shipwreck artifacts.” Additionally "NUMA does not actively seek private funding. Most of the financial support for the projects comes from the royalties from Clive Cussler’s books."
A ship is scuttled when its crew deliberately sinks it, typically by opening holes in its hull.
A target ship is a vessel — typically an obsolete or captured warship — used as a seaborne target for naval gunnery practice or for weapons testing. Targets may be used with the intention of testing effectiveness of specific types of ammunition; or the target ship may be used for an extended period of routine target practice with specialized non-explosive ammunition. The potential consequences of a drifting wreck require careful preparation of the target ship to prevent pollution, or a floating or submerged collision risk for maritime navigation.
Imperial Japanese Navy submarines originated with the purchase of five Holland type submarines from the United States in 1904. Japanese submarine forces progressively built up strength and expertise, becoming by the beginning of World War II one of the world's most varied and powerful submarine fleets.
SM U-151 or SM Unterseeboot 151 was a World War I U-boat of the Imperial German Navy, constructed by Reiherstieg Schiffswerfte & Maschinenfabrik at Hamburg and launched on 4 April 1917. From 1917 until the Armistice in November 1918 she was part of the U-Kreuzer Flotilla, and was responsible for 34 ships sunk (88,395 GRT) and 7 ships damaged.
SMS Cormoran or SMS Cormoran II was a German armed merchant raider that was originally a German-built Russian merchant vessel named Ryazan. The ship was active in the Pacific Ocean during World War I. Built in 1909, she was captured by the German light cruiser SMS Emden on 4 August 1914 and converted into a raider at the German colony Kiautschou. She was forced to seek port at Apra Harbor on the US territory of Guam on 10 December 1914. The United States, then declared neutral in the war, refused to supply provisions sufficient for Cormoran to make a German port. After the US declaration of war on April 6, 1917, the Naval Governor of Guam informed Cormoran that she would be seized as a hostile combatant, prompting her crew to scuttle her.
SS James Eagan Layne was a liberty ship. She was beached and sunk during the Second World War off Whitsand Bay, Cornwall, United Kingdom.
SS Stanwood was a British collier that was sunk off Falmouth in December 1939 after her cargo of coal caught fire.
Innes McCartney is a British nautical archaeologist and historian. He is a Visiting Fellow at Bournemouth University in the UK.
"The captain goes down with the ship" is a maritime tradition that a sea captain holds the ultimate responsibility for both the ship and everyone embarked on it, and in an emergency they will devote their time to save those on board or die trying. Although often connected to the sinking of RMS Titanic in 1912 and its captain, Edward Smith, the tradition precedes Titanic by several years. In most instances, captains forgo their own rapid departure of a ship in distress, and concentrate instead on saving other people. It often results in either the death or belated rescue of the captain as the last person on board.
The following index is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Wikipedia's articles on recreational dive sites. The level of coverage may vary:
Recreational dive sites are specific places that recreational scuba divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or for training purposes. They include technical diving sites beyond the range generally accepted for recreational diving. In this context all diving done for recreational purposes is included. Professional diving tends to be done where the job is, and with the exception of diver training and leading groups of recreational divers, does not generally occur at specific sites chosen for their easy access, pleasant conditions or interesting features.
Several steamships have been named Silesia after the province of Schlesien