wreck

Log This Dive

CAIRNMONA

The Cairnmona sits upright, broken into three main sections, a casualty of a U-boat torpedo in 1939. We love how accessible this wreck feels despite its 50-meter depth, making it a proper technical dive without the usual faff of an overturned or completely flattened vessel. Dropping down onto her bow, you’re greeted by the sheer scale of it, and we always make a point to explore the intact forward holds. The midsection is where she took the hit, and it’s a chaotic but fascinating jumble of twisted metal, home to a surprising amount of invertebrate life – we’ve seen some huge plumose anemones here. Our favourite part has to be the stern, relatively intact with the propeller still in place, often obscured by schools of saithe that swirl in the low light. The engine room is penetrable, a dark, silty delve for the properly trained, but even from the outside, the triple-expansion engine is a grand sight. Visibility in Scapa can vary wildly, but on a good day, the silhouette of the Cairnmona against the green gloom is genuinely evocative. It’s a cold dive, so drysuits are essential, and we’d suggest opting for a late summer or early autumn trip for the calmer surface conditions. This wreck suits experienced technical divers keen on exploring a significant piece of wartime history, a place where the past feels tangible.