wreck

Log This Dive

UB 116

Okay, so you’re in Scapa Flow, and honestly, we think the UB 116 is often overlooked for the bigger German fleet. That’s a mistake. This U-boat, sunk in 1918 by a mine, sits upright at 26 metres, largely intact. You drop down, and the whole outline of the submarine is just there. What we love about the UB 116 is the immediate sense of its history. You can clearly make out the conning tower, the torpedo tubes, even the periscopes are still there, albeit collapsed. It’s like a time capsule, frozen mid-patrol. We always spend time exploring the bow section, where the mine hit. The damage is still stark, a jagged tear in the steel. Inside the hull, we’ve found decent-sized cod and lumpsuckers tucked away, making homes in the twisted metal. We’d suggest going at slack water, obviously, as the currents here can really rip. Visibility can vary, but even on a greener day, the wreck’s compact size means you never lose sight of it, and the structure itself provides plenty of detail to focus on. It’s a fantastic dive for anyone keen on wreck history, offering a real sense of a vessel caught in the moment of its demise, and it's less crowded than some of the bigger ships.