Editing Gutter Sound

{{Short description|Sound in Scapa Flow, Orkney, United Kingdom}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}

{{Infobox body of water
| name               = Gutter Sound
| native_name        = <!--{{native name}} or {{native name list}}-->
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| image              = File:Rysa Little and Gutter Sound - geograph.org.uk - 4941312.jpg
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| caption            = Rysa Little and Gutter Sound 
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| location           = Scapa Flow, Orkney, Scotland
| group              = 
| coordinates        = {{coord|58|51|03|N|03|11|14|W|region:GB_type:waterbody_source:GNS-enwiki|display =inline,title}}
| type               = Sound
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'''Gutter Sound''' is a [[sound (geography)|sound]] in the [[Orkney]] [[archipelago]], Scotland, part of [[Scapa Flow]].  It lies to the west of the main harbour between the internal islands of [[Cava, Orkney|Cava]] and [[Fara, Orkney|Fara]], and the large outer island of [[Hoy, Orkney|Hoy]]. Gutter Sound was one of the sites of the [[scuttling]] of the [[internment|interned]] [[German Empire|Imperial German]] [[High Seas Fleet]] in 1919,  and the scene of a major salvage operation in the 1920s. The remaining wrecks are frequently visited by recreational divers.

==Location==

[[File:Internment at Scapa Flow.svg|thumb|Gutter Sound within Scapa Flow]]
Gutter Sound is four miles long and a mile wide at its widest point, and has a depth of around 30 meters in places. It separates Hoy and Cava in the north, and Hoy and Fara in the south, opening onto Scapa Flow between Cava and Fara. In the north it opens out into the Bring Deeps, while the south it joins Weddell Sound, between Fara and [[Flotta]], and to Switha Sound, between Flotta and Hoy.

==History==

At the end of the First World War, Scapa Flow was the anchorage for the surrendered German High Seas Fleet; these vessels were anchored around the island of Cava, in the Sound itself and in the Flow between Cava and the [[Barrel of Butter]] skerry. In 1919 this was the scene of [[Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow|the fleet's mass scuttling]]. 12 capital ships and a number of smaller vessels went down in the Sound itself, the remainder in deep water between Cava and the skerry.

A number of the sunken ships were [[Marine salvage|salvaged]] by [[Ernest Cox]] during the 1920s. He used a variety of techniques, lifting the smaller ships with [[floating dry dock]]s and [[hawser]]s. With the larger ships he patched all of the holes and then pumped the [[hull (watercraft)|hulls]] with [[compressed air]] to force out the water and make them float upside down. Seven of the wrecks are still at Scapa Flow, and are protected as maritime [[scheduled ancient monument]]s. 

During the Second World War the Sound was again used as a Royal Navy anchorage, being the site for {{HMS|Proserpine|shore establishment|6}}, the [[stone frigate]] ashore base at [[Lyness]];<ref>Rayner p44</ref> it also served for the anti-submarine patrol forces and their depot ship, {{HMS|Dunluce Castle}}.<ref>Rayner p57</ref>

Commercial salvage work on the vessels ceased in the late 1970s and further salvage is no longer technically possible.{{fact|date=April 2023}}

Lyness is now the site of a Naval Cemetery, and a Heritage Centre detailing these events. it is also the site of a dive centre, as the seven vessels that remain are a common [[wreck diving|target for divers]].

==Diving==

The seven remaining wrecks are often visited by [[Scuba diving|scuba]] divers. In addition, debris and wreckage left from the ships salvaged is sometimes dived as well.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Name!!Type!!Depth
|-
|{{SMS|Brummer}}||[[light cruiser]]||{{convert|36|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|-
|{{SMS|Cöln|1916|6}}||light cruiser||{{convert|36|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|-
|{{SMS|Karlsruhe|1915|6}}||light cruiser||{{convert|36|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|-
|{{SMS|Dresden|1916|6}}||light cruiser|| {{convert|25|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|-
|{{SMS|König}}||[[battleship]]|| {{convert|43|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|-
|{{SMS|Kronprinz Wilhelm|1918|6}}||battleship|| {{convert|38|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|-
|{{SMS|Markgraf}}||battleship|| {{convert|47|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|-
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===

* Rayner, Denys: ''Escort: The Battle of the Atlantic''. London:Kimber 1955 (reprinted Annapolis:U.S. Naval Institute Press 1999, {{ISBN|1-55750-696-5}})


==External links==
{{oscoor gbx|ND 31596 96540}}
{{Commons category|Grutter Sound}}

* ''The Grand Scuttle: The sinking of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow in 1919.'' Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1982

{{Portal bar|Scotland|Geography}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Landforms of Orkney]]
[[Category:History of Orkney]]
[[Category:Underwater diving sites in Scotland]]
[[Category:Ports and harbours of Scotland]]
[[Category:Protected wrecks of Scotland]]
[[Category:Scheduled monuments in Orkney]]
[[Category:Sounds of Scotland]]
[[Category:Archaeology of Scotland]]
[[Category:Scapa Flow]]