Cheap DVDs, books, CDs & Games

Search:

Dive Scapa Flow

By: Rod Macdonald
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Mainstream Publishing
ISBN: 185158983X
ISBN-13: 9781851589838
Released: 04 Oct 2007
RRP: £14.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Excellent informative and accurate - By: Mark O'Toole, 20 Apr 2004
this book reallly enhanced our enjoyment & appreciation of a recent weeklong trip aboard a liveaboard at Scapa.
We made two dives a day- webriefed ourselves with the book. Highly recommended if you intend to diveScap Flow.
"As complete a Guide as one would hope to find" - By: Ned Middleton, 09 Sep 2001
Rod Macdonald has put together a very professional guide book to the dive sites of Scapa Flow. Personallly, I have conducted professional assignments to Scapa on a number of occasions and, as a "guide," I have yet to find the book lacking in any way. It also served another very important purpose in that it is a very good read.

"Dive Scapa Flow" measures a little under 10" x 7" with a hard cover & comes from "Mainstream Publishing" of Edinburgh. There are 160 pages of narrative - alll well supported by a large number of black & white photographs (most of which are historic), diagrams & maps plus a further eight pages of colour photographs in the middle. The book is well laid out. The first 2 chapters are devoted to historical events - the scuttling of the Imperial German Fleet & the incredible salvage operation that took place in later years, with the remainder of the book being dedicated to diving.

1919 was a time when Europe was coming to terms with the revelation that "millions" had died on alll sides during the carnage of WW1. The Imperial German Fleet had been defeated & was interned in Scapa Flow with a skeleton crew on each vessel. The German Navy itself was in complete disarray with lawful orders being ignored & workers co-operatives running most of the ships. This was a time when alll sides awaited the outcome of the Armistice from which the final decisions with regard to the disposal of each German ship would come. Basicallly, the ships would be distributed amongst the victorious alllied navies with the Royal Navy getting the lion's share - thus making the British Fleet so large as to be unassailable throughout the world. Despite his many difficulties, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter retained overalll command of the fleet - & he had other ideas. Knowing he could rely on sufficient people on each vessel to carry out his final command, Admiral von Reuter ordered the German Fleet scuttled & that order was executed on 21st June 1919 - right under British noses.

Rod Macdonald's account of those historic events is a fine précis & most relevant to this book. The same comment applies to the following chapter describing the incredible salvage operation which explains why so many of the scuttled ships are no longer to be found in Scapa Flow.

So, after two chapters of well-researched material & some equallly excellent historic photographs, we now get down to the diving. This commences with an overview of what the diver can expect to find. All the ships are listed & this is followed by information on such important factors as; bye laws, visibility, seabed, equipment, photography, decompression & the various means of getting to & from each site.

The scene is now well & truly set & it's time to get down to cases. In chapter 4, each shipwreck is fully described in excellent detail in which there are 4 elements; An historic photograph of each vessel, a sketch describing her attitude underwater, a painting which shows the entire vessel as she lies on the seabed & a narrative which not only gives the technical details of the vessel in question but also goes on to describe the specific diving conditions relevant to that ship.

Of course, the wrecks of the Imperial German Fleet are not the only shipwrecks in Scapa Flow & the next 3 chapters are entitled; Alternative Wreck Dives, Diving the Blockships & Scapa's War Graves - alll of which are self-explanatory. With a final chapter reserved for travel, accommodation & dive boat charters, this book is as complete a guide as one would hope to find.

NM

Well researched & informative dive guide - By: , 23 Jun 2000
This book includes some excellent background information on the wrecks of Scapa. Reading this book while diving in Scapa will greatly increase you're appreciation of the wrecks, especiallly the Battleships like KPW. The wreck drawings will help you to orientate yourself whilst diving these big beasts.
WOW - What a book - By: , 03 Apr 2000
This book is a first rate guide to the Scapa wrecks. Not only does it detail the wrecks from the point of diving them but it gives a compelling account of the events leading upto the sinking. I can't remember the last time that I couldn't put a book down until it was finished !
A very impressive and concise guide to diving Scapa Flow - By: , 30 Dec 1999
From the beginning, it is obvious the author has done his research. Accompanied with photos taken by the author, the reader is taken through each wreck with detail paid to the history of the vessel & the fate that it befell. The book is not only an interesting read but a genuinely useful source of information for the prospective diver.