Possible Spitfire

The following presents new data collected as part of a recent Historic Environment Scotland funded project – the Scapa Flow 2013 Marine Archaeology Survey – which aimed to assess the extent and condition of some of the sites around Scapa Flow.

The partial remains of an aircraft lie on a rock and sand bottom in 22m of water. Although the wreckage is well broken up, the visible remains suggest it is from the cockpit area of an aircraft. An oxygen regulator, oxygen tanks, hydraulic pump, oxygen/hydraulic pipe work, wiring and some fuselage were recorded amongst numerous steel and aluminium sections. There is no evidence of the remains of the undercarriage, tail section or armaments. Two gauges (an oxygen gauge and a temperature gauge) were recovered from the area by a diver in the 1980s and have since been declared to the Receiver of Wreck.

These correlate to gauges from a Spitfire and indicate a date of 1942. If these come from the same remains these could provide a Terminus Post Quem for the remains suggesting that the plane crashed after 1942. It is possible that the engine and armaments raised and deposited by the Royal Navy at Lyness Museum in 1987 may be from the same wreckage, but this cannot be confirmed for another two years. The logbooks of the ship that raised the remains and brought them to Lyness, was previously secured under the 30 year rule. As the remains were lifted in 1986 the ships log book for that year became available in 2016. The aircraft was raised form the east of Scapa Flow by the RMAS Kinloss, and the vessel spent the night anchored at the barrel of butter, where presumably the remains were dumped.

More information about the plane can be found on the A.R.G.O.S website