Scapa Flow Wreck Week Liveaboard – MV Valhalla
The Seahorse Dive Club will be visiting the historic natural harbour of Scapa Flow in September 2022 to dive the WWI scuttled shipwrecks from the German High Seas Fleet. From Old Norse Skalpaflói (bay of the long isthmus), the sheltered waters have played an important role in travel, trade and conflict throughout the centuries. Vikings anchored their longships in Scapa Flow more than a thousand years ago. It was the United Kingdom’s chief naval base during the First and Second World Wars, but the facility was closed in 1956.Scapa Flow has a shallow sandy bottom not deeper than 60 metres and most of it is about 30m deep. It is one of the great natural harbours and anchorages of the world, with sufficient space to hold a number of navies. Since the scuttling of the German Fleet after WWI, its wrecks and their marine habitats form an internationally acclaimed diving location.
Our home and dive vessel for the trip will be aboard the MV Valhalla. She was built for the Royal Navy as RNAS Loyal Factor but was quickly converted into a patrol boat and commissioned as HMS Vigilant to serve in Northern Ireland where she remained until the 1990s when she was handed back to the RNAS (Royal Naval Auxiliary Service) and served as the training vessel Sultan Venturer for the Naval engineering school in Gosport. An all steel construction makes her a great diving platform and her luxurious interior makes living aboard more than just comfortable.