Immersion and the Submerged: The Scapa 100 Project

The scuttling of the German WWI High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow, Orkney, on 21st June 1919 was the last military action of WWI. The "Scapa 100" project will commemorate the events of that day during the centenary year in 2019. As part of the commemoration, a team of technical divers, marine archaeologists, historians and 3D visualisation designers are collaborating to represent the historically significant shipwrecks, still remaining on the seabed at Scapa Flow to a wider audience who may never experience them first hand. The team are surveying the German wrecks using a range of techniques from multi-beam sonar to 3D photogrammetry (Structure from Motion) to produce high resolution 3D visualisations of the wrecks revealing their current condition at this unique site. One element of the project: Battleship Explorer, involves the replication of the battleship SMS Markgraf using data sourced from the recreational diver community. These "citizen" divers submit their photographs and videos to assist in the creation of a complete model of the wreck which will be presented at full scale in an immersive VR experience. In addition, many of the artefacts recovered from the wrecks since the scuttling and subsequent salvage operations are being scanned with the support of Orkney Museums at Lyness, Stromness and Kirkwall. These items will be presented as an online virtual museum complete with the stories behind their acquisition and collection. This paper will present early results from the Scapa100 project, including 3D visualisations from the recent HMS Hampshire and HMS Vanguard surveys.