Protecting accessible marine tourism sites: the case of Scapa Flow
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 15/09/2017

Scapa Flow is one of a number of marine anchorages that possesses a rich palimpsest of twentieth-century shipwrecks. Since the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918 the interned ships of the High Seas Fleet were viewed within the perspective of the military knowledge that they could impart to the Allied powers, a factor that played a key role in the scuttling of the fleet. Following their scuttling, the German High Seas Fleet and also the lesser-known block ships that protected Scapa Flow during the First and Second World Wars became a source of direct revenue, as they were then subject to partial or full salvage activities.

This paper will examine how attitudes to these wrecks have changed over the years and how the development of marine tourism has both benefited the preservation and investigation of these wrecks, but also posed new challenges. More particularly this paper will compare the palimpsest of Scapa Flow to other similar sites around the world that have undergone salvage activities. Are the wrecks of Scapa Flow perceived differently than other massed wreck sites around the world? Are they seen as more accessible and more well known, and are the levels of protection for Scapa Flow, both existing and proposed, necessary or adequate?
The paper will go on to highlight the level of further investigation and dissemination required to protect and make accessible such
maritime sites and how the experience protecting wreck sites in Scapa Flow could be applied worldwide.

Mark Littlewood, ORCA Marine Archaeology Institute