SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm

The Kronprinz fought at Jutland in 1916, took her place in the North Sea standoffs that followed, and was renamed Kronprinz Wilhelm in 1918 to honor the crown prince — just in time to surrender. Interned at Scapa Flow with the rest of the High Seas Fleet while the Versailles negotiations dragged on, she was one of the 52 ships that went down on 21 June 1919 when Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, believing the armistice was expiring and determined to keep his fleet out of British hands, signaled the order to scuttle. The salvage empire of Ernest Cox lifted most of the fleet for scrap in the 1920s and 30s; the Kronprinz Wilhelm was among the seven warships too deep or too awkward to raise, and so became one of diving's great time capsules. She lies almost fully capsized in about 38 meters, her vast hull the first thing divers meet, with 12-inch gun turrets hanging beneath at the seabed and casemate guns, rudders and torpedo tubes readable along the wreck. Of the three surviving battleships she is often rated the most navigable introduction.

How she sank: Scuttled with the interned German High Seas Fleet on Admiral von Reuter's order, 21 June 1919.

Condition: Coherent capsized hull a century on; internal collapse advancing, with salvage scars from early blasting

Penetration: Limited. Openings beneath the upturned hull lead into dark, silt-laden, collapsing spaces — technical wreck teams only, and even they treat her cautiously. Entering any overhead environment requires specific training — a wreck certification at minimum, technical wreck training for full penetration.

Recommended certification: Advanced Open Water with deep and drysuit experience

Current: Mild · Visibility: 4–12 m

Marine life: Plumose anemones and dead-man's-fingers coat the shaded steel, ballan wrasse and saithe patrol the hull, lobsters and edible crabs den in the plating, and dense brittlestars carpet the seabed.

Hazards: Cold dark water, depth, disorienting inverted topography, and entanglement in old salvage debris

Scheduled monument under UK law — diving is permitted on a strict look-but-do-not-touch basis; removal of anything is an offense

A century of relic-hunting ended with legal protection; nothing may be lifted, moved or recovered.