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with other war wrecks , which are often mangled beyond recognition as they meet their end .
Their sinking left a mark too . The anchor chain from the Markgraf runs from the hawse pipes , across a short section of seabed alongside the bow before traversing up the side and across the hull . The forward shot usually gets tied into this easily recognisable navigation feature , often a welcome sign pointing home .
SALVAGE Secondly , having sunk , the ships were then heavily targeted by a significant salvage effort . Most of the damage results from this operation . In fact , most of the scuttled ships were removed completely and broken for scrap in Rosyth , leaving only scars on the seabed . We are lucky today to still have the three Königs : the Grosser Kurfürst escaped us . The salvage effort targeted specific areas on the wrecks such as the torpedo rooms , rich in non-ferrous metal , and the thick steel of the armour belt . Explosives were used to open the ships and remove the metal .
TIME Finally , there is the passage of time : the wrecks will have been immersed for a century from this June , and been the subject of significant recreational diving effort for several decades now . The battleships all came to rest upside down , so the forces acting on the hull are almost the opposite to how they were designed to act . The early diving years saw some artefact removal , so there are now a few items on display in museums ( and garages !) around the country .
However , the wrecks are now valued for their historic importance and protected by legislation , so that any artefact removal is strictly prohibited . That said , there are many significant artefacts left on the wrecks for the keen of eye . Although damaged , the wrecks are not as broken as you would imagine and certainly in better condition than other ships that have been a century underwater , by virtue of their solid construction .
Diving
The three battleships now lie in a close cluster just to the east of Cava . They range in depth from the Kronprinz at 38m , the König in 43m and the Markgraf in 45m . Although the tops of the wrecks are in the teens of metres , these are deep dives . A visit to the seabed is required if the most significant parts of the wrecks are to be visited . When they sank , the heavy weight of the armour and guns topside resulted in the ships turning turtle and coming to rest on the top superstructure . Although essentially upside down , there is still enough gap on the one side between the deck and the seabed to explore the ships and discover their significant features .
THE WRECKS TODAY Each of the battleships has a theme . With a diving week often only long enough for a single dive on each of these giants , specific routes that visit the best areas are often promoted , with the shot lines tied in accordingly .
A dive on the Kronprinz is a trip to the two turrets at the stern . Three 12-inch gun barrels are easily found and the breaches just about visible at the end of a torch beam through a hatch .
The König has an exposed belly with turbines , boilers and inner workings of a turret on show . This is the most damaged of the three battleships , but also the most interesting if you can assemble the component parts in your head .
However , it is the Markgraf that is the grand old Dame of the show . It is this one wreck more than any other that brings divers back to the Flow year after year . Least damaged of the three , a swim round the bow or between the two rudders gives a very real sense of the scale of these ships when they imposed their might onto the world stage .
Below : The aft turret and the two 12-inch gun barrels on the Kronprinz
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