MoD grant permission for HMS Hampshire survey

In the run-up to next weekend’s events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of HMS Hampshire, the Ministry of Defence has granted a team of specialist international divers a licence to undertake a photographic and 3D-imaging survey of the shipwreck.

The Hampshire, carrying Lord Kitchener, left Scapa Flow on June 5, 1916, for a voyage to Archangel, in northern Russia. She struck a mine off Marwick Head and sank.

Today, HMS Hampshire lies at a depth of approximately 70 metres off Marwick Head in an exposed area open to North Atlantic storms and strong tidal flows. The location makes diving HMS Hampshire a challenging undertaking.

HMS Hampshire is a protected wreck under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, and no diving is permitted on the site except under licence from the MoD.

Diving will be conducted from the Stromness-based mv Huskyan and, according to expedition-leader Rod Macdonald, the objective is to undertake a detailed survey of the wreck — to record it using stills and video photography using the latest underwater photogrammetry techniques.

The information will be used to compile a detailed written and visual survey report, which will be made available to the MoD, local museums in Orkney and to Historic Environment Scotland.