The Wreck of the Emerald Wing - Orkney Blockship

The Blockships of Orkney are a stark reminder of the pressures that conflict can put upon us and the decisions that have to be taken. The natural safe anchorage of Scapa Flow was the Royal Navy's base for the Home Fleet in both First and Second World Wars, but some of the passages between the smaller islands were problematic, allowing potential egress to Uboats - indeed Gunther Prien took his Uboat into Scapa and sank the Royal Oak with the loss of 800 sailors. To prevent this from ever happening again the decision was taken to build the Churchill Barriers to finally seal what had been previosuly partially bloscked with sunken Block Ships in the passages, some of which are still there and visible to this day... Blessed with a sunny day and calm water I took my time to capture what is both seen and some of what is usually unseen, hidden beneath the waves...

Shot on MINI3 Pro in 30fps 4K