Well, actually the James Barrie is quite a popular wreck, especially with groups who have been to Scapa Flow before and want to dive their favourite warships again, but also expand their horizons a little.Divers usually make the pilgrimage to Scapa Flow to dive the wrecks of the German fleet from the First World War. There are enough battleships and cruisers for a week of first dives, followed by second dives on the shallower cruisers, odd destroyers or block ships. So who would come all this way and dive a trawler? It's not even an armed trawler.
Well, actually the James Barrie is quite a popular wreck, especially with groups who have been to Scapa Flow before and want to dive their favourite warships again, but also expand their horizons a little.
The James Barrie lies on its starboard side, across the tide with the bow offshore. At high water slack, the depth of the port railing is about 33m with the seabed at 43m. The hull bears a close crop of hydroids and calcifying algae, a few clumps of dean men's fingers and a fair selection of sea urchins munching their way about.
At the bow the port anchor is missing and the hawse pipe empty, though beneath the bow the starboard anchor is still in place, held by its chain to the anchor winch.
The foot of the mast is just behind the focsle, with the mast fallen forward across the starboard railing to the seabed.
Just aft of the mast on either side of the wreck are a pair of large oval blocks, possibly part of the trawl gear, though I don't know enough to identify their purpose.
The hold covers have rotted away leaving a lattice of beams across the opening to the hold. Entrance is easy with a fair bit of light penetrating the wreck. In an empty hold there are no real features to look at, yet in good visibility and nice lighting swimming along the inside the hold can be quite atmospheric.
Back on deck and just aft of the hold, the large trawl winch spans the deck in front of the wheelhouse. The James Barrie was fairly typical for trawlers of the time with the trawl gear being laid over the side of the ship from the forward deck.
Visibility in Hoxa Sound is usually better than inside Scapa Flow, in most conditions you can easily see the whole of the wheelhouse standing 'above' the deck. It is possible to get inside, but most divers who do come out covered in oil that is still slowly leaking from the fuel tanks.
On the roof of the wheelhouse the railing is mostly intact. A tripod structure at the back of the wheelhouse is a small radio and navigation mast, the main mast further forward being used exclusively for handling the trawl gear.
Continuing aft, where the funnel used to be is just a tangle of debris, with the only easy opening to the engine room being the usual greenhouse like ventilation hatches. These have swung open to provide a view of the top of the steam engine.
The deck further aft is actually the roof of the accommodation area, with the bases of ventilators scattered between the boat davits. Almost at the stern is a fairly light weight 'A' frame mast for the stern light. The propeller has been salvaged and the rudder has fallen to the seabed, perhaps dislodged to get at the propeller. At only 666 tons and 53 metres long it doesn't take long to potter round the whole of the wreck.