It is easy to miss the main gun turrets because they are just so huge. I have found myself swimming alongside a turret and thinking it was just a wall of steel plate until I followed it up to the circular base.The Kronprinz Wilhelm is an enormous wreck, so large and complex it can easily take a few dives before you get the feel for it.
Beginning at the stern, salvage has removed the propellers and presumably the shafts to get at the bearings. Following the slope downwards, the debris ends and a more intact area of the hull continues to the seabed.
Just forward of the rudders a number of hull plates have come loose providing easy access to the huge gear wheels driving the stern anchor capstans, now buried in the silt below. Cabins in this area were officers' accommodation, nice and comfortable away from the main machinery.
It is easy to miss the main gun turrets because they are just so huge. I have found myself swimming alongside a turret and thinking it was just a wall of steel plate until I followed it up to the circular base.
Gun barrels for the 12 inch main guns could be mistaken for sections of prop shaft or mast, until you suddenly realise just what you are looking at. Find one that is clear of the seabed and try hugging it to touch your hands at the opposite side and you will see what I mean. The inside bore may be 12 inches, but the barrels are well over a metre in diameter at the base.
At the back of the number 5 turret is a gap between the turret and the deck. The turret base is still firmly attached to the deck, but in the lip at the back of the turret is an open hatch, originally leading upwards into the turret. Now you can poke your head and dive light down for a look inside at the breach mechanisms of the guns.
The number 4 turret was superimposed on the number 5 turret, being raised above it and just forward of it on the original ship. Turn this image upside down and it is easy to find the guns for the number 4 turret resting on the seabed below the number 5 turret, with the turret itself resting in the silt. The hatches at the back of this turret are firmly closed.
Following the deck above the turret back out to daylight, the first two of the secondary 5.9 inch guns are accessible, with the armoured casemate broken open to give a view of the breach mechanisms. If you had not already seen the main turrets, these would be impressive in their own right, as big as the guns on the nearby cruiser wrecks. Here they are merely features of minor interest.
The main gun turrets have supported the hull in this area, keeping it clear of the seabed, but further forward the hull has twisted to bring the secondary armament level with the seabed.Debris from the hull obscures much of interest, but poking in and out where the gaps are large enough should reveal more of the secondary armament.
The number 3 main gun turret, situated amidships, is well buried beneath the wreck; obscured by the tangle of debris left from salvage work on the boilers and condensers.
The number 2 turret is buried, but there is just enough room to venture underneath again to see the number 1 main gun turret. The guns stretch forward half buried in the silt Resting on top of one of the main gun barrels is a length of anchor chain. Built on obviously battleship-sized proportions, each link is as big as a truck tyre and too heavy to shift even slightly.
Towards the edge of the deck are a pair of mooring bollards and a fairlead. The bows have collapsed almost flat to starboard, leaving two port anchor hawse pipes close together on the upper surface of the wreckage. The single starboard hawse pipe is hidden beneath the collapsed bows.