| Llama |
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Type: 3189 gross tonnage oil tanker, built in 1890 by Armstrong, Mitchell & Co. of Newcastle as the SS Brilliant.
Picture:
Wreck Information: On October 29 the Llama was stopped by the British warship Virginia and was boarded, the result was signalled to the Virginia and the lieutenant directed to proceed to Kirkwall in the Orkneys, keeping to the northward of Sule Skerry and North Rona and not to pass between the islands at night. The tanker arrived off Westray Firth on the night of October 30. The next morning the tanker started on a course through Westray Firth but in a few hours struck a rock and was totally lost.
Harbour / slip:
Parking
directions:
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Chart:
Depth: 15m
Tides:
Diveboat: Jean Elaine The Karin
Diveshop: Scapascuba
Accommodation: Orkney Islands Tourist Board, 01856 872856,
Suggested experience: Sport diver
Other comments: The vessel was stern-engined, and the boilers and collapsed engine mark the rear-most extent of the wreckage. Her stern post is clear to see just aft of her engine. A number of portholes and skylights can still be seen in her twisted hull plates around the boiler area, but most still firmly rivetted in place. Swimming forward from her three boilers over her kelpy remains, you'll pass scattered hull plates before finally get to her main anchor winch and remains of the bow, with her hawser pipes being the most noticeable feature
Pub: The Ferry Inn & Flatties Bar
Created by: Finstrokes
Date: 13/1/08
Other photos:
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Wreck diagram:
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Dive reports : Kevin Heath...... During WW1 all ships going to and from Europe had to call into a British port to have the cargo checked as part of our blockade of Germany. One of these ships was the SS Llama, a 3189 gross tonnage oil tanker. Built in 1890 by Armstrong, Mitchell & Co. of Newcastle as the SS Brilliant, sold and renamed by the Standard Oil Co, of New York. She stranded on a reef in the Westray Firth on 31 October 1915, while attempting to enter Kirkwall to clear contraband control en route to Copenhagen. The wreck sits in 14 meters of water. The bows and triple expansion engine are the highest parts, the rest of the ship is well broken, but lots of brass valves and pipes can be seen among the wreckage - evidence of her oil carrying past. While doing a drift search for the Llama in 1997 off the dive boat Jean Elaine, I was passed by a pod of Orcas. I was blissfully unaware of the fact but it did give the divers on the boat a chance to see some of the more interesting wildlife around these shores.