Karlsruhe Postcards from Scapa Flow

• Reference:GB 241 D114
• Dates of Creation:c. 1919
• Language of Material:German
• Physical Description:
  20 plastic boxes

• Scope and Content

  Postcards recovered from the wreck of SMS Karlsruhe underwater in Scapa Flow and then carefully conserved on behalf of Historic Scotland (see notes below). Four different images were recorded: ships steaming in formation at sea, an image of two small children reading letters, a (wounded) man in uniform with a lady, and part of an image of a child with a toy elephant and a jar of marmalade!

• Access Information

  Use gloves when handling postcards.

• Note

  Postcards from the past: the conservation of shipwreck finds from Scapa Flow, Orkneys In autumn 2003, after local divers began reporting that material was drifting out of the German Battleship wrecks at Scapa Flow, an underwater investigation was launched by SULA Diving at the behest of Historic Scotland. SULA diver Bobby Forbes noted that the bulkheads were breaking up because of corrosion. As a result of this, he spotted loose post cards emanating from the wreck of SMS Karlsruhe a First World War cruiser, scuttled in 1919. This was one of seven battleships and cruisers of the German High Seas Fleet, scuttled in Scapa Flow in 1919 following the surrender of Germany at the end of the First World War. They were scheduled as ancient monuments by Historic Scotland in 2001 to give them full legal protection whilst still allowing divers to visit the wrecks without the special licence required for other protected wrecks. The underwater investigation revealed that the postcards had been kept in metal boxes which had gradually eroded, explaining why they had lasted so long under water. The corrosion from the boxes welded the stacks together and it was a very delicate operation to separate them. In order to conserve these fragile remains, the AOC Conservation Laboratory was sent a consignment of approximately 1200 postcards. Of these, at least 95% were unused and still had traces of their original paper wrapping and metal boxes, as they left the printers. Four different images were recorded: ships steaming in formation at sea, an image of two small children reading letters, a (wounded) man in uniform with a lady, and part of an image of a child with a toy elephant and a jar of marmalade! The surface on which the images were printed was extremely vulnerable: a soft brush could remove it, as could water movement, or even misting with water. The cards were too fragile to handle when wet and were transferred to a polyester support net, after a gentle jet of water was used to tease apart the edges of the bundles of cards. Only one other example of the conservation of paper items from a shipwreck is known: the papers coming from the Titanic. In this case laboratories reported successful conservation of a variety of papers and books but reported problems with the conservation of postcards. The Scapa Flow postcards were extremely fragile: the size that held the fibres together has dissolved and dispersed, and the paper fibres themselves are severely weakened as a result of biological degradation. A black sludge of fuel particles and iron corrosion has penetrated right through all the bundles of cards, covering the surfaces of all the cards, even those in the centre of each bundle. Experiments with some of the fragments ruled out various treatments such as freeze-drying to remove water, or oxidising the corrosion products to remove the staining. In order to protect the paper fibres, the iron corrosion had to be removed as far as possible; this would also reveal the images on the surfaces. Stain removing chemicals that have been used on wood and stone from other shipwreck sites helped eliminate the iron in the card, but they also affected the fillers of the paper, so their use was restricted. Once cleaned as far as possible, a new size was put into the cards to hold the fibres together, and an alkaline buffer was sprayed on to help prevent acid damage. AOC Conservator: Amanda Clydesdale Client: Historic Scotland.