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V5531

Location

Krakhella

Position

61º 01´N 05° 01´E

Depth

1-25m

Chart

N787

The remains of the German  patrol boat V5531 lie in shallow water in a gully just S of Skorpeholm. She was a Kriegsfischkutter (KFK), a fishing vessel commandeered by the Kriegsmarine and converted for war use. She was damaged during an attack by Norwegian MTBs in November 1944. Six crew were killed,  and V5531 was beached at this spot to land the 11 survivors. A second German KFK V5525 caught fire and sank about 3ca SW of the Sakrisskjoen,  during the same attack. Seventeen men lost their lives.

The ribs of V5531 just break the surface, but there is not much left of the wreck. What remains could easily be explored by snorkelling. Because we had been told that there was a second wreck in the vicinity we optimistically searched the area to the S out to about 25m depth, but found nothing except scallops (which were plentiful). There are submerged reefs to the S, which fall vertically from about 15m to 25m. The cliffs hold a fair amount of encrusting life. We observed some N-going tidal current in the narrow channel between Skorpeholm and the shore to its E, and a very gentle eddy to the S in the bay S of V5531. As I discovered later, V5525 is roughly 3nm NW of where V5531 lies - "nearby" means rather different things to divers and non-divers!