The Scapa flow wrecks have already been extensively salvaged, soon after
they were scuttled when high grade steel was in short supply. The
salvage company was Mssrs Cox & Danks, Ltd., under contract to the
Admiralty. The V70, the Hindenburg, the Moltke, the Seydlitz, the
Kaiser, the Bremse, the Von der Tann, the Prinzregent Luitpold, and the
Bayern were all raised intact and scrapped. At present, there is nothing
left of commercial value in Scapa Flow. Monument status protects what is
left from the amateurs, not the professionals.

And, as military vessels, they were uninsured except by the full faith
and credit of the Third Reich, not a real strong claim.

The insurance companies that own the salvage rights on most wrecks are
happy to sell those rights to the highest bidder, or to share the
proceeds of salvage with professional salvors. If local governments
consider the intact wrecks valuable by their attraction to divers, they
should just buy the rights.

I've done lot of wreck diving (and recovered a few artifacts) but I
still find the idea, that every rusty old tub that sinks should
automatically become a playground for us divers, is ludicrous.

esg