Material World - 08/02/2007

On the sea bed at Scapa Flow near the Orkney Islands lies the massive hulk of the Royal Oak, a warship sunk in a U-boat attack in 1939 with the loss of 833 lives. New techniques in 3D underwater imaging have produced the first incredibly detailed images of this offshore war grave. Sue Nelson talks to Chris Rowland, Researcher in 3D Visualisation from the University of Dundee, and to Martin Dean, Maritime Archaeologist at St Andrews University. Using the latest sonar technology they have scanned the wreck and built an intricate picture of the wreck and how it's decaying. The Royal Oak is still leaking fuel oil after 67 years on the seabed. Sue finds out how these detailed images might help prevent future environmental disasters and why their technique could be used on the wreck of the Titanic.