SScapa
Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, sheltered by
the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay
and Hoy. At 140 square miles, with a sandy bottom, and relatively
shallow (not deeper than 160 feet, and most of it about 70
feet deep), it is one of the great natural harbours/anchorages
of the world, with sufficient space to hold a number of navies.
It was the site of the United Kingdom's chief naval base during
World War I and World War II. The base was closed in 1956.
World
War 1
Historically,
the main British naval bases were located near the English
Channel to better face England's old enemies of France, Spain,
and the Netherlands. In 1904, in response to the build-up
of the German Kaiserliche Marine's High Seas Fleet, it was
decided that a northern base was needed, to control the entrances
to the North Sea. Originally, Rosyth was considered for the
base, and then Invergordon at Cromarty Firth but construction
in both places was delayed, leaving them largely unfortified
by the time of the First World War. Scapa Flow was used many
times for exercises in the years leading up to the War, and,
when the time came for the fleet to move to a northern station,
Scapa Flow was chosen for the main base of the British Grand
Fleet, even though it was also unfortified.
John
Rushworth Jellicoe, admiral of the Grand Fleet, was constantly
nervous about potential submarine or destroyer attacks on
Scapa Flow, and the base was reinforced with minefields, artillery,
and concrete barriers starting in 1914. These fears were borne
out when German U-boats twice attacked British ships in Scapa
Flow, though the attacks themselves did no damage. The first,
by U-18, took place in November 1914; but the sub was rammed
by a trawler searching for submarines while it was trying
to enter Scapa Flow, causing the submarine to flee and then
sink. The second attack, by UB-116, in October 1918, encountered
the sophisticated defenses then in place at Scapa Flow, was
detected by hydrophones and then destroyed by shore-triggered
mines before it could enter the anchorage.
Following
the German defeat in the First World War, 74 ships of the
Kaiserliche Marine's High Seas Fleet were interned in Gutter
Sound at Scapa Flow pending a decision on their future in
the peace Treaty of Versailles. On 21 June 1919 Rear Admiral
Ludwig von Reuter, the German officer in command at Scapa
Flow, after waiting for the bulk of the British fleet to leave
on exercises, gave the order to scuttle the ships to prevent
their falling into British hands. Fifty-one ships sank without
loss of life. However nine German sailors died when British
forces opened fire as they attempted to scuttle their ship,
reputedly the last casualties of the First World War.
World
War II
Early in World War II, on 14 October 1939, U-47, under the
command of Günther Prien, penetrated Scapa Flow and sank
the old battleship HMS Royal Oak anchored in Scapa Bay. Her
second torpedo attack blew a 30-foot (9 m) hole in the Royal
Oak and as a result she flooded and quickly capsized. Of the
1,400-man crew, 833 were lost. The wreck is now a protected
war grave. After the attack, Winston Churchill ordered the
construction of a series of causeways to block the eastern
approaches to Scapa Flow; they were built by Italian prisoners
of war held in Orkney. These "Churchill Barriers"
now provide road access from the Mainland to Burray and South
Ronaldsay, although they block maritime traffic.
Three
days after this submarine attack, four Luftwaffe Junkers Ju
88 bombers raided Scapa Flow in one of the first bombing attacks
on Britain during the war. The attack badly damaged the elderly
base ship, the former battleship HMS Iron Duke, but one bomber
was shot down by an anti-aircraft battery on Hoy.
German
Ships Interned at Scapa Flow World War 1
Ship |
Type |
Sunk/Beached |
Fate |
| Seydlitz |
Battlecruiser |
Sunk
1350 GMT |
Salvaged
November 1929 |
Moltke |
Battlecruiser |
Sunk
1310 GMT |
Salvaged
June 1927 |
| Von
der Tann |
Battlecruiser |
Sunk
1415 GMT |
Salvaged
December 1930 |
Derfflinger |
Battlecruiser |
Sunk
1445 GMT |
Salvaged
August 1939 |
| Hindenburg |
Battlecruiser |
Sunk
1700 GMT |
Salvaged
July 1930 |
Kaiser |
Battleship |
Sunk
1315 GMT |
Salvaged
March 1929 |
| Prinzregent
Luitpold |
Battleship |
Sunk
1315 GMT |
Salvaged
March 1929 |
Kaiserin |
Battleship |
Sunk
1400 GMT |
Salvaged
May 1936 |
| König
Albert |
Battleship |
Sunk
1254 GMT |
Salvaged
July 1935 |
Friedrich
der Grosse |
Battleship |
Sunk
1216 GMT |
Salvaged
1937 |
| König |
Battleship |
Sunk
1400 GMT |
Unsalvaged |
Grosser
Kurfurst |
Battleship |
Sunk
1330 GMT |
Salvaged
April 1933 |
| Kronprinz
Wihelm |
Battleship |
Sunk
1315 GMT |
Unslavaged |
Markgraf |
Battleship |
Sunk
1645 GMT |
Unsalvaged |
| Baden |
Battleship |
Beached |
To
Britain, sunk as target 1921 |
Bayern |
Battleship |
Sunk
1430 GMT |
Salvaged
September 1933 |
| Bremse |
Cruiser |
Sank
1430 GMT |
Salvaged
November 1929 |
Brummer |
Cruiser |
Sunk
1305 GMT |
Unsalvaged |
| Dresden |
Cruiser |
Sunk
1350 GMT |
Unslavaged |
Koln |
Cruiser |
Sunk
1350 GMT |
Unsalvaged |
| Karlsruhe |
Cruiser |
Sunk
1550 GMT |
Unsalvaged |
Nürnberg |
Cruiser |
Beached |
To
Britain, sunk as target 1922 |
| Emden |
Cruiser |
Beached |
To
France, scrapped 1926 |
Frankfurt |
Cruiser |
Beached |
To
USA, sunk as target 1921 |
| S32 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
June 1925 |
S36 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
April 1925 |
| G38 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
September 1924 |
G39 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
July 1925 |
| G40 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
July 1925 |
V43 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
USA, sunk as target 1921 |
| V44 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
Britain, scrapped 1922 |
V45 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
1922 |
| V46 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
France, scrapped 1924 |
S49 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
December 1924 |
| S50 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
October 1924 |
S51 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
Britain, scrapped 1922 |
| S52 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
October 1924 |
S53 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
August 1924 |
| S54 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
September 1921 |
S55 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
August 1924 |
| S56 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
June 1925 |
S60 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
Japan, scrapped 1922 |
| S65 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
May 1922 |
V70 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
August 1924 |
| V73 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
Britain, scrapped 1922 |
V78 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
September 1925 |
| V80 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
Japan, scrapped 1922 |
V81 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
Sunk
on way to breakers |
| V82 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
Britain, scrapped 1922 |
V83 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
1923 |
| G86 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
July 1925 |
G89 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
December 1922 |
| G91 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
September 1924 |
G92 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
Britain, scrapped 1922 |
| G101 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
April 1926 |
G102 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
USA, sunk as target 1921 |
| G103 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
September 1925 |
G104 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
April 1926 |
| B109 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
March 1926 |
B110 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
December 1925 |
| B111 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
March 1926 |
B112 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
February 1926 |
| V125 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
Britain, scrapped 1922 |
V126 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
France, scrapped 1925 |
| V127 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
Japan, scrapped 1922 |
V128 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
Britain, scrapped 1922 |
| V129 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
August 1925 |
S131 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
August 1924 |
| S132 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
USA, sunk 1921 |
S136 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
April 1925 |
| S137 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
Britain, scrapped 1922 |
S138 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
May 1925 |
| H145 |
Destroyer |
Sunk |
Salvaged
March 1925 |
V100 |
Destroyer |
Beached |
To
France, scrapped 1921 |
Sources:
Wikipedia
- Scapa Flow
