![]() They certainly did not think it was a U-boat attack.Ī second salvo failed to deliver a hit but the confusion surrounding the first hit gave Commander Prien an additional 20 minutes to return to his firing position, reload, and fire a third salvo. When the first torpedo struck HMS Royal Oak at 12.58am, the dull thud confused the sailors – they thought the muffled explosions were an on-board problem, perhaps an explosion in the paint store. ![]() ![]() U-47 first sailed towards Lyness but, finding no ships in the area and encountering no resistance, then turned to the north where HMS Royal Oak, HMS Pegasus and possibly HMS Iron Duke were spotted (Wood, 2008, p.92).Ī total of 51 ships were in Scapa Flow at the time, 18 of which can be described as fighting ships (Weaver, 1980, p.39). It was high tide and a little after midnight on 14 October 1939. U-47 approached Scapa Flow through the narrow approaches at Kirk Sound with surprising ease. One more battleship joined the WW1 German warships in the dark seabed of Scotland, but this time it was the turn of the Royal Navy to pay a heavy price: The HMS Royal Oak is sunk by the German U-Boat U-47, commanded by Korvettenkapitän Günther Prien in October 1939, in a daring operation, which cost the lives of 834 British sailors. The German U-Boat U-47 and the sinking of the Royal Oak in October 1939 However, 7 vessels between 150 and 180 meters in length, the König, the Markgraf, the Kronprinz Wilhelm, the Brummer, the Köln, the Karlsruhe and the Dresden, are still resting on the seabed, making Scapa Flow their graveyard for eternity. Innovative processes, despite repeated failures, allowed the company to salvage 32 ships.Īnother company takes over in 1936 and many other ships are slowly salvaged. The company Cox and Danks bought the rights to exploit the wrecks and began the salvage operation. The strategic importance of Scapa Flow for the Royal Navy made it imperative to remove the wrecks that posed an immediate threat to navigation. Almost all of the 74 German ships were deliberately sunk within hours. mainly the British and the French, to take hold of the fleet. In June 1919, Vice Admiral Ludwig von Reuter decided to scuttle the fleet, in order to avoid the enemies of WW1, i.e. Under the terms of the Versailles Treaty, all German ships have to be handed over to the allies. Scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow A fleet of 74 battleships of the German Imperial Fleet arrive at Scapa Flow accompanied by over 250 other ships. In November 1918, a few days after the Armistice, Germany is forced to surrender all warships. This port was used as naval base for the Royal Navy during both world wars. Scapa Flow is a natural bay, sheltered from the wind, located in the Orkney Islands. Armistice and internment of the German fleet They were deployed to assist with minesweeping, harbour duties, and the operation of mobile boom defences.By Pierre Kosmidis Divers from around the world visit Scapa Flow to explore the WW1 wrecks and to discover European history resting on the seabed of Scotland. The Strathgarry and Chance were among the large numbers of fishing vessels requisitioned for war duties. However, surveys are revealing widespread debris of the many other vessels left behind by the salvors. Since the 1980s, the German wrecks have become hugely popular diving attractions. These two Royal Navy incidents claimed the lives of more than 1600 sailors, many buried in the Lyness Royal Naval Cemetery on Hoy. It is almost intact, but with evidence of torpedo damage inflicted in the early hours of 14 October 1939. The wreck of the battleship HMS Royal Oak also survives. The wrecks of three battleships ( Markgraf Kronprinz-Wilhelm Konig) and four light cruisers ( Brummer Dresden Coln Karlsruhe) are all that survive substantially intact.Įlsewhere, the shattered fragments of wreckage of HMS Vanguard bear testament to a huge explosion that took place on 9 July 1917 while the ship was at anchor. Seven of the scuttled German warships proved too deep to salvage economically in one piece. A diver exploring a section of mast from a German battleship courtesy Bob Anderson and MV Halton Lost warships
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