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    Wrecks of Scapa Flow

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    At Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919, there occurred an event unique in naval history. The German High Seas Fleet, one of the most formidable ever built and prime cause of the Great War, was deliberately. sent to the bottom of the British Grand Fleet's principal anchorage at Orkney by its own officers and men. The Grand Scuttle became a folk legend in both Germany and Britain. However, few people are aware that Rear-Admiral Ludwig von Reuter became the only man in history to sink his own navy because of a misleading report in a British newspaper; that the Royal navy guessed his intention but could do nothing to thwart it; that the sinking produced the last casualties and the last prisoners of the war; and that fragments of the Kaiser's fleet are probably on the moon.  (From the blurb in The Grand Scuttle).

    See also Salvage.

     
    DEATH OF A FLEET
    Paul Schubert and Langhorne Gibson.
    The loss of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow. 

    .    		 JUTLAND TO JUNKYARDpjs soft only
    The raising of the scuttled German High Seas Fleet from Scapa Flow - the greatest salvage operation of all time.
    S.C.George.
    First published 1973 by Patrick Stephen Ltd.
    Possibly several editions and reprints, possibly by other publishers.
    Released in softcover 1999, by Birlinn Limited, London.
    On 21 June, 919, at Scapa Flow in Orkney, one of the most extraordinary events in naval history occurred. To the astonishment of those who witnessed it, the German High Seas Fleet - one of the most powerful in history - began in unison to sink. By late morning, ten battleships, six battlecruisers, eight light cruisers and a host of smaller ships lay on the seabed.
    Although at the time the Admiralty stated that salving the ships was an impossibility, from 1924 on, the great battlefleet was, ship by ship, raised and scrapped. Jutland to Junkyard is the story of this, the greatest salvage operation of all time. It recounts the extraordinary ingenuity, courage and resourcefulness of the salvagers in the face of extreme odds. [Cover far left]
    Cover immediate left: Softcover edition: Birlinn Limited, Edinburgh, 1999; reprinted 2003. 
    Cover shown is from 2003 reprint softcover. From the baack cover of the 2003 edition: On June 21, 1919, at Scapa Flow in Orkney, one of the most extraordinary events in naval history occurred. To the astonishment of those who witnessed it, the German High Seas Fleet - one of the most powerful in history - began in unison to sink. By late morning, ten battleships, six battlecruisers, eight light cruisers and a host of smaller ships lay on the seabed. Although at the time the Admiralty stated that salving the ships was an impossibility, from 1924 on the great
    battlefleet was, ship by ship, raised and scrapped. ‘Jutland to Junkyard' is the story of this, the greatest salvage operation of all time. It recounts the extraordinary ingenuity, courage and resourcefulness of the salvagers in the face of extreme odds. [ps-s]
    SCAPA FLOW 1919.
    Friedrich Ruge.
    First published in 1969 by Gerhard Stalling Verlag, Oldenburg and Hamburg.
    English edition 1973 by Ian AllanLondon, 1973.
    Hardcover, dustjacket, 175 pages, index, appendix. 
    It is interesting to read the drama of Scapa Flow from the German perspective. Chapters such as The Scuttling; The Consequences of the Scuttling; and The Fate of the Scuttled Ships add a new dimension to the English-authored texts. 
    From the fly: In November 1918 Germany surrendered and under the terms of the Armistice the High Seas Fleet was taken to Scapa Flow and interned. There on June 21, 1919, 11 capital ships, 13 cruisers and 50 torpedo boats were scuttled by their German crews. Why was the High Seas Fleet scuttled? The author, who served on torpedo boat B110 during the war, and was himself interned on board her in Scapa Flow, describes the events leading up to the scuttling of the Fleet. Following the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, Admiral Ruge gives a detailed account of the mutiny of the High Seas Fleet in 1918 and its surrender and internment. Life with the interned Fleet and the harsh conditions are vividly described and the secret discussions and orders leading to the scuttling are told in
    detail. The narrative ends with the author's experiences in a POW camp, his repatriation to Germany, and the raising of the scuttled ships. Ten appendices give details of orders, decrees, reports and letters and there is a list of losses and details of source references. The book is illustrated with 17 photographs. [ps]

    .    		 THE GRAND SCUTTLE
    Dan van der Vat. 
    Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1982. ISBN 0 340 27580 4. Hardcover, dustjacket, 238 pages, mono prints, index. 
    Birlinn Milited, Edinburgh, Scoland, 1997. ISBN 1 874744 82 3. Softcover, 240 pags, mono prints, index. 
    From the back cover blurb of the paperback:
    This is the remarkable story of the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow. It contains previously unused German archive material, eye-witness accounts and the recollections of survNors, as well as many contemporary photos which capture the awesome spectacle of the finest ships of the time being deliberately sunk by their own crew. Dan van der Vat, born in Holland and educated in England, became a full-time author after 25 years in journalism. He has published seven books on maritime history, including The Ship that Changed the World and The Riddle of the Titanic (with Robin Gardiner), as well as a biography of Albert Speer. 
    Call it the ‘Truk Lagoon of the British Isles' if you like, but the loss of shipping at Scapa Flow  in the Orkney islands off Scotland is one of the most bizarre of all wartime incidents. On 21 June 1919, the German high Seas Fleet, one of the most formidable ever built and prime cause for the Great War, was deliberately sent to the bottom by its own officers and men. "The Grand Scuttle" became a folk legend in both Germany and Britain. After all, how often does an admiral order the sinking of his own,
    complete, fleet. If the scuttling was remarkable, more so was the purchase of the fleet and the attempted raising of some of the war ships for scrap. Van der Vat documents meticulously the reasons for this massive act of destruction (with lesser details on the subsequent salvage), providing a remarkable insight into German thinking at the time. Anyone interested in  wreck diving will be educated, amused and entertained by The Grand Scuttle. 
    Cover images Far left: Hardcover. Immediate left: Paperback. [ps]
    THE MAN WHO BOUGHT A NAVY
    The Story of the World's Greatest Salvage Achievement at Scapa Flow.
    Gerald Bowman. 
    Published in 1964 by George G. Harrap & Co, London.
    Hardcover, dustjacket, 237 pages, mono photographs.
    There are quite a few books on the scuttling of the German Flleeet at Scapa Flow during the final stages of World War 1, but few as intersting as this one which centres on the work of a most remarkable man,  Ernest Frank Cox, who did indeed own a navy - even if it was at the bottom of the sea. Provides excellent descriptions of the raising of several vessels, some under the most difficult of situations. A most valuable book in all respects. [ps]
    DIVE SCAPA FLOW
    Rod Macdonald.
    Mainstream Publishing, Edinburgh and London, 1990. ISBN 1 85158 983 X.
    Hardcover (as shown far left), laminated boards, 126 pages, mono and colour prints, index, bibliography.
    rom the back cover blurb:
    Dive Scala Flow is.s comprehensive and practical guide to the spectacular and famous Orkney wrecks - the colossal, intact remains of the scuttled German fleet, U-boats, steamers, tugs and Churchill's extraordinary 'Blockships'. Since this book was first published there have been huge advances in diving technique and, with the new wave of 'technical diving', wrecks previously beyond the realm of the air diver can now be reached. This updated and revised edition incorporates these, particularly , HMS Hampshire which took Lord Kitchener to his doom in  1916. Rod Macdonald's intimate knowledge of the dives is supplemented by up-to-date information on charterers, travel and accommodation in the area. An essential companion for discovering the underwater secrets and intriguing naval history of Britain's most popular dive site, Dive Scapa Flow comes complete with new illustrations, photographs and charts. I believe the book is still in print and readily available in the UK. [ps]
    Immediate left cover: Thisa is the 1991 soft back cover. [pt]
    THE LOSS OF THE BATTLESHIP 'ROYAL OAK'
    In the early hours of Saturday, 14th October, 1939, a few weeks after the outbreak of war, the Royal Navy suffered a stunning loss. The battle- ship Royal Oak, when lying inside the main base of the Home Fleet- Scapa Flow, in the Orkney islands, north of Scotland-was shaken by a number of explosions, occurring at intervals. She became a furnace internally, rolled over and, within about seven minutes of the last explosion, had gone to the bottom, with nearly 800 men trapped inside. Hundreds of others, some of them terribly burned, found themselves swimming in the icy, oil-covered sea, with small chance of immediate rescue-the night was dark and no one had seen or heard the explosions. Jubilantly the German propaganda services claimed the sinking of the Royal Oak and the damaging of the battlecruiser Repulse, and the Ger man public applauded Lieutenant Prien of U.47 as their first hero of the war, the man who had avenged the scuttling of the High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow after the first world war. Millions of words poured from the world's presses describing the daring feat of arms in which Prien had pene- trated the defences of 'Impregnable Scapa', where every similar attempt during 1914-18 had been defeated. Meanwhile diving operations on the wreck were being carried out under conditions of strictest secrecy and the survivors were forbidden, under any circumstances, to talk to the press. As Alexander McKee began to interview large numbers of men who ha4 escaped from the Royal Oak he found that half of them still did not believe that she had been sunk by torpedoes; he found, too, that German accounts of the operation, including the captured log of U.47, bore hardly any relation to the real facts; and he decided in one way or another, to find out what really did happen that night in Scapa Flow. In the end he succeeded, and all previously published estimates of Prien must now be revised. The events are seen also for what they really were-as part of an intended "Pearl Harbour" for the Royal Navy. Drawing generously upon the wealth of information he has ac- quired Alexander McKee presents a vivid and unforgettable recapitula- tion of those few but fateful hours. As a dramatic documentary Black Saturday stands in a class of its own, deserving scrupulous appraisal. As a grippingly, readable, human story of ordinary men faced with the most frightful horror of naval warfare, it will burn itself into the memory of every reader. 
    (From the fly of 'Black Saturday').

    I understand that the Royal Oak is classed as a war grave, and recreational diving is not allowed, except I presume by permission for specific reasons. I was recently advised that fuel oil is still seeping from the tanks.  Royal Navy divers lay a Royal Ensign on the date of the anniversary of the sinking as part of the commemoration to her loss. 
    BLACK SATURDAY - THE DEATH OF THE ROYAL OAK
    Alexander McKee
    Presido Press, San Rafael, California. 1976. 
    Hardcover, dustjacket (blue-far right); 211pp. Dimensions 215 x 140 mm.
    On 13th October 1939 German Submarine U-47 under Captain Gunther Prien slipped quietly and leathely through the Submarine boom defences of the Royal Navy pen at Scapa Flow. Prien discharged a few torpedoes, one directly into the British Battleship HMS 'Royal Oak' the impact sank the warship and of the 1200 crew only 370 were saved. [ps]

    Softcover (immediate left, explosion).
    New English Library, London, 1972. 
    173 pages, no illustrations. 
    I SANK THE ROYAL OAK
    Gunther Prien. (Kapitän Leutnant Günther Prien)
    The Grays Inn Press, LOndon. 1954 First English Edition. 
     Translated from the 1940 German original by Comte de la Vatine. 
    Hardcover, dustjacket?; 196 pages with one sketch map and twenty-three b/w photos, plus four pages with three b/w photos. Fp: Kapitän Leutnant Günther Prien. 
    NIGHTMARE AT SCAPA FLOW
    The Truth About the Sinking of HMS Royal Oak.
    H.J.Weaver.
    THE PHANTOM OF SCAPA FLOW
    THE ROYAL OAK AFFAIR
    The Saga of Admiral Collard and Bandmaster Barnacle.
    Robert Glenton. 
    THE ROYAL OAK DISASTER
    Gerlad S. Snyder.
    Presidio Press, USA: 1st US edition 1978.
    Hard cover, dust wrapper; 240 pages, b&w photos. 
    German submarine U-47 slipped into Scapa Flow and managed to sink the battleship HMS Royal Oak, with the loss of  833 lives - one of the worst disasters of the Royal Navy. Drawing on recently accessible documents, both British and German, the author pieces together the full story whoch had been kept from the public by the British Official Secrets Act. Also draws on contemporary accounts, official reports, handwritten notes of most of the survivors and personal interviews of those involved. 
    THE ROYAL OAK COURTS MARTIAL
    Leslie Gardiner
    William Blackwood & Sons London.  1965 First Edition. (Dust jacket far left, with sword). 
    Hardcover, dustjacket.
    Published and distributed in the USA by United States Nava; Institute, Maryland, 1965. 
    Hardcover, dustjacket, 258 pages. (Dust jacket left, with ships).  [ps]
    Although German torpedoes claimed to have sunk the British battleship the Royal Oak lying inside the main base of the Home Fleet, Scapa Flow, north of Scotland, underwater divers and salvagers found a different story which culminated in the sacking of three distinguished officers of the British Mediterranean Fleet and led to the most astonishing courts martial of the century . 
    From the fly: The scene was Malta, the year 1928. The explosion occurred on a flagship's quarter- deck. But what the Admiral said to the Bandmaster was only the beginning of an extraordinary chain of events which cul- minated in the sacking of three distinguished officers of the British Mediterranean Fleet and led to the most astonishing courts martial of the century. In the story of the Royal Oak affair, Leslie Gardiner portrays in full for the first time a memorable naval scandal. The author is not out to call up old ghosts, to criticise or apportion blame. His story, dispassionately told with his accustomed skill and clarity, is the fruit of a long detailed study of the facts and of the contemporary scene around them. ‘The Royal Oak Courts Martial' will be a valuable addition to the history of the Royal Navy between the wars, for here is the complete and authentic account of significant happenings that have never been properly understood within the Service and are virtually unknown outside. 
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