Scapa Flow
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Scapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Viking ships anchored in Scapa Flow more than 1000 years ago. It is best known as the site of the United Kingdom's chief naval base during the First and Second World Wars. The base was closed in 1956.
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[edit] World War I
The British fleet that took part in the Battle of Jutland was based at Scapa Flow. German U-boats twice attacked British ships in Scapa Flow. Both attacks failed, and the U-18 and U-116 were sunk.
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 June 21, 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 with a loss of nine lives, the last casualties of the First World War.
[edit] World War II
Early in World War II, on October 14, 1939, U-47, under the command of Günther Prien, penetrated Scapa Flow and sank the battleship HMS Royal Oak, anchored in Scapa Bay, by a torpedo attack that blew a 30-foot (9 m) hole in the Royal Oak and quickly sank it. 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 the Orkneys. 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.
[edit] Scapa Flow Visitor Centre
The visitor centre is situated on the island of Hoy and is situated in the former naval fuel pumping station and a converted storage tank. The exhibits include a large 3D representation of the island and of the ships as they were prior to scuttling. The island is accessible by local ferry several times daily. The centre has catering facilities for day trippers.
[edit] Scuba diving
The wreckage of the German fleet has become increasingly popular as a venue for recreational Scuba divers. Divers must first obtain a permit from the Island Harbour Authorities, which is available through diving shops and centres. The wrecks are mostly located at depths of 35 to 50 metres. Divers are not permitted to enter inside the wrecks, or to retrieve artifacts located within 100 metres of any wreck. However time and tide has washed broken pieces of ships' pottery and glass bottles into shallow waters and onto beaches.
[edit] Trivia
Although "scarper", a slang word meaning to run away, originally derives from an Italian word scappare, meaning "to escape", it became much more popular after the First World War, when Cockney rhyming slang started to use the rhyme "Scapa Flow" - "go".
The Scotch whisky Scapa, distilled in Kirkwall, is named after this area.
[edit] References
- George, S. C., 1981. Jutland to Junkyard . Edinburgh (UK): Paul Harris Publishing. ISBN 0-86228-029-X. Describes the scuttling of the High Seas Fleet.
[edit] External links
- Listing of German and scuttled ships.
- Scapa Flow website by North Walls Community School.
- Scuttling of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow.
- About the shipwrecks at Scapa Flow.
- u47.org Site about the U-boat U-47, which sank the Royal Oak
- Orkney Wireless Museum.
