Germany’s Sunken Fleet
both world wars. Called Scapa Flow, its legacy of shipwrecks remains a window on war for wreck divers across the U.K. and around the world almost 100 years later. This strategic natural harbour was protected from enemy intruders by the use of submarine nets and landside armaments, though these measures, like any, had their limitations. That said, the sunken vessels in Scapa Flow are mostly ships of the German high seas fleet, interned there following the end of World War I, pending the
T 38 Magazine
he Orkney Isles, off Scotland’s north coast, form a 120 square miles (312 sq km) natural anchorage that the British Royal Navy used to great advantage during
outcome of treaty talks in Versailles, near Paris. Ultimately, the Treaty of Versailles, which specified reparations liable to Germany for its 1914-18 war, had far reaching consequences.
Numbering 74 vessels, the fleet comprised five battle cruisers, 11 battle ships, eight light cruisers and 50 torpedo boat destroyers. Before their arrival at Scapa Flow they had been demilitarized - stripped of gun firing mechanisms, munitions and smaller arms. Admiral Ludwig von Reuter was the ranking officer in command of the 5,000 German sailors who maintained the fleet throughout the nine months-long internment, during which news of the peace talks was intermittent at their remote anchorage. Against this background of isolation von Reuter became fearful that the fleet might be confiscated by the victors and used against
Left and right: The F2 was a WWII vintage wreck sunk in
1946 and not part of the German
fleet, but a great Scapa Flow dive
Germany in the event of renewed hostilities. He secretly devised a plan to scuttle his fleet and on June 21, 1919, he executed the plan. In a matter of about six hours 52 warships were on the bottom of Scapa Flow. The remaining 22, comprised of the battleship Baden, three light cruisers and 18 destroyers, were decks awash as they were hauled aground and spared sinking by the British Navy.
Raising the Fleet In a feat arguably as remarkable as the scuttling of the German fleet, a scrap metal businessman by the name of Ernest Cox succeeded in raising most of these ships in the post war years. With no previous experience in marine salvage, Cox set about buying the vessels from the British Admiralty in 1924, acquiring 52 in total. A self-made man, Cox had profited by cleaning
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68