Scapa Flow is a bay of the archipelago of the the Orkneys, at the north of the Scotland or is located one of principal the naval bases of the Royal Navy.

History

After the Armistice of the fine November 11th, 1918 putting at the First World War, seventy-four boats of the marine imperial allemande accepted the order to enter bay of Scapa Flow to be interned there. They remained there for 10 months. For this period, they were used as attraction for the tourists, and of the turns in boats were organized to visit them. But in June 1919, the vice-admiral Ludwig von Reuter, officer in ordering of the fleet present at Scapa Flow realized that Germany was going to have to resign itself to sign the Treaty of Versailles and the capitulation. It benefitted from the moment when the majority of the British buildings had left in exercise to give the order to its fleet to scuttle itself. The majority of these ships did not remain at the place where they had sunk. Those which had been failed the beach were moved very quickly, others were reinflated or reinforced. In 1924, the Cox firm & Danks began from the rescue operations, by going up many these ships on the surface. This rescue continued until the arrival of the Second world war then included until in the Seventies. Only 8 German ships remained at the bottom of the bay (3 battleships, 4 light cruisers and 1 destroyer). Scapa Flow is of this fact one of the most important marine cemeteries and attracts many plungers amateurs of wrecks and history. This mythical destination is henceforth proposed by tour operators specialized in diving.

Operation Scapa Flow (1939)

The admiral Dönitz, admiral of Unterseebootwaffe, for a long time wished to penetrate the principal anchoring of the British fleet, in Scapa Flow. September 26th, 1939, the Luftwaffe succeeds in obtaining excellent air photographs of the base, Dönitz appealed has Günther Prien of U-47, qualified and aggressive officer, to bore the wall of cast boats which stopped the narrow channel. The goal was to attack the ships anchored on the spot. Prien studied the photographs and the operational plans in one night, and, trustful, it accepted the mission.

At the evening of October 13rd, Prien moved towards anchoring. The currents in the channels leading to Scapa Flow were violent one, and the operation of penetration was envisaged during the slack of the tide. When U-47 passed with precautions the ships run at the entry of the port, the crew foresaw the activities which proceeded along the coast, with a dozen meters. During one moment, the submarine was illuminated by the headlights of a car of passage, which turned to move away quickly. But Prien continued the operation, and on October 14th, just after midnight, U-47 was inside the base of the Royal Navy.

Prien quickly made reload the tubes of U-47 to launch a torpedo to the back and three to the front one. Three minutes later, several explosions tore the hull of the warship Royal Oak : it ran in 13 minutes, and tore off the life with 833 people and officers who were has edge. In spite of the strong currents, Prien and its crew managed to leave the base to return to Germany. It was the most spectacular exploit of a Sous-marin during the second world war.

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