Scapa Flow Wreck
Scapa Flow, the body of deep water surrounded by Scotland’s Orkney Islands, has been a sheltered anchorage for war ships since at least Viking times. It has also witnessed some of the greatest and most tragic naval events of two World Wars. Today the Scotland dive site is a magnet for experienced divers and naval history buffs drawn to its battleship graveyard and its famous WWI shipwrecks.
The sinking of the German Fleet
After the Armistice of World War I, 74 ships of the German High Seas Fleet were ordered into Scapa Flow to be held while negotiations on the surrender continued. They remained for 10 months, becoming a tourist attraction.
As the signing of the formal surrender approached,Admiral von Reuter, the German commander, prepared to destroy his navy rather than see it fall under British control. On June 21, 1919, with most of the British fleet away on exercises, he gave the order to sink the ships. All 74 went down in minutes. It was the greatest scuttling of naval vessels in history.
