The SMS Bayern sinkingCredit: Royal Navy official photographer Following the Armistice at the end of World War One, there were conflicting views about what to do with the High Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte) of the German Imperial Navy.Pending a final decision at Versailles, the vessels were ordered to be interned at the vast natural Royal Navy harbour at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys.
Seventy German ships arrived on 21 November 1918 under an escort of 100 Royal Navy vessels. Four more joined them soon after, making a total of 74 interned ships, with some 20,000 German sailors.
At Versailles, the victorious powers continued to wrangle over the fate of the ships. Britain and the US wanted them destroyed. The French and Italians thought it better to share them out.
At Scapa Flow, most of the German sailors were sent home, leaving Rear-Admiral Ludwig von Reuter on his flagship, SMS Friedrich der Grosse, and skeleton crews of around 2,000 seamen.
Admiral von ReuterCredit: ONB Bildarchiv Austria
Von Reuter was intensely unhappy at the way things were developing. He made up his mind that if any foreign power tried to seize the ships without the permission of the German government, he would take matters into his own hands.
“It is my intention to sink the ships only if the enemy should attempt to obtain possession of them without the assent of our government. Should our government agree in the peace terms to the surrender of the ships, then the ships will be handed over, to the lasting disgrace of those who have placed us in this position.”
In June 1919, Von Reuter got wind of a British plan to take possession of the German ships on 23 June. Accordingly, at around 11.20 a.m. on Sunday 21 June, he sent a signal to his fleet: “To all Commanding Officers and the Leader of the Torpedo Boats. Paragraph Eleven of to-day's date. Acknowledge. Chief of the Interned Squadron”. It was a coded message to hoist German ensigns and scuttle the vessels.
When it was all done, 52 ships had been sunk, including 15 of the 16 battleships. It was the largest ever loss of warships in one event. Von Reuter was taken aboard HMS Revenge, which was Vice-Admiral Fremantle’s flagship, where he was held as a prisoner of war for his hostile act.
Admiral Scheer, on hearing of the scuttling at Scapa flow, said:
“I rejoice. The stain of surrender has been wiped from the escutcheon of the German Fleet. The sinking of these ships has proved that the spirit of the fleet is not dead. This last act is true to the best traditions of the German Navy”
As the British Navy tried to save the ships and close the seacocks, portholes, watertight doors, torpedo tubes, and other apertures that had been opened to let in the seawater, nine German sailors were killed. They were the last casualties of World War One as the Treaty of Versailles was signed a week later, on 28 June 1919.
Von Reuter returned to Germany in 1920. He did not face any charges, and resigned from the navy when it was scaled back after Versailles.
Beginning in the 1920s, intensive salvage operations at Scapa Flow focused on raising the ships. Now, only seven remain: three battleships, three light cruisers, and a fast mine-layer. They are still on the seabed, and are highly popular with divers.
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