Scapa Flow: Diving Mecca of Scotland

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 5:00: Larry Hollesworth
2. 5:00 – 10:00: HMS Vanguard
3. 15:00 – 20:00: Florida Terminal, HMS Royal Oak, HMS Vanguard
4. 20:00 – 23:38: HMS Hood, HMS Prince of Wales

Notable quotes from "Scapa Flow: Diving Mecca of Scotland"

• Back to Geographics. I'm your host, Eric Malikite, and today's script was provided by Larry Hollesworth. So, be sure to show them some love as you deploy your likes and do all…

  about Larry Hollesworth · at 2:03

• Along the east coast of Britain to ease supply difficulties. On July 9th, 1917, the British battleship HMS Vanguard, a veteran of Jutland, blew up and sank at its moorings in…

  about HMS Vanguard · at 7:32

• Penetrated the defenses of Scappa Flow and fired a salvo of torpedoes at the British battleship HMS Royal Oak. Only one of his four torpedoes struck the battleship and…

  about HMS Royal Oak · at 15:11

• Pipeline system connected to the four major North Sea oil fields located offshore east of Aberdine. The Florida terminal processes and stores crude oil and services oil tankers…

  about Florida Terminal · at 18:22

• Flow. The ship sank with heavy loss of life including Lord Kitner. In 1941, the British battle cruiser HMS Hood. Then the pride of the Royal Navy departed Scaplow for its…

  about HMS Hood · at 22:16

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Larry Hollesworth — Person · 1 mention · first at 2:06
• David Beatty — Person · 1 mention
• Gunther Prien — Person · 1 mention
• Otto von Bismarck — Person · 1 mention

Companies & orgs

• Florida Terminal — Company · 2 mentions · first at 18:26

Products & tech

• HMS Vanguard — Product · 2 mentions · first at 7:37
• HMS Royal Oak — Product · 2 mentions · first at 15:16
• HMS Hood — Product · 1 mention · first at 22:21
• HMS Prince of Wales — Product · 1 mention · first at 22:35
  Was sunk with the loss of all but three of its more than400man crew. In late 1941, the new battleship HMS Prince of Wales, which had also fought the Bismar, and afterward…

Places & events

• Scapa Flow — Place · 10 mentions

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 At the extreme north of the British Isles sits the Scottish County of Orcne, an archipelago of more than 70 islands, of which about 20 are inhabited by humans. The county is sometimes referred to as the Orcnes or the Orcne Islands, though such reference has fallen in disfavor in Scotland. The recorded history of the region goes back centuries. The islands were known to the Norse explorers known collectively as the Vikings and possession of the archipelago changed hands between the Kelts, Picss, Norse, Danes and others.

0:32 The largest of the Orcne Islands is known today somewhat appropriately as mainland. Mainland is one of five islands which form a ring. The other four are Hoy, South Ronald's A, Buret, and Grazy. Together, these five islands shelter a body of water which is bottomed for the most part by soft sand. It is relatively shallow with most of the area averaging just 30 m in depth and nowhere within its nearly 325 km of surface area does it exceed 60 m in depth. The combination of being sheltered by the surrounding islands, its relatively shallow depth, and its freedom from ice makes the area one of the largest and best natural anchorages to be found anywhere in the world. It was for most of its existence easily accessible from both the North Atlantic to the west and the North Sea to the east. The several entrances to the anchorage between the islands which sheltered it allowed ships dependent on

1:28 the wind to exit in any direction making them safe in case of an attack. The safe harbor is known as scappa flow. Its name derived from a word in old Norse which referred to mainland as an ismas. Despite the obvious advantages it offers for the sheltering of a fleet, it really only served that purpose during the first half of the 20th century. It was during that period featuring the two world wars that Scappa Flow became the site of numerous shipwrecks, a few of which remain today. The wrecks and the history behind them have made the waters a destination for divers today. Welcome back to Geographics. I'm your host, Eric Malikite, and today's script was provided by Larry Hollesworth. So, be sure to show them some love as you deploy your likes and do all the things that help keep the Eldrich beast that is the YouTube algorithm going. Let's get to it.

2:24 Scaplow was used throughout history chiefly as an emergency anchorage for mariners riding out the storms which are so frequent in the North Atlantic as well as in the equally discouraging North Sea. As noted, the Vikings used the anchorage to shelter the ships as well as to land raiding parties. Later, the anchorage was used to launch invasions of Scotland by various marauders during the 13th century. Local lore claims that some of the ships of the ill- fated Spanish armada of 1588 sought shelter in Scaplow in an attempt to escape the storms that did more damage to the Spaniards than the English Navy had achieved. While it is well documented that several Spanish ships escaped by sailing up the east coast of Britain around the islands north of Scotland and then down into the Irish Sea, none have been documented in Scapaflow. Despite its obvious advantages as an anchorage, Scapaflow presented disadvantages to the British

3:17 fleet. From the late 16th until the mid-9th century, Britain's chief naval rivals were France and Spain, as well as their client countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark. British naval strategy during the age of sale was to blockade their enemy fleets in their own ports and be prepared to battle with them should they venture out to sea. This strategy required Britain's own fleets to shelter in channel ports and along the Tempame's estuary where they could respond rapidly in case of enemy action. The British Navy did not show interest in Scaplow as a major fleet base until late in the Napoleonic Wars.

3:52 In 1812, Britain relied on its trade with the Baltic nations for critical naval supplies, including tar and lumber. Scaplow was used as a base for the assembly of merchant vessels, awaiting the arrival of a warship, or warships to convoy them to the Baltic, a journey during which they were frequently harried by privateeers from France and the United States. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Scaplow returned to being a sleepy anchorage known to fishermen and merchant vessels for the latter as temporary shelter rather than a destination. Small villages that survive via fishing and sheep hurting dotted the islands surrounding the flow.

4:27 To the rest of the world, however, it remained largely unknown. In the second half of the 19th century, the geopolitical scene in Europe changed dramatically. The numerous German states duchies principalities and kingdoms unified under Otto von Bismar and the Kaiser, becoming the German Empire. This empire envied those of Britain and France and actively acquired overseas colonies and territories. Overseas empires require a navy to protect them from predators. A navy arms race began involving the British Royal Navy, the French Navy, and the Imperial German Navy. Eventually, the arms race expanded to include Italy, Russia, the United States, and Japan. The ships being built in this arms race no longer required wind to move them, though many continued to be equipped with masts for sales. Coal burning steam boilers became the source of power. Steel holes were fitted with guns of increasing size and

5:27 range, and the modern warship took form. In Britain, the rise of Germany as a naval power required an adjustment to naval strategy. Rather than close blockade of channel ports and in the Mediterranean Sea, especially after France and Britain became allies, it became necessary for the Royal Navy to contain Germany's Imperial High Seas fleet in the North Sea. A German fleet determined to break out into the Atlantic would likely avoid the narrow British Channel and instead steam north along the Norwegian coast west around Orcne and Shetland Islands and then into the Atlantic via the Denmark straight between Iceland and Greenland. It became imperative to have a fleet in the north of the British Isles to counter such a threat. In 1904, 10 years before the outbreak of World War I, the Royal Navy decided to base the Hulk of its main battle fleet in the north to counter the perceived German threat. Bases were

6:20 considered at Ros in the fth of fourth as well as at Inenver Gordon. Yet little was done during the ensuing decade, largely due to fiscal constraints. Meanwhile, Scappaflow was used as a training area for fleet operations. When war was declared in 1914, the British battle fleet was based at Scappa Flow despite little in the way of fortifications to protect it and no support bases to supply it. Scaplow was immediately altered by the Royal Navy, which sank more than 60 block ships to close most of its channels to open water and constructed submarine nets to be opened or closed by trwlers. Several approaches to the anchorage were mined and artillery installed on the surrounding islands. The Germans made two known attempts to penetrate the fleet anchorage during the First World War, both by yubot. The second of these attempts failed when the submarine was destroyed by mines. After the battle of

7:12 Jutland in 1916 in which 250 warships confronted each other in the largest naval surface battle in history, the German high seas fleet returned to its main ports of Wilhelms Hav and Kil and rarely ventured out in strength. The British home fleet remained at Scapaflow for the duration of the war, though some units were dispatched to other ports along the east coast of Britain to ease supply difficulties. On July 9th, 1917, the British battleship HMS Vanguard, a veteran of Jutland, blew up and sank at its moorings in Scappa Flow. The official finding of the Royal Navy was that the vessel suffered an accidental ammunition explosion. The ship sank in less than 15 minutes, and of the 845 men and boys aboard, only two survived. The wreck remains in Scaplow in approximately 32 m of water.

8:08 In November 1918, following riots in Germany and a mutiny among sailors of the high seas fleet, Germany asked for and received an armistice. There was no peace treaty yet. Among the issues to be decided before peace could even be attained was the matter of reparations to be paid by Germany to the victors and the disposition of the German Navy. The allies were not of one mind over the disposition of the German fleet. The Royal Navy wanted the fleet destroyed outright. France and Italy both coveted several of the newer and more powerful ships, though. In the interim, the German high seas fleet was ordered to surrender to the British and then be interned until a final decision was reached. The German yubot fleet was interned at Heric on the North Sea. The surface fleet was ordered to steam to the fth of fourth there to surrender to British Admiral David Bey. The German fleet surrendered on November 21st

8:59 following an order from the always hottie bey. The German flag will be hauled down at sunset today and will not be hoisted again without permission. Over the course of the next few weeks, the German ships, 73 in all, were escorted to Scaplow and assigned anchorages. The German crews were not allowed to visit between ships, go ashore, or visit any of the British ships except on official business. Mail to and from Germany was censored by the British. Officially the ships were to be supplied and the crews fed by Germany.

9:28 What was received though was of poor quality and tobacco had to be rationed. The German ships were under the command of German Rear Admiral Levig von Reiter. Though he could do little but obey the orders issued by Bey and later by British Vice Admiral Sydney Fremantle. Gradually the German crews were reduced by sailors being repatriated to Germany. Vonroider was able to send home the most troublesome of the near mutinous sailors in this manner, retaining a small core of loyal crewmen. The armist disagreement of November 1918 had expressly forbade the Germans from scuttling or otherwise destroying their own ships and gave Bey a free hand to seize the intern vessel should he detect any efforts along those lines by the Germans. Meanwhile, the Germans had already decided to scuttle the entire fleet and by early June, preparations were well advanced. At the same time, the British Admiral T app approved plans

10:18 for the British to seize and occupy the German ships. On June 21st, beginning at about 900 a.m., the British fleet sorted several vessels out of Scappa Flow. A little over 2 hours later, the German Imperial Enen was raised aboard von Reutder's flagship Friedrich Drosa in defiance of Bey's orders. The rest of the German fleet immediately carried out plans for scuttling. As it became evident to the British what was happening, ships were boarded by British sailors and marines. Several German sailors were injured and at least nine were killed. The British squadron, which had left that morning, reverse course and sped back to Scappa Flow. When it was over, 52 of the interned German ships were resting on the bottom of their anchorage at Scappa Flow. 15 of the ships were battleships, the most powerful type of warship afloat at the time. The remaining 21 ships of the German fleet had been towed to shallower

11:12 water and beed by the British. Thus, as World War I came to an end, the bottom of Britain's then largest fleet anchorage was littered with a wreck of warships, 52 German and one British. At first, the British Admiral determined to leave the sunken German vessels where they were. Salvage was considered impractical due to the depressed prices to be had for scrap metal in the aftermath of the war. Locals demanded something be done about the wrecks though, which were considered hazards to navigation and particularly frustrating to fishermen and shellfish trwers. In response to local demand, a salvage operation was begun by the Admiral Ty in 1923, which succeeded in raising four of the more than 30 sunken destroyers. That same year, a British engineer and entrepreneur, Ernest Cox, believing anything government could do, private industry could do better, made a proposal to the Admiral T. He purchased

12:11 26 of the remaining sunken destroyers and two of the much larger battle cruisers. Initial efforts to raise the battle cruisers failed, but eventually Cox developed methods of patching holes and openings in the sunken ships using divers, pumping the vessels full of air to raise them to the surface and towing them to breer yards in Rosy and other ports. Between 1924 and 1932, Cox through his company Cox and Danks Limited, which is a very funny name for a company, raised the majority of the sunken German ships and salvaged some materials from the sunken vanguard as well. When a general strike in 1926 threatened his supply of coal to power his salvage operations, he recovered coal from the sunken ships and used it instead. Nonetheless, he lost money steadily. In 1932, Cox sold his marine salvaging business to Aloa Shipbreaking.

13:00 The salvage operations were hampered throughout by weather conditions. The cold water limiting the amount of time divers could work underwater, poor visibility, and other factors. One of those factors was the eccentricity of Cox himself. For example, raising the battle cruiser sadits was particularly problematic. The first attempt failed, destroying most of the salvage equipment, and Cox ordered another attempt. And while preparations were underway, he told newsmen and cameramen they would be notified when the next attempt would be made. He then left for a brief holiday in Switzerland. While in Switzerland, he received notice from his salvage crews that the Sadits had been refloated largely by accident. Rather than celebrate this good fortune, Cox ordered the vessel sunk once again, and he returned to Scaplow. After ensuring suitable news professionals were on hand to document and record the event, he

13:52 ordered sailits raised for the third time. The ship was refloated in November 1928. Duly observed by the press, it was then towed to Rosi and scrapped. By the 1930s, the price of scrap metal had recovered sufficiently to make salvage operations profitable. But by then, Cox had sold his business and worked primarily as a consultant to the Admiral Ty and lecturer. Eventually, all but seven of the scuttled ships of the Imperial High Seas fleet were raised and towed away for scrapping. The seven which remain on the bottom of Scapaflow are where their German crews left them in 1919 and they are one of the primary attractions of Scaplow today.

14:37 The defense of Scaplow received little in the way of upgrades during the inter war period. And when Britain again went to war with Germany in September 1939, it faced many of the same issues as it had in 1914. Scaplow faced a serious threat from aircraft which could strike from much longer ranges than during the first world war and deliver heavier bombs. It also faced a threat from German hubotes, though it did not fully comprehend the severity of that threat until just after midnight on October 14th, 1939. It was then that U47 commanded by Gunther Pin successfully penetrated the defenses of Scappa Flow and fired a salvo of torpedoes at the British battleship HMS Royal Oak. Only one of his four torpedoes struck the battleship and detonated, causing just minor damage. Unable to conceive of a German yubot being within the fleet's main anchorage, the British crew assumed they had suffered a spontaneous

15:32 explosion, probably within the paint locker. Demonstrating that his heart pumped ice water through his veins, Pin circled the site on the surface and fired another torpedo from his stern tube while he reloaded the forward torpedo tubes and it missed. His next salvo of three torpedoes all found their target and Royal Oak sank in just over 10 minutes following the third strike. Of the crew of just over 900, 835 men and boys died, some within the ship and some ashore from injuries sustained in the attack. Pin and U47 escaped Scapplow via the way they entered and returned to Germany where they immediately became national heroes. Even Winston Churchill, who was running the British Navy at the time as first lord of the Admiral Ty, expressed grudging admiration for the Germans feet. Pin, however, did not survive the war, being sunk in 1941 while on his 10th war patrol. Churchill survived the disaster for which he bore

16:26 the ultimate responsibility as head of the Royal Navy to become prime minister in 1940. Following the attack, the defenses around Scaplow were strengthened in the process forever changing the anchorage. Eastern passages were filled in with what became known as Churchill barriers, constructed largely by Italian prisoners of war. The permanent barriers replaced the block ships which had failed to prevent entry by the German submarine. Anti-aircraft batteries were also strengthened across the anchorage. Royal Oak, despite sinking in relatively shallow water, remains where it sank, a designated war grave with many of its crew inmbed within. Like the USS Arizona, sunk at Pearl Harbor in 1941, Royal Oak continued to leak oil at a visibly steady rate into the 21st century.

17:11 Efforts to fix the leak by pumping oil out of the wreck have been ongoing, often hampered by the fragile condition of the former battleship. Also of concern is the unknown amount of unexloded ordinance remaining on board. Only contracted licensed drivers are allowed to visit the wreck of Royal Oak, the last of the several ships to be wrecked at Scappaflow.

17:40 In the years following World War II, Scapplow served briefly as a Royal Navy base, though its usefulness faded quickly as the Navy decreased in size. In 1957, the British Navy closed the last remaining support activities at Scapaflow, and the base has been abandoned ever since. In the 21st century, the sight of a warship in the anchorage, which had once sheltered hundreds of giant ships at once, is rare. The few visits are usually ceremonial in nature. In the mid 1970s, Scappaflow became a terminal for the shipping of North Sea oil from the Piper oil fields. Located on the island of Florida in the southern part of Scappa Flow, the terminal began operations in 1977. Flo terminal receives oil from a pipeline system connected to the four major North Sea oil fields located offshore east of Aberdine. The Florida terminal processes and stores crude oil and services oil tankers at its facilities. Thus, where once was seen

18:34 only warships and their supporting tenders and other vessels, Scaplow is now home to heavy tanker traffic. With a fleet of specially designed tenders and tugs to support them in their mission, Florida exports stabilized crude oil via tankers, which then carry the North Sea crude to destinations around the world. Roughly 10% of all UK crude exports flow through the terminal. In 2017, the Florida terminal marked its 40th anniversary of service. During those four decades, 2.6 6 billion barrels of oil had been processed, stored, and shipped through the terminals. In the 21st century, plans are underway to establish hydrogen storage and distribution facilities, as well as electrical storage from offshore wind farms for distribution across the UK electrical grid. The additional facilities are envisioned as supplementing rather than replacing the oil stabilization and storage facilities. Scaplow, which for centuries

19:25 was seen as primarily a shelter for ships, is evolving into a major energy production and storage center. Both HMS Royal Oak and HMS Vanguard are protected war graves. It is a crime to remove anything from the rec sites, and only divers with permission from the Ministry of Defense are allowed to visit the sites. Both are regularly visited to conduct inspections, surveys, and conduct memorial services. Vanguard was extensively salvaged prior to receiving protection, mostly by souvenir hunters. Yet most of the wreck remains in place.

20:04 The German ships which remain in place are light cruisers Dresden, Carl's Rua, and Kur, the mine layer cruiser Bummer, and the battleship Crons, Mark Graph, and Kernik. The ships of the Imperial High Seas fleet, as the Kaiser ships were known, are not afforded the status of war graves. Most of the crews of the German ships escaped the vessels after scuttling and entered into British custody as prisoners of war. But the ships are afforded the protection of British law as designated scheduled monuments. Divers are allowed to visit the racks and examine them at close hand, but are not allowed to disturb them or remove anything found at the sites. All the wrecks exhibit extensive marine growth and life within their structures. Much of their interiors can be viewed through port holes and other openings in their holes. Some lie on their sides or partially on their sides.

20:52 Kernik lies almost completely upside down, while Margar is mainly upright, allowing divers to closely inspect its 12-in guns, which heavily damaged at least four British ships at the Battle of Jutland. In fact, all three of the German battleships still present at Scaplow, as well as Royal Oak and Vanguard, were veterans of that battle. Magazines and websites dedicated to diving routinely issue descriptions of diving the wrecks of Scappa Flow. There is no other site in the world where so many heavy warships of the early 20th century can be seen and explored. Nor is diving limited to the remains of the German ships. Block ships from both World Wars can also be dived and explored, including by snorkeling.

21:31 Approximately 3,000 divers visit Scapaflow annually, most during the summer months of August and September when the water temperature can hover around 13 degrees C. In June 1916, HMS Hampshire set sail from Scaplow on its way to Aringels and carrying Lord Kitner, then his majesty's secretary of state for war. Kitchener is probably most famous today for the iconic recruiting poster which featured him pointing at the viewer with the word you. An image later emulated by the Americans in their own I want you campaign featuring Uncle Sam. Hampshire struck a mine laid by a German yubot to ent trap British ships within Scappa Flow. The ship sank with heavy loss of life including Lord Kitner. In 1941, the British battle cruiser HMS Hood. Then the pride of the Royal Navy departed Scaplow for its encounter with the German battleship Bismar in May. Hood was sunk with the loss of all but three of its more than400man crew. In late

22:35 1941, the new battleship HMS Prince of Wales, which had also fought the Bismar, and afterward conveyed Churchill to a meeting with President Roosevelt in Argentina, departed Scaplow on a voyage to Singapore. It too never returned. Sun sunk in the far Pacific by another enemy, the Empire of Japan. Over its history as the Royal Navy's main anchorage for its home fleet, dozens of ships steamed from its sheltered waters, never to return. Others steamed out in triumphant sordies for the Royal Navy. And after America entered the war, several US Navy ships also called Scappoflow home. Today, Scaplow is a site for recreation, commerce, and memorials celebrating and honoring its history during the two world wars.

23:16 Largely forgotten by many other than recreational divers, it is a site worth remembering. I hope you learned something today. And if you enjoyed this video, be sure to deploy your likes, comment a historical place we haven't covered yet, subscribe, and ring that bell. And share this video with someone who enjoys learning about history's most important locations. I'm Eric Malikite and we'll see you next

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "Scapa Flow: Diving Mecca of Scotland"?

In order: 0:00 Larry Hollesworth; 5:00 HMS Vanguard; 15:00 Florida Terminal, HMS Royal Oak, HMS Vanguard; 20:00 HMS Hood, HMS Prince of Wales.

What is mentioned in this Geographics episode?

10 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Scapa Flow, HMS Vanguard, HMS Royal Oak, Florida Terminal, Larry Hollesworth, HMS Hood. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Scapa Flow: Diving Mecca of Scotland"?

The episode runs 24 min; the transcript is about 4,004 words in 30 timestamped sections.

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