Which British battleship was sunk by a German U-boat in Scapa Flow in October 1939?
"1918, the German High Seas Fleet was transferred in its entirety to Scapa Flow while a decision was to be made on its future; however, the German sailors opened their sea-cocks and scuttled all the ships. Most ships were salvaged, but the remaining wrecks are now a favoured haunt of recreational divers. One month into World War II, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Royal Oak was sunk by a German U-boat in Scapa Flow. As a result, barriers were built to close most of the access channels; these had the additional advantage of creating causeways whereby travellers can go from"
"buildings. On 14 October 1939, the Royal Navy battleship HMS ""Royal Oak"" was sunk at her moorings within the natural harbour of Scapa Flow by the German U-boat ""U-47"". Shortly before midnight on 13 October ""U-47"", under the command of Günther Prien, had entered Scapa Flow through Kirk Sound between Lamb Holm and the Orkney Mainland. Although the shallow eastern passages had been secured with measures including sunken block ships, booms and anti-submarine nets, Prien was able to navigate the ""U-47"" around the obstructions at high tide. He launched a torpedo attack on the Royal Navy battleship while it was"
"October 1939, the Royal Navy battleship was sunk at her moorings within the natural harbour of Scapa Flow, by the under the command of Günther Prien. ""U-47"" had entered Scapa Flow through Holm Sound, just to the north of Burray, one of several eastern entrances to Scapa Flow. The eastern passages were protected by measures including sunken block ships, booms and anti-submarine nets, but ""U-47"" entered at night at high tide by navigating between the block ships. To prevent further attacks, the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill ordered the construction of permanent barriers. Work began in May 1940"
"1939, under the command of Günther Prien, penetrated Scapa Flow and sank the WWI–era battleship anchored in Scapa Bay. After firing its first torpedo, the submarine turned to make its escape; but, upon realising that there was no immediate threat from surface vessels, it returned for another attack. The second torpedo blew a hole in the ""Royal Oak"", which flooded and quickly capsized. Of the 1,400-man crew, 833 were lost. The wreck is now a protected war grave. John Gunther in December 1939 called the attack ""the single most extraordinary feat of the war so far"". Three days after the"
"ships scuttled on 21 June 1919, using an unusual flag signal previously agreed upon. Unknown to the British, all ships had long ago been prepared for this action. Within five hours, 10 battleships, five battlecruisers, four light cruisers, and 32 torpedo boats sank in Scapa Flow. The battleship , the four light cruisers , , and and 14 torpedo boats were beached when British watch personnel were able to intervene in time and tow them to shallow water. Only four destroyers remained afloat. Nine Germans were killed in scuffles either aboard some of the ships (including Walter Schumann, the captain"
"within easy reach. This state of affairs suited the British, in particular, the Admiralty. The most immediate threat to the Allies during the Phoney War period was the U-Boat. Some German submarines had been sent to sea before the British declaration of war and began operations against British shipping, bringing in vital supplies from North America and other areas of the British Empire, as soon as war was declared. In one notable action, sank the battleship at Scapa Flow in October 1939, with the loss of 786 crew. As a consequence the Admiralty pressed for the RAF's efforts to concentrate"
"in Operation Albion, where the Russian destroyer ""Grom"" was sunk. As a result of the Armistice of 11 November 1918 which ended fighting between the Western Allies and Germany, much of the German High Seas Fleet was ordered in be interned at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys. was employed to carry mail between Germany and the interned fleet, and it was noted that the German destroyer had poorer seakeeping than the V-class destroyers used to escort her, with the British ships able to maintain speed in rougher weather. On 21 June 1919, the German Fleet at Scapa Flow was scuttled,"
"Scapa Flow, the main fleet anchorage. Until the start of the Norwegian campaign on 9 April 1940, action had been severely limited by the U-boat threat. A significant German naval presence in the North Sea saw the Home Fleet off the coast of Norway. The inconclusive first battle of Narvik was on 10 April. On 13 April, Crutchley commanded ""Warspite"" in the second battle of Narvik. She accompanied nine destroyers into Ofotfjord, where eight German destroyers were sunk or scuttled. ""Warspite""s catapult plane even sank a U-boat. After this action, Crutchley was appointed commodore of Royal Naval Barracks, Devonport, overseeing"
"with Britain as the German navy grew to become one of the greatest maritime forces in the world, second only to the Royal Navy. The German surface navy proved ineffective during World War I; its only major engagement, the Battle of Jutland, was indecisive. However, the submarine fleet was greatly expanded and posed a major threat to the British supply system. The Imperial Navy's main ships were turned over to the Allies, but were sunk at Scapa Flow in 1919 by German crews. All ships of the Imperial Navy were designated ""SMS"", for ""Seiner Majestät Schiff"" (""His Majesty's Ship""). The"
"ship of the war to be sunk by a U-boat. His boat sank two British vessels, of on the 6th, and of on the 7th. ""U-47"" returned to Kiel on 15 September having sunk a total tonnage of . On 14 October 1939, Prien's boat penetrated the Royal Navy's primary base, Scapa Flow and sank the battleship . He returned to Germany to instant fame. He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, personally by Adolf Hitler, the first sailor of the U-boat service and the second member of the ""Kriegsmarine"" to receive this award. Prien received the"
"roughly east of the Firth of Forth. All 40 crewmen were lost. The other submarine to be sunk was , which sailed from Heligoland on 25 October with special orders to attack the British fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow. She was commanded by the 26-year-old Oberleutnant zur See Hans Joachim Emsmann who, since first becoming a U-boat captain in February 1918, had sunk a total of 26 ships. She attempted to enter Scapa Flow submerged by the southern passage, Hoxa Sound, on the evening of 28 October. Hydrophones mounted ashore at Stanger Head, Flotta, alerted the British defenses, and the"
"Oak"" was sunk late on the night of 13 October 1939 after entered Scapa Flow by bypassing its blockship defences. Initially ""Kapitänleutnant"" Günther Prien, the commander of ""U-47"", had been disappointed to find that the Royal Naval anchorage was largely empty; this was the result of a recent order from Admiral Charles Forbes to clear Scapa Flow in case of air attack. However ""Royal Oak"" was retained because she carried a large battery of anti-aircraft guns. On sighting the battleship, Prien began his first attack run at 00:58hrs by firing three torpedoes. Only one caused a glancing blow on the"
"Germans, though the battlecruiser was torpedoed and badly damaged by the submarine . In 1918, ""Marlborough"" and her sisters received flying-off platforms on their ""B"" and ""Q"" turrets to handle reconnaissance aircraft. Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918, the Allies interned most of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow. The fleet rendezvoused with the British light cruiser , which led the ships to the Allied fleet that was to escort the Germans to Scapa Flow. The massive fleet consisted of some 370 British, American, and French warships. The fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations that ultimately"
"four carpenters and three dressmakers. Everything changed with the arrival of the Royal Navy in Scapa Flow at the start of World War I. There is a photograph held by the Imperial War Museum in London that shows a boxing match taking place on Flotta in front of a wartime audience of 10,000 people. During World War I, the island was home to a naval base. The dreadnought HMS ""Vanguard"" sank nearby in 1917, reputedly the worst maritime disaster in UK waters. In WW2, the island was again used as a military base. 1918 saw the mass exodus of Navy"
"South Ronaldsay via Burray and the two smaller islands of Lamb Holm and Glimps Holm. On 14 October 1939, the Royal Navy battleship HMS ""Royal Oak"" was sunk at her moorings within the natural harbour of Scapa Flow, by the German U-boat ""U-47"" under the command of Günther Prien. ""U-47"" had entered Scapa Flow through Holm Sound, one of several eastern entrances to Scapa Flow. To prevent further attacks, Winston Churchill ordered the construction of permanent barriers. They now serve as road links, carrying the A961. Work began in May 1940 and the barriers were completed in September 1944, but"
"transfer from the 1st Battle Squadron, as the 1st Division had been renamed earlier in the year. Between September and December 1913 she was training in the Mediterranean Sea. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, she was flagship of the 4th Battle Squadron in the North Sea, based at Scapa Flow. She was relieved as flagship on 10 December by . Ironically for a vessel designed to engage enemy battleships, her only significant action was the ramming and sinking of German submarine , skippered by K/Lt Otto Weddigen (of fame), on 18 March 1915. ""U-29"" had broken"
"command of auxiliary boats based at Scapa Flow during World War I. ""Rangitane"" left Auckland harbour in the early afternoon of Sunday 24 November 1940, en route to Britain via the Panama Canal. She was intercepted early on the morning of 27 November 300 miles east of New Zealand, by the German surface raiders ""Komet"" and ""Orion"" and their support ship ""Kulmerland"". Another ship, the SS ""Holmwood"", had been stopped and sunk by the German raiders on 24 November, but warning of the danger had not been passed on to the ""Rangitane"". This was later held to have been a"
"Berlin. During this time he kept Winston Churchill informed of the German military buildup, particularly in relation to the Treaty of Versailles and the later Anglo-German Naval Agreement. During the war, a heart condition prevented Muirhead-Gould from going to sea. The sinking of British battleship on 14 October 1939, while at anchor in Scapa Flow by resulted in an Admiralty Board of Inquiry into how a submarine could have penetrated the harbour's defences, and what could be done to prevent a recurrence. Muirhead-Gould, then a Commander, was one of the three senior officers on the Board. In February 1940, Muirhead-Gould"
"patrol took her from Marviken to St. Nazaire, in occupied France via the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. The boat left St. Nazaire on 9 August 1944. On the 11th, whilst still in the Bay of Biscay, she was sunk by depth charges dropped by an Australian Sunderland flying boat of No. 461 Squadron RAAF and the British sloop . One man died in the U-boat; there were 42 survivors. German submarine U-385 German submarine ""U-385"" was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's ""Kriegsmarine"" during World War II. She carried out two patrols. She did not sink"
"Second World War, she was no longer suited to front-line duty. On 14 October 1939, ""Royal Oak"" was anchored at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland, when she was torpedoed by the German submarine . Of ""Royal Oak""s complement of 1,234 men and boys, 833 were killed that night or died later of their wounds. The loss of the outdated ship—the first of the five Royal Navy battleships and battlecruisers sunk in the Second World War—did little to affect the numerical superiority enjoyed by the British navy and its Allies, but the sinking had considerable effect on wartime morale. The raid"
"German submarine U-40 (1938) German submarine ""U-40"" was a Type IXA U-boat of Nazi Germany's ""Kriegsmarine"" that operated during World War II. ""U-40"" was built in Bremen by DeSchiMAG AG Weser as yard number 945. She was launched in November 1938 and commissioned in February 1939. ""U-40"" conducted two war patrols during her career. Both of which were part of the 6th U-boat Flotilla. During her short time in the war, she sank no ships. ""U-40"" was sunk on 13 October 1939 by a mine in the English Channel. ""U-40"" was ordered by the ""Kriegsmarine"" on 29 July 1936 (as"
"role in World War I and II. After the Armistice in 1918, the German High Seas Fleet was transferred in its entirety to Scapa Flow to await a decision on its future. The German sailors opened the sea-cocks and scuttled all the ships. Most ships were salvaged, but the remaining wrecks are now a favoured haunt of recreational divers. One month into World War II, a German U-boat sank the Royal Navy battleship in Scapa Flow. As a result, barriers were built to close most of the access channels; these had the additional advantage of creating causeways enabling travellers to"
"German submarine U-111 (1940) German submarine ""U-111"" was a Type IXB U-boat of Nazi Germany's ""Kriegsmarine"" during World War II. She had a short career, sinking four enemy vessels and damaging one other. These victories took place over a period of two war patrols. During her first sortie, the boat sank two enemy vessels and damaged a further one. On her second patrol, ""U-111"" sank two more enemy ships before she herself was sunk on 4 October 1941 southwest of Tenerife, by depth charges from a British warship. Out of a crew of 52 officers and men, eight died in"
"Admiral Commanding, Orkneys and Shetlands (ACOS). On 14 October 1939, the anchorage of Scapa Flow was infiltrated by the , which sank the battleship with the loss of 833 lives. The official report into the disaster cast blame for the weak defences at Scapa on French. Despite having earlier warned of the dangers of attack, and offering to bring a small boat or submarine into the anchorage to prove his point, French was forced to retire from active service, and was posted to Washington as an administrative and maintenance representative, serving there until 1944. Wilfred French Admiral Sir Wilfred Franklin"
"to fears of mines and submarines. The following morning, two ""König""-class battleships were sent into Moon Sound to destroy the Russian ships stationed there. ""König"" sank the pre-dreadnought ""Slava"", while ""Kronprinz"" forced the withdrawal of the remaining warships. By 20 October, the naval operations were effectively over; the Russian ships had been destroyed or forced to withdraw, and the German army attained its objectives. Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918, the High Seas Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, was interned in the British naval base in Scapa Flow. The fleet remained in captivity"
"Otto Schuhart Otto Schuhart (4 September 1909 – 10 March 1990) commanded the U-boat in Nazi Germany's ""Kriegsmarine"" during World War II. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (), a decoration awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or outstanding military leadership. ""Korvettenkapitän"" (corvette captain) Schuhart is credited with the sinking of the aircraft carrier on 17 September 1939, the first British warship to be lost in the war. In total Schuhart claimed thirteen ships sunk on seven war patrols, for a total of of Allied merchant shipping and one warship of . Born in Hamburg, Schuhart joined"
"of Jutland. Three ships of the class took part in the destruction of a convoy running between Norway and England on 11 December 1917. All four ships of the class survived the war and were interned at Scapa Flow, along with most of the rest of the High Seas Fleet on 22 November 1918. On 21 June 1919, the German Fleet at Scapa Flow was scuttled. While ""G101"", ""G103"" and ""G104"" sank, ""G102"" ran aground during the attempt and was sunk as a target by aircraft of the US Navy in 1921. G101-class torpedo boat The ""G101"" class was a"
"Flow for the duration of negotiations for the peace treaty. ""Posen"" was not among the ships interned, and she was instead decommissioned on 16 December. The ships in Scapa Flow were scuttled by their crews on 21 June 1919 to prevent them from being seized by the Allies. As a result, ""Posen"" and the other battleships that remained in Germany were seized as replacements for the ships that had been lost. On 5 November, ""Posen"" was stricken from the German navy list to be handed over to Great Britain. The ship was transferred on 13 May 1920; on 1 November"
"her return voyage. Since she failed to report the successful passage, as other U-boats would do, she was probably sunk by a mine in the Northern Barrage on 17 October. That day another U-boat in the vicinity, reported hearing an explosion of a mine. The previous assumption that ""U-855"" was attacked and sunk by a British aircraft, Liberator 'A' of No. 224 Squadron RAF, on 24 September is not correct as this attack damaged . German submarine U-855 German submarine ""U-855"" was a Type IXC/40 U-boat built for Nazi Germany's ""Kriegsmarine"" during World War II. German Type IXC/40 submarines were"
"submarine attack, four Luftwaffe Junkers Ju 88 bombers of ""Kampfgeschwader"" 1/30 led by group commander Hauptmann Fritz Doench raided Scapa Flow on 17 October in one of the first bombing attacks on Britain during the war. The attack badly damaged an old base ship, the decommissioned battleship , which was then beached at Ore Bay by a tug. One man died and 25 were injured. One of the bombers was shot down by No 1 gun of 226 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery on Hoy. Three of the crew died, while the radio operator Fritz Ambrosius was badly burned but managed to"
"opportunity. On the morning of 21 June, the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers, and at 11:20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships. ""Brummer"" sank at 13:05; she was never raised for scrapping and remains on the bottom of Scapa Flow. In 2017, marine archaeologists from the Orkney Research Center for Archaeology conducted extensive surveys of ""Brummer"" and nine other wrecks in the area, including six other German and three British warships. The archaeologists mapped the wrecks with sonar and examined them with remotely operated underwater vehicles as part of an effort to determine how the"
"to be sunk at the next opportunity. On the morning of 21 June, the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers, and at 11:20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships. ""Cöln"" sank at 13:50 and was never raised for scrapping. ""Dresden"" also remains at the bottom of Scapa Flow. The eight ships that were not completed by the end of the war were formally stricken from the naval register on 17 November 1919. ""Wiesbaden"" was broken up for scrap in 1920 after she was briefly considered for completion. ""Magdeburg"" was sold on 28 October 1921 for 1,300,000"
"ships: the destroyer and the frigate . Forty-eight men died in ""U-390""; there was one survivor. ""U-390"" took part in four wolfpacks, namely. German submarine U-390 German submarine ""U-390"" was a Type VIIC U-boat of Nazi Germany's ""Kriegsmarine"" during World War II. She carried out three patrols before being sunk by British warships in July 1944 in the English Channel. She was a member of four wolfpacks. She sank one auxiliary warship of and damaged a merchant ship of . German Type VIIC submarines were preceded by the shorter Type VIIB submarines. ""U-390"" had a displacement of when at the"