In March 2014, all news feeds reported that in Donuzlav Bay, the largest lake in Crimea, two decommissioned ships were sunk for strategic purposes - the Ochakov BPK and the Shakhtar tugboat. We decided to analyze this and at the same time look into the past, since the technique of sinking ships for military purposes has been known since ancient times.
The Ochakov BOD was part of the Russian Navy from 1973 to 2011, but completed its most interesting mission after it was decommissioned. In the photo, he is lying on his side, blocking the exit from Donuzlav.
Until 1961, Donuzlav was a full-fledged lake, separated from the waters of the Black Sea by an earthen isthmus. But as a result of the construction of a naval base in the isthmus, a 200-meter wide canal was dug, so Lake Donuzlav turned into a technical reservoir, although it retained its name. Today the lake is separated from the “big water” by a spit, and an artificial channel allows Navy ships to go out to the open sea. Until recently, the Southern Naval Base of Ukraine functioned here - it was precisely this that the Russian military sought to block in order to avoid an armed conflict.
However, the sinking of ships as a strategic maneuver has been known for a long time. Back in the 11th century, six Viking ships were sunk in the Peberrende Strait of the Skaldelev fjord (Denmark) in order to block the fjord from attack from the sea. The ships were discovered in 1962 and are now kept in the museum; artificial flooding is confirmed by their perfect condition and unusual location at the bottom.
Sevastopol bays
Of course, Donuzlav is not the first case of strategic sinking of ships in Crimea. One of these operations took place in Sevastopol in 1855, at the height of the Crimean War. For Russia, the war did not work out from the very beginning: the reasons lay both in the outdated technical equipment of the Russian troops and in the uncertain actions of the command. Russia sought to strengthen its influence in the Balkans and gain control over the Bosporus and Dardanelles, Great Britain - to weaken Russia and divide spheres of influence through an alliance with the Ottoman Empire.
The Coalition forces undoubtedly prevailed, and as a result, by 1854, Russia was one step away from losing Crimea. The superior Allied fleet blocked Russian ships in the Sevastopol Bay, which allowed the Coalition to control the Black Sea and land troops on the shores of Crimea. The most important strategic point was, of course, Sevastopol, and in September 1854 its successive assault began. The heroic defense of the city has gone down in history, but we are interested in only one episode of it. The commander of the defense of Sevastopol, Admiral Pavel Nakhimov, understood perfectly well that if enemy ships entered the bay, the city would be lost, and on September 11, even before the start of active hostilities, seven sailing ships built in 1830-1840 were sunk across the fairway to create an underwater chain between Aleksandrovskaya and Konstantinovskaya batteries. It is interesting that among them was the famous frigate "Flora", a year earlier, miraculously emerging victorious from an unequal battle with three Turkish steam frigates - despite the fact that the commander, the young captain Skorobogatov, at that time had no combat experience, and the steamships were three times larger than "Flora" in terms of the total power of their guns were more maneuverable and were controlled by more experienced commanders. Most of the scuttled ships were standard 84-gun ships of the line built in Nikolaev from 1833 to 1840; The first ship in the series, Silistria, was also sunk in the Sevastopol roadstead.
Over the next months, the barrier was destroyed several times due to storms and natural decay - it was “repaired” by sinking new ships. In December, the ship “Gabriel” and the corvette “Pilad” were added to the first seven, and in February 1855 a second line appeared - six more ships. In total, by the end of the defense, 75 combat and 16 auxiliary ships were sunk in the roadstead! Ships were sunk different ways- by explosion, shelling from the shore, etc. It is interesting that after the war, in 1857-1859, about 20 ships (in particular, several steamships) were raised from the bottom, repaired and put into operation again.
The Sevastopol raid is the largest strategic sinking of ships, and a successful one: the barrier of masts really did not allow the enemy to enter the bay and begin a massive shelling of the city, which saved Sevastopol from capture. The most famous monument of the city is dedicated to the event - the Monument to the Scuttled Ships, erected in 1905.
Orkney Maze
The second most famous incident with the sinking of ships occurred much later - already in the 20th century. The harbor of Scapa Flow in Orkney was the main base of the Royal Navy throughout both world wars and therefore an attractive target for German forces.
True, the most famous flooding occurred in Scapa Flow in peacetime. After the truce that ended the First world war, the German High Seas Fleet (this was the official name of the German Navy) was convoyed to the Orkney Islands, where it awaited its fate - most likely, transfer to the Allies. German sailors and commanders remained on the ships, although everything was confiscated, the guns were dismantled, and communications were eliminated. For six months the fleet was kept in Scapa Flow under the supervision of the British, and on June 21, 1919, it suddenly (!) began to sink simultaneously. The fact is that the commander of the fleet, Ludwig von Reuther, despite the lost war, remained a patriot of Germany and could not allow his ships to fall to the Entente. Having difficulty establishing communication between the ships, the Germans agreed that they would simultaneously launch boats, raise German flags on the ships and open the seacocks - which is exactly what happened. The British, clutching their heads, did not have time to do anything (although they fired from the shore at the captured ships, demanding to close the kingstons) - von Reuther sank 52 ships: battleships, cruisers, destroyers. The British managed to drag 22 ships aground. Upon his return to Germany from captivity, von Reuther became a national hero. It is interesting that many representatives of the Allies perceived the admiral’s act as a good thing - he removed all disputes regarding the division of the German fleet between the Entente countries.
Construction of the “Churchill barriers” between two islands of the Orkney archipelago. The blockages have not yet been removed.
A bridge laid over blocks from one Orkney island to another.
Modern view of the “Churchill barriers”.
But this was not a strategy, but rather a last resort to prevent the ships from falling to the enemy. History has known hundreds of similar cases - just remember the legendary cruiser Varyag or the sinking of the French fleet in Toulon in 1942. During the First World War, strategic flooding also took place in the Orkney Islands - precisely in order to stop the enemy fleet. The narrow passages between the islands had to be blocked off to make maneuvering of enemy submarines as difficult as possible: the British had maps of the modified fairway, but the Germans did not. In total, during the First World War, about 50 outdated block ships were sunk in narrow passages, essentially turning the archipelago into a labyrinth. From the very beginning of the Second World War, it was clear that the British Navy base, like a quarter of a century earlier, would become one of the main targets of German submarines - and the barriers were “updated”, flooding several more blocks. But on October 14, 1939, the British battleship HMS Royal Oak was sunk by the German submarine U-47 right in the Scapa Flow roadstead - 833 sailors died, and the submarine, which penetrated into the very heart of the British fleet, escaped with impunity. This incident forced Churchill to order the urgent construction of concrete dams between the islands (dubbed “Churchill Barriers”), permanently restricting navigation between the islands. However, they were completed only by 1944, when their strategic importance dropped significantly. And the sunken blocks are still tourist and diving attractions of the islands to this day.
History, history
The sinking of the Stone Fleet in Charleston Harbor made the front pages of local and national newspapers. A total of 24 blockheads, mostly whaling ships, were sunk in 1861-1862, thereby slowing the supply of supplies to the Confederate army.
History has known more than fifty cases of strategic flooding of blocks. In 1861-1862, more than 40 ships were sunk in the harbor of Charleston (South Carolina, USA) by order of Admiral Charles Davis. These were mostly old fishing boats, bought cheaply just for this purpose and loaded with sand and stones, which is why they received the nickname “Stone Fleet”. The purpose of the sinking was to stop blockade runners supplying ammunition to the Confederacy. In November 1914, the squadron battleship HMS Hood was sunk in Portland (Great Britain) in order to block the passage to the naval base for German submarines. In April 1918, the blockies even took part in an attack: three old British armored cruisers were loaded with concrete and scuttled at the entrance to the shipping canal of the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, which was used by the Germans as a submarine base. Two of them, under enemy fire, successfully reached the bottleneck and sank, blocking the submarines’ exit from the port - only three days later the Germans destroyed the western bank of the canal, paving the way for the locked boats new way to freedom. Even later, in April 1941, Mario Bonetti, commander of the Italian flotilla based in Massawa (Eritrea) in the Red Sea, realizing that the Allied fleet would soon attack and he did not have sufficient forces for defense, decided to devalue the capture of the port as much as possible. He ordered the destruction of most of the buildings, and sank 18 large transports in the fairway - both Italian and German.
In general, the list of cases of strategic flooding can be endless. But let's return to Crimea.
And again Crimea
The anti-submarine ship "Ochakov" was launched on April 30, 1971 as part of Project 1134-B (or "Berkut-B"). In total, seven such ships were built in the 1960-1970s - six of them were declared completely obsolete in 2011 and were scrapped; only the Kerch BOD, having undergone scheduled repairs, continued to serve in the Russian Navy. "Ochakov" was withdrawn from the fleet and within three recent years with its weapons dismantled, it was permanently laid up in Sevastopol. On the night of March 5-6, 2014, it was towed to the exit from the bay of Lake Donuzlav and scuttled; its huge, 162-meter hull blocked the narrow shipping channel by half.
The location of the sunken anti-submarine ship "Ochakov" in the fairway of Lake Donuzlav. The coastal sections of the canal are blocked by two smaller vessels.
The ship was sunk with the help of an explosion - first the hull was destabilized by filling it with water using a fire vessel, and then it was blown up, thanks to which the ship lay on board across the channel in its shallowest part (9-11 m deep). "Ochakov" is half above the water, however, its evacuation is a complex engineering operation.
To block the remaining part of the passage, the rescue tugboat Shakhtar, 69.2 m long, was sunk next to the Ochakov, and six days later another decommissioned ship, a 41-meter diving boat VM-416 built in 1976, was sunk. The flooding made it possible to block the fairway and block Ukrainian Navy ships in the bay. By now, they have peacefully transferred to the Black Sea Fleet - the blockade did not allow active hostilities. At the end of July, work began on raising the Ochakov and clearing the passage; The operation is expected to be completed by the end of autumn.
Events in Crimea showed that the sinking of ships can work as a maneuver in our time, and as a peaceful maneuver. It is aimed primarily at preventing hostilities. However, let's hope that even such maneuvers will never be needed again.
Entertainment strategy
Due to the fact that shipwrecks are attractive sites for divers, different countries decommissioned ships are sometimes sunk deliberately as "amusement parks". The most famous precedent is the sinking of the former American tracking ship General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, launched in 1943. It served in various capacities, including as a cinematic vessel, until 2008, and in 2009 it was sunk off the city of Key West (Florida) as an entertainment facility for divers. Previously, everything that could harm tourists was removed from it - from doors that could become traps to wiring - and then it was blown up by evenly distributed charges, which made it possible to lower it to the bottom in a horizontal position.
Bull Scapa Flow. Part 2. Suicide of the Kaiser's Fleet
XXII. Delivery to the Allies and the United States of all existing submarines (including submarine cruisers and minelayers) with full weapons and equipment at ports designated by the Allies and the United States.
XXIP. German surface warships designated by the Allies and the United States will be disarmed and then interned in neutral ports, and if no such suitable ports are available, then in allied ones designated by the Allies and the United States; they will be in these ports under the supervision of the allies and the United States, and only the teams necessary for guard duty will remain on the ships.
The following are subject to internment:
6 battlecruisers, 10 battleships,8 light cruisers, including 2 minelayers, 50 most modern destroyers.
All other surface warships (including river ships) should concentrate in German bases on the instructions of the Allies and the United States, end the campaign, completely disarm and come under the supervision of the Allies and the United States. All auxiliary warships are disarmed.
XXVI. The existing blockades imposed by the Allies and Associated Powers remain in force, and all German vessels found at sea remain subject to capture.
XXIX. All Black Sea ports are evacuated by Germany; all Russian warships captured by Germany in the Black Sea are handed over to the allies and the United States...
XXXI. Destruction of ships or materials prior to evacuation, surrender or return is prohibited.
………
Excerpt from a document signed in Compiegne between the command of the Entente and Kaiser Germany
1918 The year of the greatest rise and collapse of Kaiser Germany. Soviet Russia signed a peace treaty and left the war. The resources of Ukraine, Belarus and Transcaucasia allowed Germany, for a short period, to seize the strategic initiative.
In this situation, Great Britain, once again, implemented the revolution project, successfully tested in Russia. By the way, this largely removes the accusation against the Germans that they were the “godfathers” of the Bolshevik Party. Most likely, the German General Staff was simply used in the dark.
Similar to the Russian one, the German army was disintegrated. Unfortunately, the Navy did not escape this fate.
The Kaiser's fleet, which defeated the British in the Battle of Dogger Bank, which official Anglo-Saxon propaganda presented as its victory, was ready to die with dignity in battle, having fulfilled its main purpose.
But the red flags raised in Kiel and Hamburg became white flags of surrender.
And how pure and fair was the prayer on the ships of the Russian and German Fleets - “God, punish England...”.
The Commander-in-Chief of the German Fleet, Admiral von Hipper, refused to participate in the surrender of the Fleet, placing this heavy share on the shoulders of Rear Admiral von Reuter.
Under the terms of the armistice, which came into force on November 11, 1918, Germany was obliged to surrender all submarines within fourteen days and send them to neutral or allied ports for internment: 6 battle cruisers, 10 battleships, 8 light cruisers and 50 newest destroyers.
On the morning of November 21, 1918, while it was still dark, the British fleet set out to sea from Rosyth in a single formation to participate in an operation hintingly called “Operation ZZ.”
At dawn, 2 squadrons of battlecruisers, 5 squadrons of battleships and 7 squadrons of light cruisers formed two wake columns, each about 15 miles long, sailing at a distance of 6 miles from each other.
Ahead of them were 150 destroyers, the entire fleet heading east at a moderate speed of 12 knots.
At about 10:00 a combat alarm sounded on the ships and ships of the German High Seas Fleet appeared from the fog.
They marched in a single column in their last parade: the first 5 battlecruisers - Seydlitz, Moltke, Hindenburg, Derfflinger and Von der Tann, then Friedrich der Grosse under the flag of Rear Admiral von Reuther. Behind him were 8 more dreadnoughts - Grosser Kurfürst, Prinzregent Luitpold, Markgraf, Bayern, SMS Kaiserin, Kronprinz, Kaiser and König Albert.
They were followed by 7 light cruisers and 49 destroyers. However, this was not the entire fleet; the V30 destroyer hit a mine and sank. Battleship König and light cruiser Dresden were docked due to problems with the engines and were due to leave for England in early December.
German ships were ordered to go to sea without ammunition and with reduced crews, but a nation that preferred death to humiliation could try to deal the final blow to the victors.
Light cruiser Cardiff (D58) led German ships between two British columns. When the German flagship caught up with Queen Elizabeth, Beatty's squadron turned outward and set a westerly course, escorting former enemies.
To demonstrate their power, ships of the British dominions and allies were also present here - the 6th squadron of battleships consisted of 5 American dreadnoughts, the cruiser Amiral Aube and 2 destroyers represented France.
The surrendered squadron consisted of 14 large ships (5 battlecruisers and 9 battleships), 7 light cruisers and 49 destroyers, which were later joined by 2 more battleships, 1 light cruiser and 1 destroyer.
The squadron was introduced to Rosyth, where at sunset the German flag was lowered at a signal from Beatty...
The British believed that the German Fleet had been defeated...
The German ships were transferred to Scapa Flow, where batches of German sailors were left on them for proper maintenance.
Under the terms of the truce, the British did not have the right to bring their people onto the ships and interfere in their internal routine.
The conditions in which the small German crews lived there were very harsh. The British command prohibited any movement of personnel from ship to ship, not to mention visiting the shore. The monotony of the service was aggravated by almost inedible food, which, according to the agreement, was delivered from Germany and arrived in spoiled form.
When the Germans laid out the provisions they had received to dry, the crews of the nearby British patrol ships had to hold their noses.
The British confiscated ship radios long ago.
I wonder if the communist agitators remained on board and what the deceived sailors thought about those on whose pretext they committed treason?
Meanwhile, the victorious powers, greedily swallowing other people's pieces, could not immediately decide the fate of the surviving German navy. The submarines were immediately handed over to the allies, but it was not possible to reach a consensus on surface ships and the Kaiser's fleet, awaiting the outcome of peace negotiations, stood under arrest at the Scapa Flow naval base in the Orkney Islands.
Due to poor nutrition, lack of proper rest, terrible medical care and lack of news about the future fate of the fleet, discipline among the crews of German ships, whose total number at the beginning was about 20 thousand people, was constantly declining.
To prevent German sailors from violating the terms of the truce, for example, by escaping to neutral Norway, the British kept a squadron of battleships in Scapa Flow and big number patrol ships. Even a disarmed enemy was terrifying.
Meanwhile, negotiations on the fate of the German ships reached a dead end. The French and Italians wanted to get a quarter of the Kaiserlichmarine (the naval forces of the German Empire), which did not suit the British, since such a division would harm their proportional advantage over the fleets of other states.
They would have been satisfied with the destruction of German ships, but the Germans did not agree with such a decision, and their opinion had to be taken into account in accordance with the terms of the Compiegne Armistice.
Captivity cooled the hotheads even among those who tore down the Kaiser’s flags. And the raising of naval banners on May 31, 1919, on the third anniversary of the Battle of Dogger Banks, revived the patriotic feelings of the crews of German ships.
Things were moving towards concluding a peace treaty. Not without reason, fearing the transfer of their fleet to the Entente countries and trying to prevent this, German sailors decided to sink their ships on the eve of the signing of the peace treaty at Versailles.
The date for the scuttling of the fleet was set for June 21, 1919, the expected date of signing Treaty of Versailles. Shortly before this, it became known that the signing of the treaty was postponed for two days, but Admiral von Reuther decided not to delay the implementation of the plan, especially since the unsuspecting British took away the squadron of battleships for exercises on the morning of June 21.
…. The sun, which rose on June 21, 1919 over the Orkney Islands, off the northern coast of Scotland, illuminated a huge squadron frozen in the mirror waters of Scapa Flow Bay.
Seventy-four German ships - 11 battleships, 5 battlecruisers, 8 light cruisers and 50 destroyers - stood here in complete inactivity for seven months. But on that memorable morning there was extraordinary excitement on the German ships.
The eyes of all the sailors were fixed on the foremast of the battleship.” Frederick the Great ” (“Friedrich der Grosse”) - the flagship of Vice Admiral Reuter. Exactly at noon a signal went up on it: “Everyone up!” 10 minutes later - another one : “The eleventh paragraph of today’s order is recognition...”
The admiral’s order was still transmitted by signal flags from ship to ship, and “ Frederick the Great ” has already begun to list to the left side.
Following him, the rest of the German ships began to fall on board, sway and lift up their sterns and bows. The air was filled with the roar of explosions of steam boilers tearing off the bases of gun turrets, and the grinding noise of collapsing steel booms and masts.
Fountains began to bubble above the drowning giants, streams of water sucked into the steel wombs made monstrous sounds. English patrol ships rushed between the dying ships, they tried to force the German crews to close the kingstons with cannon and machine-gun fire.
But German sailors jumped from the decks into the water, into lifeboats and boats, and meanwhile, in the lower compartments of the ships, mechanics and machinists bent the valve stems with sledgehammer blows so that they could not be closed, and threw the handles and flywheels of the kingstons overboard.
By five o'clock in the evening it was all over: fifty German ships lay at the bottom of the bay.
the battleship Baden, three cruisers and several destroyers.
But 50 German ships - from the battleship Baern with a displacement of 28,500 tons to 750-ton destroyers - sank to the bottom at depths of 20 to 30 m.
Maritime history has never known a case where so many warships were sunk at once in such a relatively small area of the sea. This kind of record lasted until 1944, when the Americans sank 51 Japanese ships in Truk Lagoon in the Pacific Ocean.
The British managed to tow it into shallow water and land it on the ground only
That same evening, Vice Admiral Fremantle urgently returned to Scapa Flow. Sir Sidney could hardly contain the rage that gripped him. He indignantly declared to von Reuther, pleased with himself:
- Honest sailors of any country would not be capable of committing such an act, with the exception, perhaps, of your people!
And this man also said something about honor...
One battleship, 3 light cruisers and 14 destroyers were driven aground by the British, who managed to intervene and bring the ships to shallow water. Only 4 destroyers remained afloat.
It was difficult for the British to prevent the sinking of ships, since they did not know anything in advance. They fired at sinking ships, climbed onto them, demanding that the Germans close the kingstons, and tried to do it themselves.
Nine German sailors died in fighting on board or were shot in the boats. They became the last victims of the First World War.
And not a single one of the Englishmen who shot prisoners and unarmed people was court-martialed.
And these people dare to talk about honor? Twenty-three years will pass and they will shoot German submariners saving people from the torpedoed Laconia and their compatriots, including...
These are the British, citizens of a state that has never had either honor or conscience. The state is an evil empire.
This is how the famous German High Seas Fleet ended its existence (" Hochseeflotte ") is the second most powerful navy in the world after the British, created over a quarter of a century at the cost of huge material costs and the labors of the entire German nation.
Ludwig von Reuter
This grandiose self-sinking turned out to be the loudest and most spectacular action in which the super-dreadnoughts "Baern" and "Baden" had a chance to take part, the largest and most powerful warships of the Kaiser's fleet, which at the same time became the last battleships of the Wilhelm Empire to be built. II.
You know, when I was collecting material on the topic, when I was drowning along with German sailors under British fire in the waters of Scapa Flow, I thought about the Russian Fleet, which died ingloriously in Bizerte. And you know, I was ashamed...
After the sinking of the Fleet, the famous German Admiral Scheer, who was Commander-in-Chief during the most difficult period of the war, said:
- I rejoice. The stain of shame of surrender has been erased from the German Navy. The death of these ships proved that the spirit of the Fleet was not dead. This is the last act of fidelity to the best traditions of the German Navy.
After the sinking, the German sailors were declared prisoners of war for violating the truce.
The scandal turned out to be big, with mutual accusations, excuses, claims, demands and other political inadequacies. The Berlin government diligently disowned the actions of Admiral Reuter: however, upon his return to Germany, he was greeted as a hero.
But the new German government did not need such a hero.Five months after returning from England, von Reuther was asked to resign from the Navy.
On August 29, 1939, in honor of the anniversary of the Battle of Tannenberg, von Reuter was promoted to the rank of full admiral by decree of Adolf Hitler.
Died in Potsdam of a heart attack on December 18, 1943. This is probably for the best. He did not experience the second defeat of his Fleet.
Thus, the Germans had a reason to break into Scapa Flow and take revenge. And this was one of the reasons why Captain 1st Rank Karl Dönitz, Commander of the submarine forces of Nazi Germany, without waiting for the outbreak of World War II, began planning an operation against the British Fleet in its heart - the main naval base of Scapa Flow.
P.S. As one opponent I respect correctly wrote in a comment to the previous topic, I very often get carried away and try on the role of a tour guide from Anapa.
Well, in many ways he is right. Therefore, I declare that everything I write about is solely my view of the issue. It refers to causes, effects and conclusions, without any claim to absolute truth.
I am ready and happy to accept any constructive criticism and corrections on the substance of this issue.
Karl Doenitz "Ten Years and Twenty Days"
Scheer von Reichard "The German Navy in the First World War"
The mystery of the sinking of the German fleet at Scapa Flow
Under the terms of the Compiegne Armistice, the German High Seas Fleet was subject to internment. But, since no neutral country took responsibility for its maintenance, the German ships were convoyed to the main base of the British fleet - Scapa Flow Bay, where they were kept for more than six months, waiting for the victors to decide their fate. German crews were left on the ships, German Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuther was appointed commander, and the British did not board German ships without his permission. At the same time, the German ships had no ammunition and could not offer any resistance to the British fleet. Not without reason, fearing the transfer of their fleet to the Entente countries and trying to prevent this, German sailors decided to sink their ships on the eve of the signing of the peace treaty at Versailles.
The implementation of the plan to sink ships was fraught with certain difficulties. To prevent German sailors from violating the terms of the truce, for example, by escaping to neutral Norway, the British kept a squadron of battleships and a large number of patrol ships in Scapa Flow. Radio stations were removed from German ships. Sailors were prohibited from moving from ship to ship, but the Germans managed to establish communication through an English ship carrying mail. Most of the crews of the German ships were taken to Germany to facilitate the evacuation from sinking ships. The date for the scuttling of the fleet was set for June 21, 1919, the supposed day of signing the Treaty of Versailles. Shortly before this, it became known that the signing of the treaty was postponed for two days, but Admiral von Reuther decided not to delay the implementation of the plan, especially since the unsuspecting British took away the squadron of battleships for exercises on the morning of June 21.
On June 21, 1919, at 10:30 a.m., von Reuther gave the prearranged signal. The crews raised German naval flags on the ships and opened the seacocks, jamming them. Within 5 hours, 10 battleships, 5 battlecruisers, 5 light cruisers and 32 destroyers were sunk. One battleship (Baden), 3 light cruisers (Emden, Nuremberg and Frankfurt) and 14 destroyers were driven aground by the British, who managed to intervene and bring the ships to shallow water. Only 4 destroyers remained afloat. It was difficult for the British to prevent the sinking of the ships, which came as a complete surprise to them. They climbed onto sinking ships, demanding that the Germans close the seacocks, and then tried to do it themselves. Nine German sailors died in battles on board (including the captain of the battleship Markgraf Schumann) or were shot in the boats.
The British and French were upset that the German fleet sank, since at that time they still hoped to get it for themselves. Von Reuther and his subordinates were declared prisoners of war for violating the terms of the truce. However, this changed practically nothing in their fate, since, according to the Treaty of Versailles signed soon, all prisoners of war were to be returned to their homeland. Upon returning to Germany, the sailors were greeted as national heroes who defended the honor of the German fleet. And some British, French, Italian, American and Japanese politicians and admirals even breathed a sigh of relief, since the difficult question of how to divide the German fleet between the winners was removed from the agenda.
In fact, it turned out that the Germans did their work for the Allies, since already in the 20s, most of the dreadnoughts were withdrawn from the fleet and sent for scrap. Surely the same fate would have befallen the captured German fleet, although the British raised some of the German ships sunk in Scapa Flow in 1937, but did not use them for military purposes.
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From the book The Truth about the Battle of Jutland by Harper J.Second withdrawal of the German fleet At 19:10. the head units of the enemy fleet appeared in sight of some of our battleships. "Marlborough" with its ships immediately opened fire on the enemy's lead battleships, and the 5th squadron - on its battlecruisers.
From the book The Truth about the Battle of Jutland by Harper J.Breakthrough of the German Fleet at Night Most critics either completely ignored the fact that Jellicoe received almost no information about the enemy's movements during the night, or they attached exaggerated importance to the meager information that reached him. IN
From the book If Hitler had not attacked the USSR... author Kremlev SergeyChapter 21. Operation Air Lion and the end of Scapa Flow If we look up the map of Great Britain from London - north and a little west, to Scotland, then, having reached Edinburgh, we will find that the city stands on the banks of a narrow, deeply jutting into the land of the bay
From the book Swastika over Taimyr author Kovalev Sergey AlekseevichApplication. Individual ships of the German fleet, mentioned in the book Aircraft carriers of the "Graf Zeppelin" class, 2 units were laid down ("Graf Zeppelin", laid down on December 28, 1936; "B"), Displacement: 19,250-28,090 tons. Maximum speed- 35 knots. Dimensions: 250x31.5x7.2 meters Armor - 80 mm
Under the terms of the armistice, which came into force on November 11, 1918, hostilities effectively ceased, although the Allies still continued the blockade. Germany was obliged to hand over all submarines to the allies within 14 days and send six battlecruisers (including the unready Mackensen, which the British Admiralty believed was about to enter service), 10 dreadnoughts ( five Kaiser types, four König and Bayern types, eight light cruisers and 50 newest destroyers. All ships subject to internment must be ready to leave German ports within seven days after the signing of the armistice terms.
Germany was prepared to fulfill all these conditions, but since no neutral state agreed to take responsibility for the protection of the interned fleet, it was finally determined that the internment should take place in a British port. The waters of the main base of the British fleet in the Orkney Islands - Scapa Flow - were chosen as the place for internment of surface ships until the signing of the peace treaty.
Arriving on November 15, 1918 on the light cruiser Königsberg in the Firth of Forth, Rear Admiral Meurer was received on board the battleship. Queen Elisabeth"Commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Beatty, where he received instructions for the passage of the German "transferred formation". As a meeting point with the Grand Fleet, Admiral Beatty indicated a place 40 miles west of the Isle of May on the approaches to Rosyth. German ships were supposed to leave the roadstead Schilling in such a way as to be at the rendezvous point at 8.00 on November 21, and then anchor in the Firth of Forth.The German ships were to sail in one column, with battlecruisers ahead, battleships and light cruisers behind them, the column bringing up the rear were the destroyers. The guns had to be sheathed and installed in the stowed position, on board there should be a supply of fuel for 1,500 miles of travel at a speed of 12 knots, provisions for 10 days, before leaving all ships, all shells and torpedoes should be unloaded and handed over to the arsenal.
Vice Admiral Hipper appointed the commander of the 1st Reconnaissance Ship Group, Rear Admiral von Reuther, as senior commander of the “transferred force.” On November 18, von Reuter designated the "Friedrich der Große" as his flagship and on the same day transferred his flag to it from the "Moltke".
According to the terms of the truce of November 11, 1918, the ships of the “transferred formation” were assembled at the Schilling roadstead. Although relative “disorder” reigned on the ships, on the morning of November 19 they were ready for the transition. Only the "König" and the light cruiser "Dresden" were still being repaired at the shipyard, and they were transferred later. Before leaving, there was talk among the headquarters officers that it wouldn’t be better to scuttle the ships ourselves during the transition.
TRANSITION
On a sunny autumn day on November 19, at about 14.00, the most combat-ready part of the High Seas Fleet saw its native shores for the last time. The column was led by battlecruisers, then the flagship Friedrich der Große with Rear Admiral von Reuter on board, the battleships of the III and IV battle squadrons, light cruisers, and 50 destroyers closed the column.
The passage through the Heligoland Bight took place along fairways cleared through minefields laid out by the Germans and the British at different times. Although German and English minesweepers showed the way in the fairways, on November 20 the destroyer V.30 hit a mine and sank. Other destroyers boarded the crew and reported two dead and three wounded. The monotonous passage across the North Sea continued all day. Along the way, the captain of the cruiser "Cöln" radioed the commander that a condenser was leaking from one of the ship's steam turbines. Reuther sent another light cruiser to take her in tow if necessary. Despite problems with the turbine, the cruiser was able to go last in the German line.
The morning of November 21 was gray and foggy in the air. "Transferred Force" led by a British light cruiser" Cardiff", approached Rosyth. On the approach to the rendezvous site, British battlecruisers under the command of Admiral Beatty came out to meet them, which, turning around, stood at the head of the column of German ships. Then squadrons of British battleships, light cruisers and a flotilla of destroyers, including Vl, began to approach from all sides The th squadron of US battleships and a small French detachment with guns and torpedo tubes aimed at the Germans. A total of 260 pennants were collected. The commander of the Grand Fleet, David Beatty, tried to prepare for any surprises from the Germans - the crews on the British ships were in place, the guns were loaded. The British ships in two wake columns went far beyond the horizon for many miles.
The formation of German ships, led by the battlecruiser Seydlitz, slowly pulled into a wide corridor between the British squadrons, which then made a 16-point turn "all of a sudden" and led the former enemy to Rosyth. In the evening of the same day, when all the ships - both winners and losers - were anchored in the Firth of Forth, which had never before or since seen such a huge number of dreadnoughts, the flags on the German ships were lowered at Beatty's signal. .
On the afternoon of November 21, a special British commission inspected all the premises of the interned ships for the presence of shells, torpedoes, mines and other explosives. The British really didn’t like the fact that before leaving Wilhemshaven, all artillery fire control devices were removed from the ships, without which they would not have been able to be used in England.
On November 22, the British began to transfer German ships in groups from the Firth of Forth to Scapa Flow Bay in the Orkney Islands. On this day, 49 destroyers weighed anchor and went to Scapa Flow, where they were interned. On November 24 they were followed by battlecruisers. On November 25, the battleships of the IV squadron crossed, and on November 26, all other ships, including the battleships of the III squadron. British cruiser" Phaeton"He led a detachment of small cruisers walking in the wake formation. At about 15.00 the ships reached the anchorage.
Later they were joined by the battleships "König", "Baden", the light cruiser "Dresden" and one destroyer, replacing the "V-30" that sank from a mine explosion.
When the last German ship anchored at 15.45, at a signal from Admiral Beatty, the German flags were to be lowered on all ships. The wording of the signal raised by the British commander Beatty was almost knockout: “At sunset, the ships of the German fleet lower their flags and will not raise their flags in the future without special permission.” The impression of the ceremony was enormous when, on a gray autumn day, the bugles sounded " Queen Elisabeth"the "evening dawn" played and the German flags crept down. This meant the end of an era and the life's work of Kaiser Wilhelm II and his Grand Admiral Tirpitz - their High Seas Fleet.
INTERNMENT
After the last German ship was anchored, the entrances to Scapa Flow Bay were blocked with three rows of cables and booms. Security was provided day and night by a squadron of British battleships, a flotilla of destroyers and a large number of armed drifters and fishing trawlers under the command of Vice Admiral Fremantle. The area where the German formation was located was patrolled by British warships.
Under the terms of the truce, the British did not have the right to land their people on ships and interfere in their internal routine. Not a single English officer or sailor had the right to board any German ship, but communication between Germans on their own craft was prohibited. The numerous armed drifters serving as guard vessels for the extensive raid were ordered, in order to prevent the movement of personnel from one German ship to another, to open fire on any boat launched from any of Reuter's ships. A supply and mail boat arrived from Wilhemshaven to Scapa Flow once a week. The British authorities did not allow German sailors to go ashore, even for a short walk. Scapa Flow Bay also turned into a prisoner of war camp, very dissatisfied with their situation.
The British decided to leave on board each German ship to maintain machinery and mechanisms in good working order, part of the team, nominally subordinate to Rear Admiral von Reuther. Crew reductions were made - up to 200 officers and sailors on battlecruisers, 175 on battleships, 60 on light cruisers and 20 on destroyers. All the rest were sent by steamship to Germany from December 3 to December 13.
On December 6, the battleship König also arrived in Scapa Flow Bay with the light cruiser Dresden, which was in terrible condition due to poor condition after the mutiny. Baden was the last to arrive on January 7, 1919.
On December 18, the last German ship, the battleship Baden, arrived in Scapa Flow from Kiel. The transfer of the super-dreadnought to join the interned German squadron was carried out under pressure from additional demands from the Allies, who considered it a worthy replacement for the unfinished battle cruiser Mackensen. The light cruiser Regensburg, which was accompanying the former flagship battleship of the Kaiser's fleet, took most of the crew from it and returned to Wilhelmshaven on January 16.
Monotonous days dragged on. In addition to mortal melancholy and terrifying monotony, the strength of the sailors was weakened by insufficient and almost inedible food. According to the terms of the truce, provisions for the interned fleet came from Germany, where there was already an acute shortage of food, and the German ships in Scapa Flow were supplied very poorly by their homeland, and the food also arrived in terrible condition. Meat and vegetables arrived on ships in a spoiled state, bread arrived partly moldy and soaked sea water. The sailors of the British patrol turned away as they passed by German ships, on the decks of which this food was laid out to dry. According to their testimony, such products were unsuitable even for feeding livestock. In order to somehow survive, small emergency supplies of food were used on the interned ships, and then the sailors on them even began to catch fish and seagulls.
The mood of the sailors of the German fleet was generally quite depressed. In November 1918, shortly after the uprising, when the High Seas Fleet left Wilhelmshaven for the last time heading north, the sailors, with characteristic German optimism, hoped that they would be seen returning to their home ports by Christmas. The German sailors initially believed that the British would greet them, who had overthrown the power of the “tyrants responsible for the war,” with open arms “like brothers.” The Germans really believed that a revolution would break out in England soon after the arrival of the surrendered fleet, and this hope lived on until March 1919. The publication of the terms of the peace treaty in British newspapers awakened the German sailors from this slumber and made them quickly realize that they were still very far away. from the universal brotherhood of nations that was dreamed of.
Familiarization with the conditions of the world affected the personnel of the ships differently. Some of the sailors, impressed by this, changed their views and again became the same patriots as they were in 1914 and 1916, while the majority, under the influence of this news, went into the camp of radical socialists. Although the officers tried to convince the sailors that their point of view and arguments were unfounded, the socialists managed to gain many supporters on board each ship. Their agitation caused riots on the flagship "Friedrich der Große" in mid-May 1919. The indignation was suppressed within two days with the help of two British destroyers approaching the dreadnought and armed teams from patrol ships landing on it, and there was even no bloodshed.
These events strengthened the decision of the squadron commander to send half of the nearly 5,000 sailors remaining on the ships to Germany. Reiter considered this solution the only way out, although he knew that he could not count on replenishing the evacuated people. The British approved this plan. The news of his departure to his homeland caused great joy on board the German ships. It was difficult to find volunteers who would remain on board the ships, and the corresponding number of crew had to be left by order, although among the foremen and non-commissioned officers there were even more volunteers than needed.
Admiral Reiter and his small staff moved to the light cruiser Emden, where he was well known from his joint service. 75 people were left on the battlecruisers, 50 on the battleships, 20 on the light cruisers, and even fewer on the destroyers, from among those who, according to von Reuter, could carry out any of his orders. All officers remained aboard the interned ships. On June 15, the first, and on June 17, the second transport picked up the sailors for delivery to Germany. On June 19, 1919, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the transports left Scapa Flow, carrying over 2,700 people.
On the same day, when the transports with the decommissioned sailors set out to sea, all remaining reliable crews received a written order from Admiral Reiter to send their ships to the bottom. Some received this order even a little earlier. It is curious that this seditious order was carried to the German ships by an unsuspecting English drifter, which served as a mail ship and once a day transported mail from Reuter's flagship ship to the other ships. The German admiral's order gave detailed instructions on signals, security measures, and treatment of the British. Technical details sinkings were left to the discretion of ship commanders.
In written instructions, Reuter explained the reasons that prompted him to decide to scuttle the fleet. On Monday, June 23, the truce ended. If peace was not signed on that day, and Admiral Reuther was confident of this, since its terms were completely unacceptable, it was more than likely that the British would immediately open hostilities and capture German ships. It was therefore his duty to prevent the squadron from falling into their hands undamaged. The German fleet could neither defend itself nor go to the open sea, therefore, the only option left to prevent this capture was to sink the entire fleet.
Upon receipt of the admiral's orders, the commanders on board all the ships assembled their small teams and announced the commander's decision, detailing his reasons. This news was greeted with enthusiasm by everyone without exception. Underwater torpedo tubes and kingstons were immediately prepared for opening, and lifeboats were prepared for lowering. The personnel of the German ships seemed to be reborn. The admiral's order inspired even those who had not previously been particularly loyal; now everyone was determined to save at least the honor of their former invincible fleet.
The Entente set the deadline for Germany's response to the terms of signing peace at 5 days. It began on June 16 and ended at 12.00 on June 21, 1919. Under conditions of censorship, von Reuter learned about this from the English newspaper The Times. He did not have any other information - there was no direct connection between the interned fleet and Germany, since the British dismantled radio stations from all ships. All exchange of information between them took place through the British authorities, and from the morning of Saturday, June 21, he was tormented by the dilemma - whether peace would be concluded or the state of war would resume at 12.01. The British did not inform the admiral that the day before, at the request of the German side, the truce had been extended for another 48 hours.
At the same time, Vice Admiral Madden, who commanded the British squadron of battleships guarding the German fleet, received a message on the evening of June 20 that the armistice would be extended until noon on June 23. He decided to occupy the remaining time with torpedo exercises, and on June 21 at 8.00 he put out to sea all the large ships of the English squadron in the bay, with the exception of three destroyers awaiting repairs, a mother ship, several armed drifters and minesweepers.
FLOODING
The time has come to act. June 21, 1919 was a bright sunny day. The sun rose in the dark blue sky, and a light westerly breeze gently rippled the surface of the sea. Now nothing stood in the way of carrying out Admiral Reiter’s orders. All eyes were fixed on the signal yard of the flagship battleship. According to the order, there was a signalman at the bow and stern of each German ship. The first of them to read the flagship's signal had to transmit it to the commander of his ship, who, in turn, transmitted the signal to the next, and so on along the entire line.
June 21 at 11 a.m. 20 minutes. The first pre-installed signal went up on the Emden mast. Immediately, confirmation signals were raised on all German ships, red flags fluttered on ships, horns blared, and the joyful cries of German sailors echoed in the air. Ten minutes later a second order followed: “The eleventh paragraph of today’s order is confirmation.” This certainly meant that the scuttling order contained in the eleventh paragraph of Reiter’s orders had to be carried out, and each ship, having rehearsed the signal, had to show that it had been understood.
British armed drifters, constantly plying between German ships, still could not understand what was happening. The German ships stationed in the center of the line were still actively signaling when the Friedrich der Große began to rapidly list to port. On the remaining ships of the squadron at this time they opened torpedo tubes, capacitors and all kingstons. The rods of the outboard valves were bent by the blows of the sledgehammers so that they could not be closed, the handles and flywheels of the kingstons were thrown overboard. On destroyers moored in twos and threes to one barrel, the mooring lines were screwed to the bollards and the cotter pins of the anchor chains were riveted so that they could not be disconnected later. Now nothing could save the German fleet. Water quickly poured into the bellies of the steel giants, and the crews rushed to the boats. At that moment, the German naval flag flew for the last time on the ships of the squadron.
And so, in front of the few English sailors who looked in horror at everything that was happening, the German ships began to sway from side to side, heel, collide with each other, and sink to the bottom. Most of the large ships quickly sank into the water, some of them with their sterns raised high above the water. Many battleships and battlecruisers turned upside down when they died. The giants sinking to the bottom were an apocalyptic sight. Their gigantic carcasses fell on board, turned upside down, boats and boats fell into the water, boat cranes were torn off, masts were broken with a terrible grinding noise. There was a dull roar inside the sinking leviathans: gun mounts were torn off their foundations, mechanisms torn from their foundations destroyed everything in their path, steam boilers exploded. The escaping air raised fountains of water, the cold sea, sucked into the bottomless steel wombs, forced them to emit monstrous sounds.
English drifters and trawlers, opening machine-gun fire, tried to force the Germans to close the kingstons, but they, putting on life bibs, began to jump overboard, or were heading to the shore in lifeboats. There were losses among the German teams. According to von Reuter, four were killed and eight wounded; according to other sources, eight people were killed and five were wounded, one officer and nine sailors were killed, and 16 more were wounded.
One of the first to list and begin to sink was the Friedrich der Große. As if in a hurry to carry out her admiral's orders, the former flagship of the High Seas Fleet lay aboard. The sound of the ship's bell echoed far over the water. The masts had already fallen on the water, air bubbles began to come out of the pipes, the battleship turned upside down with its keel and sank on 12.16. The second, at 12.54, was the König Albert, which capsized and sank.
At 13.05 the cruiser "Brummer" disappeared under the waves, and at 13.10 west of the island. Kava capsized upward with the keel of the "Moltke" and lay on the bottom at a depth of 24 m with a list of 17° to starboard.
At 13.15 north of the island. Kava sank "Kronprinz Wilhelm". During the sinking, a fireman was mortally wounded by machine-gun fire from a British drifter.
At 13.25 it listed and sank in a relatively shallow place to the west of the island. Kava "Kaiser".
At 13.30 "Großer Kurfürst" was flooded, and "Prinzregent Luitpold" capsized and in this position with a list of 18 ° on the LB, it lay on the bottom at a depth of 32.5 m off the northern part of the western coast of the island of Kava.
At about 13.50, despite the fact that the British tried to prevent this by all means, including attempting to board it, south of the island. Kava sank "Seydlitz". It lay with its starboard side on the ground at a depth of only 20 m. Even at high tide, its hull protruded almost 8 m above the surface of the bay. At the same time, two cruisers sank to the bottom: "Dresden" and "Cöln", which capsized on the starboard side.
At 14.00 the Kaiserin capsized and sank. After another 2 minutes, on an even keel and with some list, the König lay down on the ground at a depth of 39-42 m.
At 14.30, having turned upside down, the Bayern sank to the bottom. Somewhere at the same time, "Von der Tann" sank to the bottom. The cruiser lay keel up with a list of 17° to the starboard side at a depth of 27 m, and the distance from the sea surface to the left side was almost 7.5 m and just under 30 m to the starboard side.
At 14.45, at a depth of 27-30 m, the "Derflinger" lay down on the bottom, turning upside down with its keel with a list of 20° on board.
The "Karlsruhe" sank at about 15:50.
"Markgraf" sank very slowly. Seeing all this, British drifters and trawlers began to fire at the Germans standing on the deck. At the same time, the last commander of the battleship, Corvette-Captain Schumann, and the chief boatswain were killed. At 16.45 "Markgraf" disappeared under water and lay on the ground at a depth of 30-40 m with a large list.
The last, at about 17.00, sank on the roofs of the towers, "Hindenburg". Unlike most German ships, she did not capsize upside down, but lay on the bottom almost on an even keel, half a mile west of the island of Kawa.
The destroyers "S-32", "S-36", "G-38", "G-39", "G-40", "V-45", "S-49", "S-" were also sunk by their crews. 50", "S-52", "S-53", "S-55", "S-56", "S-65", "V-70", "V-78", "V-83" , "V-82", "G-86", "G-89", "G-91", "G-101", "G-103", "G-104", "B-109", " B-110", "B-112", "V-129", "S-131", "S-136", "S-138", "H-145".
An alarming radiogram forced the British squadron, which had gone out for exercises, to return to Scapa Flow at full speed. But when she entered the bay at about 17.00, it was already too late. Everywhere masts and pipes stuck out from under the water. The British made an attempt to save at least part of the ships, but they managed to withdraw only one battleship, three light cruisers and 19 destroyers to shallow waters before they sank:
An armed detachment of English sailors arrived on board the cruiser "Bremse", however, but by that time the compartments in which the clinkets of the bottom kingstons were located were already flooded and it became impossible to stop the flow of water. Then the destroyer" Venetia"took the sinking ship in tow and took it to the western part of Swanbister Bay on the island of Maine Land, where he tried to run it aground at Toy Ness. The bottom level in this place drops sharply from the shore, and therefore, as soon as the "Bremse" touched ground, then began to list, and then at 14.30 sank, falling on the starboard side. Its bow stuck out of the water, and the British managed to put its stern on a rock, the top of which was at a depth of about 20 m.
"Baden" did not sink as spectacularly as its brother. The open torpedo tubes on it were not enough to quickly fill the ship with water and it sank slowly. The British, awakening from their stupor, broke the anchor chains on it with explosive cartridges, wound up the towing lines and began to drag the battleship into shallow water into Swanbister Bay. There the battleship finally sank to the bottom, with its forecastle rising above the water.
Since the Emden was anchored just off the coast of Maine Land, the British managed to pull it into shallow water and it remained intact. Kingstons were also discovered on the Frankfurt, but the British managed to prevent sinking by running the ship aground off the coast of the Mainland Island. The British also managed to save the Nürnberg - they used explosive charges to cut off the anchor chains and the ship was towed to the sandbank before it could sink.
The destroyers “V-43”, “V-44”, “S-51”, “S-54”, “S-60”, “V-73”, “V-80” were also captured and towed to the shore. "V-81", "V-82", "G-92", "V-100", "G.102", "B-111", "V-125", "V-126", "V- 127", "V-128", "S-132", "S-137".
Sinking of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow
Opponents
Commanders of the forces of the parties
Strengths of the parties
Sinking of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow occurred after the end of the First World War at the British naval base on June 21, 1919. The High Seas Fleet was interned at Scapa Flow and, to prevent it from falling to the victors, it was scuttled by its own crews on the orders of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuther. Subsequently, many of the sunken ships were raised and dismantled for metal.
Previous Events
At 11 a.m. on November 11, 1918, the Compiègne Armistice concluded between the Entente and Germany came into force, marking the de facto end of the First World War. One of the clauses of the agreement stated: Internment of all submarines and other modern ships of the German navy.
Representatives of the North American United States insisted on the internment of ships in a neutral port, with which Norway and Spain disagreed. The First Sea Lord, who represented Great Britain at the negotiations, Admiral Roslyn Erskine Wemyss, proposed that until the fate of the German fleet ships was decided, they should be interned at the British naval base at Scapa Flow, where they would be guarded by the Royal Navy. This decision was transmitted to the German government on November 12, 1918, with instructions to prepare the High Seas Fleet for departure by November 18.
Arrival of German delegates on HMS Queen Elizabeth 1918. Painting by John Lavery
On the night of November 15, 1918, aboard the flagship Grand Fleet HMS Queen Elizabeth To discuss the details of the surrender of the German fleet with Admiral David Beatty, a representative of the commander of the High Seas Fleet, Admiral Franz Ritter von Hipper, Rear Admiral Hugo Meurer, arrived. Beatty presented him with extended terms of surrender: the fleet's submarines would be surrendered to a Royal Navy squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Reginald York Tyrwhitt at Harwich. The surface ships are transferred for disarmament and surrender to the Firth of Forth, from where they proceed under escort to Scapa Flow, where they will remain until the end of the peace negotiations. Meurer asked to delay the deadline for delivery, complaining about the decline in discipline and revolutionary sentiments among the crews; in the end, after midnight, he signed the terms of delivery.
Surrender and internment of the High Seas Fleet
Admiral von Hipper refused to take part in the surrender of the High Seas Fleet and delegated Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuther to carry out this task.
Surrender of the German High Seas Fleet on November 21, 1918. Painting by Bernard Finnigan Gribble
On the morning of November 21, 1918, while it was still dark, the British fleet set out to sea from Rosyth in a single formation to participate in an operation hintingly called “Operation ZZ.” At dawn, 2 squadrons of battlecruisers, 5 squadrons of battleships and 7 squadrons of light cruisers formed two wake columns, each about 15 miles long, sailing at a distance of 6 miles from each other. Ahead of them were 150 destroyers, the entire fleet heading east at a moderate speed of 12 knots. At about 10:00 a combat alarm sounded on the ships and ships of the German High Seas Fleet appeared from the fog. They walked in a single column: the first 5 battlecruisers - SMS Seydlitz , SMS Moltke , SMS Hindenburg , SMS Derfflinger And SMS Von der Tann, then SMS Friedrich der Grosse under the flag of Rear Admiral von Reuther. Behind him were 8 more dreadnoughts - SMS Grosser Kurfürst , SMS Prinzregent Luitpold , SMS Markgraf , SMS Bayern , SMS Kaiserin , SMS Kronprinz , SMS Kaiser And SMS König Albert. They were followed by 7 light cruisers and 49 destroyers. However, this was not the entire composition of the fleet, the destroyer V30 hit a mine and sank. Battleship SMS König and light cruiser SMS Dresden were docked due to problems with the engines and were due to leave for England in early December. German ships were ordered to go to sea without ammunition and with reduced crews, but a nation that preferred death to humiliation could try to deal the final blow to the victors. Light cruiser HMS Cardiff (D58) led German ships between two British columns. When the German flagship caught up with HMS Queen Elizabeth, Beatty's squadron turned outward and set a westerly course, escorting former enemies. To demonstrate their power, ships of the British dominions and allies were also present here - the 6th squadron of battleships consisted of 5 American dreadnoughts, the cruiser Amiral Aube and 2 destroyers represented France.
Doomed fleet. Painting by Bernard Finnigan Gribble
All ships headed to Abeledi Bay, inside the Isle of May, where the German ships anchored. The Allied ships moved to their anchorages in the Firth of Forth. Admiral Beatty from the British flagship signaled: “The German flag is to be lowered today at sunset and no longer raised without permission” and immediately another: “I intend to serve a thanksgiving service today at 18:00 in honor of the victory that Almighty God has granted to our weapons.” And already turning to his crew, he said:
At 15:57 the German flag was lowered on the former ships of the former Imperial Navy. The next day, the German ships were inspected to ensure that there was no ammunition in the magazines, and the locks were removed from the guns. Between 22 and 26 November, small groups of German ships were transferred under escort to Scapa Flow. That same week, an Allied delegation arrived in Kiel. Their task was to send battleships SMS König And SMS Baden, light cruiser SMS Dresden and one more destroyer instead of the one that sank to England in order to bring the number of ships delivered up to that stipulated by the treaty. The last of the ships arrived in Orkney on December 9th.
In captivity
Deployment of High Seas Fleet ships at Scapa Flow
At the Royal Navy's main naval base at Scapa Flow Harbour, the internee fleet's battleships and cruisers were anchored north and west of Cava Island. The destroyers were positioned around the island of Ryus. To prevent attempts by German ships to break through to neutral Norway, as well as to prevent the crews from leaving the ships, the British had to keep a squadron of battleships, a flotilla of destroyers and many patrol trawlers in Scapa Flow. No one could predict how long it would take to work out the terms of a peace treaty. Until this point, German warships could only be considered interned in Allied ports. Therefore, British guards could board German ships only in case of violation of the terms of the armistice or only with the permission of von Reuther, who was nominally the commander of the German squadron.
The ships of the German squadron had about 20,000 crew members when they arrived at Scapa Flow, but by mid-December this number had been significantly reduced. There were 200 people left on the battlecruisers, 175 on the battleships, 80 on the light cruisers and 10 on the destroyers. That is, in total, von Reuter’s German ships should have had 4,565 sailors, as well as 250 officers and petty officers . The morale of the crews could be described as “complete demoralization.” Food products delivered from Germany twice a month were monotonous and not of high quality. German crews were prohibited from going ashore or visiting other ships. The only entertainment was fishing and catching seagulls; in addition, this helped to diversify the meager diet.
German sailors fish from a destroyer in Scapa Flow
There were no dentists among the German medical staff, and the British were provided with dental care. In addition, revolutionary sentiments reached here, and groups called the “Red Guard” began to form among the teams.
All this served as a reason for a decrease in discipline to the point that von Reuther had to move his flag to a light cruiser SMS Emden. Therefore, the rear admiral, whose health was undermined, willingly agreed to crew reductions and even raised the issue himself. Reuter wanted to get rid of unreliable subordinates as much as possible. He even managed to turn the act of disobedience that occurred at the end of June 1919 to his advantage. The ships raised the Imperial Naval Ensigns to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Jutland. However, nothing could give rise to suspicion that this was done on the orders of von Reuter, since many ships simultaneously raised red flags. After this incident, the crews were reduced to the British standard for ships in reserve, that is: 75 men on a battlecruiser, 60 on a battleship, 30 on a light cruiser and the required minimum on destroyers, for a total of about 1,700 men. The commander feared the capture of his ships by the British and ordered his officers and sailors to prepare the ships for sinking, and large crews were undesirable for secretly carrying out preparatory work.
Sinking of the fleet
German fleet at Scapa Flow 1919.
At the end of March 1919, the Grand Fleet ceased to exist, and responsibility for interned German ships passed to the newly formed Atlantic Fleet. To provide security at Scapa Flow, the 1st Battleship Squadron, consisting of 5 Revenge-class battleships under the command of Rear Admiral Sydney Robert Fremantle, arrived in mid-May.
During the negotiations, the Allies achieved the surrender of German ships; Rear Admiral Sidney Fremantle received a message that a peace treaty would be signed at Versailles on June 21. The junior flagship of the 1st battleship squadron, Rear Admiral Victor Stanley, had already prepared the relevant orders and even conducted boarding party exercises. Fremantle decided to capture the German ships at the end of the armistice, suppressing possible resistance. He decided that for this his squadron would remain in the port all day. Until the end of the truce, he could not board German ships. However, on June 20, Fremantle received a message that the signing of the peace was postponed from June 21 to 23, and the Council of Four in Paris approved the capture of German ships as soon as the armistice expired on June 23 at 19:00. Fremantle immediately informed von Reuther that the truce had been extended for another 48 hours. With 23 June now becoming the critical day, the British Rear Admiral withdrew the 1st Battleship Squadron on 21 June for a joint torpedo exercise with the destroyer flotilla in the Portland Firth.
Von Reuter issued an order on June 17 ordering the scuttling to take place at 10:00 on June 21, before the truce expired, as he feared intervention by English boarding parties. He saw no reason to cancel his plan, even after learning of the extension of the truce, and even received additional benefits due to the absence of Fremantle's ships. When it became clear that a peace treaty, including the surrender of the ships, would soon be signed, the officers prepared the ships for scuttling by opening the condenser valves and the covers of the underwater torpedo tubes. Watertight doors and hatches were jammed so that they could not be closed. Von Reuter himself later wrote:
At 10:30 on June 21, 1919, von Reuter raised the signal: “Paragraph 11. I confirm.” This was the signal to start flooding. German sailors opened the seacocks and used sledgehammers to smash pipelines, valves and faucets. The Imperial naval flags once again rose on the ships, and they themselves began to sway and sink. Some more time passed before the British were able to realize that the German ships were starting to land, some with their bows, some with their stern, or had an abnormal list on board. Only the flagship cruiser remained motionless SMS Emden. Von Reuter feared that the British drifter, moored alongside to maintain contact with Fremantle, would have time to raise the alarm and retaliatory measures would be taken.
Just after 12:00 Fremantle received an urgent radio message from Scapa Flow, which demanded his immediate return with the entire fleet: “German ships are sinking. Some have already sunk.” At this time, his 5 battleships were 8 miles from the Orkney Islands, waiting for 9 destroyers to take their torpedoes and prepare for a new attack. By that time, most of the German ships were already deep in the water or had a list on the verge of capsizing. Destroyers in the harbor HMS Vega (L41) And HMS Vesper (D55) and several trawlers could do nothing. Their crews opened fire in an attempt to force the German sailors who were boarding the boats to remain on board their ships and stop the sinking. As a result, 9 people were killed including the commander SMS Markgraf Korvetten-captain Walter Schumann, another 16 were wounded.
At 14:00 Fremantle's force returned to Scapa Flow and anchored near the sinking ships. Armed parties were immediately sent to close the seacocks, watertight doors and hatches and try to refloat the ships. Battleship commander HMS Revenge Suoby wrote:
The only battleship saved was SMS Baden. Light cruisers were saved SMS Emden, SMS Frankfurt , SMS Nürnberg and half of the destroyers. All other ships sank by 16:00.
List of ships of the High Seas Fleet stationed at Scapa Flow
| Name | Type | Further fate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMS Bayern | Battleship | Flooded at 14:30 | Raised September 1, 1934. In 1935 it was dismantled for scrap. |
| SMS Friedrich der Große | Battleship | Flooded at 12:16 | Raised April 29, 1937. In 1937 it was dismantled for scrap. |
| SMS Großer Kurfürst | Battleship | Flooded at 13:30 | Raised April 29, 1938. In 1938 it was dismantled for scrap. |
| SMS Kaiser | Battleship | Flooded at 13:15 | Raised March 20, 1929. In 1930 it was dismantled for scrap. |
| SMS Kaiserin | Battleship | Flooded at 14:00 | |
| SMS König Albert | Battleship | Sunk at 12:54 | Raised May 11, 1936. In 1936 it was dismantled for scrap. |
| SMS König | Battleship | Flooded at 14:00 | Didn't get up |
| SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm | Battleship | Flooded at 13:15 | Didn't get up |
| SMS Markgraf | Battleship | Flooded at 16:45 | Didn't get up |
| SMS Prinzregent Luitpold | Battleship | Flooded at 13:15 | Raised July 9, 1931. In 1933 it was dismantled for scrap. |
| SMS Baden | Battleship | Stranded | Used as a target by the Royal Navy since 1921 |
| SMS Derfflinger | Battle cruiser | Flooded at 14:45 | Raised November 12, 1939. In 1948 it was dismantled for scrap. |
| SMS Hindenburg | Battle cruiser | Flooded at 17:00 | Raised on July 22, 1939 after several unsuccessful attempts. In 1930 it was dismantled for scrap. |
| SMS Moltke | Battle cruiser | Flooded at 13:10 | Raised July 10, 1926. In 1929 it was dismantled for scrap. |
| SMS Seydlitz | Battle cruiser | Flooded at 13:50 | Raised November 2, 1928. In 1930 it was dismantled for scrap. |
| SMS Von der Tann | Battle cruiser | Flooded at 14:15 | Raised December 7, 1930. In 1934 it was dismantled for scrap. |
| SMS Coln | Light cruiser | Flooded at 13:50 | Didn't get up |
| SMS Karlsruhe | Light cruiser | Flooded at 15:50 | Didn't get up |
| SMS Dresden | Light cruiser | Flooded at 13:50 | Didn't get up |
| SMS Brummer | Light cruiser | Flooded at 13:05 | Didn't get up |
| SMS Bremse | Light cruiser | Flooded at 14:30 | Raised November 27, 1929. In 1930 it was dismantled for scrap. |
| SMS Nürnberg | Light cruiser | Stranded | Used by the Royal Navy as an artillery target. Sunk 7 July 1922 off the Isle of Wight. |
| SMS Frankfurt | Light cruiser | Stranded | Transferred to the US Navy. Used as a target for bombers. Sunk 18 July 1921 off Cape Henry. |
| SMS Emden | Light cruiser | Stranded | Transferred to the French Navy. Used as a target for testing explosives. Scrapped at Caen in 1926 |
Destroyers sunk in Scala Flow:
S 32, S 36, S 49, S 50, S 52, S 53, S 54, S 55, S 56, S 65, S 131, S 136, S 138, G 38, G 39, G 40, G 101 , G 103, G 104, B 109, B 110, B 111, B 112, V 45, V 70, V 78, V 83, V 86, V 89, V 91, H 145
- All sunken destroyers were raised and scrapped between 1922 and 1926.
Destroyers stranded or remaining afloat:
V 44, V 73, V 82, G 92, V 125, V 128, S 51, S 137 - transferred to the British Navy. V 43, G 102, S 132 - transferred to the US Navy V 46, V 100, V 126 - transferred to the French Navy S 60, V 80, V 127 - transferred to the Japanese Navy
Assessment of the event by contemporaries
The British and French were angry that the German fleet had sunk. “A treacherous violation of the truce,” said Fremantle, who ordered von Reuther and his crews to be considered prisoners of war. An enraged Madden telegraphed to Paris a proposal to limit the German fleet in the future to 2 light cruisers, 6 destroyers and 6 destroyers. However, English admiral Wemyss noted:German Admiral Scheer stated:
The further fate of the ships of the fleet
Tower of a sunken German battleship at Scapa Flow
Of the 74 German ships located in Scapa Flow, 15 battleships, 5 cruisers and 32 destroyers were sunk. The rest either remained afloat or were taken out into shallow water by the British. These ships were later divided among the Allied fleets. Of the sunken ships, 1 light cruiser and 5 destroyers were raised and dismantled at Scapa, the rest remained at the bottom; after the end of the First World War, the countries involved were oversaturated with scrap metal and therefore the raising and disposal of the High Seas Fleet was considered impractical. In 1923, after receiving information from residents of the Orkney Islands that the remains of ships were dangerous for shipping, Cox & Danks Shipbreaking Co. in the period from 1924 to 1938, it raised 5 battleships, 2 cruisers and 26 destroyers. The last battlecruiser to be raised in the spring of 1939 SMS Derfflinger, but due to the outbreak of World War II, its inverted hull remained in Scapa Flow for another 7 years. It was not until 1946 that it was towed to the Clyde and dismantled for metal at Roseneath.
In 1962, the governments of Germany and Great Britain finally settled the rights to the remains of seven sunken German ships - Germany officially sold them 42 years after the sinking. Scapa Flow Harbor is designated an archaeological heritage site by an Act of the British Parliament in 1979. The harbor is now popular with scuba diving enthusiasts. Access by scuba divers to the remains of the German fleet is permitted, but swimmers do not have the right to enter the ships or take with them anything found on the ships or within a radius of 100 m from them. On the island of Khoy, in the building of a former naval oil depot, there is an exhibition for visitors.
Notes Battleship SMS Markgraf at Scapa Flow
--Ir0n246:ru (discussion) 15:00, February 25, 2016 (UTC)
