Product Description

A strategically important natural harbor in the Orkney Islands, Scapa Flow served as Britain's main fleet anchorage during World Wars I and II. In 1914 and again in 1939, the British began building a comprehensive defensive network by fortifying the entrances to Scapa Flow, and then extended these defenses to cover most of Orkney. By 1940, it had become an island fortress, the largest integrated defensive network of its kind in Europe, manned by as many as 50,000 Commonwealth troops.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #92773 in Books
• Published on: 2009-07-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

Customer Reviews

An excellent appraisal of historic Scapa Flow.
It is not possible for any person researching an historic account to verify all the facts and figures presented, and certify them to be either complete or correct. My own litmus test, therefore, is to take a much closer look at those elements of the work which I happen to know rather well and consider the accuracy of the information as an overall indication for the remainder.

This book provides the reader with an excellent appraisal of historic Scapa Flow throughout that period in history when it provided an anchorage for what was the greatest naval fleets of the time. It was in Scapa Flow in June 1919 that the commander of the interned German High Seas Fleet, ordered his ships scuttled under the very noses of their captors. It was also in this same stretch of water that Gunther Prien famously sank the battleship HMS Royal Oak in October 1939. Having dived the remains of that German Fleet and had the rare privilege of also accompanying Royal Navy divers on one of their own inspections of the Royal Oak, I have studied both accounts in great detail.

In this work by Angus Konstam, we have an appraisal of Scapa Flow which includes, albeit briefly, informative and accurate accounts of those two historic events alongside so many more - of which I am less informed. Because of the accuracy of the former, I find myself able to trust the latter. This is especially so because of the photographic detail. Apart from historic pictures of people, places and downed enemy aircraft - many of which do not appear to have been previously published, there is also a trio of personal photographs which tell an intriguing little story. In the first, the author is seen, as a boy, standing on a blockship which is close to the water's edge. In the second, taken 21 years later, he is seen standing on the same wreckage where the sand has reached the upper superstructure. In the third, all we can see of that same ship is a few feet of mast above that sand.

The artwork, provided by Peter Dennis is used to great effect, adds much detail to the accompanying photographs where, together, they combine to complete a fascinating story.

This book will be of considerable interest to the inhabitants of Orkney, people with an interest in ships, shipwrecks, the Royal Navy, the history of WW1 and WW2 and anyone who has visited this remote corner of the UK where the welcome is as warm as anywhere in the world.

NM