Product Description

At Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919, there occurred a very unusual event in naval history. The German Admiral in charge of 74 of his countries warships ordered that the fleet be scuttled. The High Sees Fleet of the German Royal Navy was one of the most formidable ever built, yet 52 of the ships were deliberately sent to the bottom of the British Grand Fleet's principal anchorage at Orkney. The book reports that Admiral Ludwig von Reuter became the only man in history to sink his own navy on the strength of a misleading report in a four-day old British newspaper; the Royal Navy guessed his intention but could do nothing about it; the sinking produced the last casualties and the last prisoners of the war. The author looks at the events leading up to and including the scuttling.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #401306 in Books
• Published on: 1997-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

A compelling account of the greatest scuttle ever.
World War One was over. The two main protagonists had been Great Britain and Germany who, between them, possessed the two largest naval fleets in the world. Germany was beaten and her ships interned with skeleton crews in Scapa Flow whilst decisions were made as to which of the victorious allied nations got which ships to add to their own fleets - as war reparations. To the victor go the spoils and all that.

In the meantime Germany was changing fast. The Kaiser and German imperialism were gone and a new Republic was born. On board the ships in Scapa Flow ordinary sailors no longer took orders from their officers. They were now republicans and they set up workers councils and undertook only those tasks which "they" saw as essential. As a Navy they were a sorry sight.

Against this backdrop, the man in charge of those ships and crews was Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter who was a fine commander of the old school. Whilst the British were simply trying to run a floating prison camp, von Reuter hatched a plan to deny the victorious Allies all the ships under his "command." They included 5 Battlecruisers, 11 Battleships, 8 Cruisers and numerous Destroyers. But!, he could not trust all of those under his command with knowledge of either his plan - or even that one existed.

Nevertheless, on 21 June 1919, under the very noses of those British guards and also under the very noses of certain crew members who would have spoiled his plans, von Reuter successfully scuttled his entire fleet.

This is an essential account where the author tells that entire story so exceedingly well. It is an excellent read and I congratulate him for his painstaking research and for the well written text.

NM

A Scholarly Account
The author, Dan Van Der Vat, provides a detailed history of this now mostly forgotten episode that occurred at the end of the First World War.

In November 1918, the German Admiral Ludwig von Reuter led the (not inconsiderable) remnants of the Imperial Navy's High Seas Fleet into ignominious internment at the British Naval Base at Scapa Flow. Such was the nature of this very gallant Officer that in spite of the seditious behaviour of the revolutionary 'Soldiers Councils' that nominally controlled the actions of the German sailors he was able to salvage some honour from this humiliating position and send the bulk of the fleet to the bottom of the sea - thereby preventing its distribution and use within the navies of the conquering allied powers.

The book looks in some depth at the the military and political aspects behind the rise and ultimate demise of the Imperial German Navy, the importance of the Anglo/German naval arms race in helping precipitate the coming war, and examines a number of the main characters involved. A fascinating postscript to the main story is the subsequent salvaging of many of the wrecks by some very intrepid individuals - worthy of a book in their own right. The text is well supported by a selection of black and white photographs and schematic maps showing the position of the respective ships on the 21st June 1919. Annexes detail the individual ships scuttled and a reproduction of the written order for scuttling as made by von Reuter.

A good history of a little known event.