The sinking of the German fleet interned at Scapa-Flow (Orkney Islands), June 21, 1919. We know that one of the stipulations of the armistice signed with Germany on November 11, 1918 was that that power's surface warships were to be "immediately decommissioned and interned in neutral or Allied ports, and remain there under the supervision of the Allies and the United States, guard detachments only being maintained on board". In fact, all the ships designated by the Allies - 11 battleships, 5 battlecruisers, 7 light cruisers and 50 destroyers - had, a few days after the armistice, been assembled in Scapa-Flow Bay, in the center of the Orkney archipelago, i.e. north of Scotland, and had remained there ever since, under the supervision of the English naval authorities, but under the effective authority of German Admiral von Reuter.
Direction
Koddenberg treats naval bureaucracy like a ticking-clock thriller.
Writing
Unpacks how treaties become psychological warfare.
Director
Martin Koddenberg
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Von Reuter didn't even know the war had officially ended when he ordered the scuttling—he acted on outdated news.
The wrecks still litter Scapa Flow; some became popular diving sites, others were illegally salvaged by Metal Industries in the 1920s.
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