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After the short trip by ferry form John O' Groats and the cycle journey northwards from South Ronaldsay, the cycle route uses the Churchill Barriers to cross a chain of four islands to Mainland Orkney. This is Scapa Flow, one of the largest sheltered harbours in the world and now an open air museum to the first and second world wars with sunken block ships, concrete barriers and untouchable war graves.
1920 and 1939 brought the two world wars directly here to the Orkneys, and the Churchill Barriers are a legacy of those wars - 250,000 tons of concrete in the sounds linking Mainland, Burray, South Ronaldsay, and two smaller eastern islands. It changed nature too as the blocks now prevent the tide from sweeping over the road creating some marshland and new sandbanks close to the roadside.
In World War 2 the large and strategically placed harbour of Scapa Flow used the blockships to reinforce the eastern side of Scapa Flow's defence into what was thought a secure and impregnable barrier. But in October 1939 a German submarine made use of an exceptionally high tide to get past the blockships and headed right into Scapa Flow. Once there, it torpedoed HMS Royal Oak before leaving the way it had entered. 833 members of the Royal Oak's crew were killed and the ship is now a protected war grave.
Winston Churchill visited Orkney immediately after the sinking of the Royal Oak and ordered that work begin on the construction of four permanent barriers linking together the chain of islands from Mainland in the north to South Ronaldsay in the south. The aim was the sealing of all entrances to Scapa Flow and a decision was made that the only way to fully protect Scapa Flow was to construct the barriers of stone and concrete on the sea bed from each of the small islands surrounding the Scapa Flow anchorage.
Work began in May 1940 and although the Churchill Barriers were built in response to the earlier submarine attack it was finished and ready only at the very end of the second world war. The official opening occurred five days after the ending of the second world war and the barriers saw no war.
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Scapa Flow's war years.
1920: World War 1
"Germany signed the Armistice with the Allies on 11 November 1918 and Article XXI ordered the surrender of all German U-Boats, with over 200 handed over within the following two weeks. So in late November the German ships left in groups for Scapa Flow, all having arrived by 27 November. Anchored in Scapa Flow for 8 months, in June 1919 the crews were reduced to caretaker levels for the battlecruisers, battleships and light cruiser and whatever was necessary for the destroyers, a total of about 1,700.
"During this time the peace talks dragged on, with several extensions to the Armistice, and the Treaty of Versailles not ready until May 1919. The Allies were divided over the fate of the ships with many countries wanting a share, whilst the British, the major naval power at the time, were less keen to boost the strength of rival navies as the treaty involved the surrender of the interned ships.
"When Reuter, the German Naval Leader at Scapa Flow, heard this he became concerned that the British would seize the ships without notice and so he started active planning to scuttle the fleet. The British were aware of the danger and had plans for armed seizure of the ships but the German officers still planned their scuttle.
"On the morning of 21 June, the British battleships at Scapa Flow, the First Battle Squadron, with their escorts left for exercises. At 10.30 am Reuter signalled the fleet "Paragraph eleven. Confirm." - the code for immediate scuttle. The message went around the fleet and after an hour all the ships acknowledged the signal. The only British warships present were the destroyers Vespa and Vega as were a couple of depot ships and various trawlers and drifters. They signalled the First Battle Squadron which returned to base at full speed. The British managed to beach the Baden and the cruisers Nürnberg, Emden and Frankfurt, but all the other major units sank. In the confusion nine Germans were shot dead, the last kills of WWI.
"Over 400,000 tons of modern warships were sunk, the largest loss of shipping in a single day in history. Publicly the British were outraged but in private there was a sense of relief that the problem of what to do with the fleet was now ended."
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Courtesy Mackenzie J GregoryMap of wrecks of the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow
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1939: World War 2
Information courtesy of Jeremy Oliver:
"Most famous for the scuttling of the German Fleet in 1919, Scapa Flow was first used during the First World War in order to prevent the German fleet reaching the Atlantic and soon became the largest and most important anchorage in the British Isles. Accordingly it was a tempting target although heavily protected. Nevertheless a German U-boat under the command of Gunther Prien had managed to penetrate Scapa Flow. The sunken block ships designed to prevent this had changed position slightly since 1915 and at high tide there was enough room for a craft to enter the anchorage. U47 proceeded to fire three torpedoes at the battleship, none of which had any success. A short while later the submarine fired three more torpedoes, this time with devastating effect. The Royal Oak blew up, rolled over and began to sink. This was a truly terrible tragedy: a capital ship had been lost in the first months of the war with the loss of 833 lives- only 375 survived. Added to this was the humiliation of a U-boat sailing undetected into an area with such a large concentration of Royal Navy activity, subsequently forcing the home fleet to leave Scapa Flow in favour of a safer anchorage. The Royal Oak sank within thirteen minutes and came to rest on her side, with her superstructure crushed underneath her, 90 feet below the surface. The Royal Oak has remained where she sank ever since that dreadful October night, and is designated as an official war grave. Every year Royal navy divers change the white ensign at her stern and a memorial service is held. Diving in the wreck area is strictly forbidden.
"The wreck of the Royal Oak is now a designated war grave and all diving is prohibited. When Royal Oak sank she had 3,000 tons of oil onboard. This has slowly trickled out over the years through rusting and corroded rivets, but didn't pose a serious risk until 1996 when oil was found washed up on an Orkney beach."
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A reading on World War 2 and the attack of submarine U47
Nightmare at Scapa Flow by H.J.Weaver.
"On Sunday the 8th of October 1939, Gunther Prien and the crew of U47 sailed out of Keil canal and headed for the British Naval base of Scapa flow in the Orkneys. His mission was to attack whatever was there, a job which two German submarines tried and failed to do in WWI.
"H.M.S Royal Oak returned to Scapa flow on the 11th of October from her patrol of the Fair isles looking for the German heavy cruiser Gneisenau, she entered Scapa and took her usual position in the north west corner. U47 entered Scapa flow via Kirk sound, just after midnight of the 14th. Kirk sound had three sunken blockships, the Minich, Thames & Soriano placed to make it impassable to submarines, also various chains and ropes were across the gaps between the wrecks. But a survey of the sound months before the war found there to be gaps, so two other ships were to be sunk in order to fill them. Also the Scapa defences consisted of six drifters to keep look out & drop depth charges but on the night of 13 - 14th only two were in operation as U47 made her way to the main fleet anchorage.
Gunther Prien's log:
"Two battleships are lying there and further inshore destroyers at anchor. Cruisers not to be seen. Attack on two fat fellows. Distance 3,000 meters. Estimated depth 7.5 meters. Impact firing 0116hr on Repulse & Royal Oak."At 01.04 am the Royal Oak's crew were blown out of their hammocks and minutes later the U47 fired three more torpedoes. Royal Oak immediately took a 20 degree list to port, she capsized and sank thirteen minutes later at 0129, with the loss of 833 lives. U47 made her way out the same way she came in, and at 0215 was in open waters."
The site of the Royal Oak is an official war grave – marked today by a buoy in Scapa Flow.
Information courtesy of Orkney Tourist Board, Jeremy Oliver and H.J. Weaver
