70th anniversary of Royal Oak sinking

[dougie47]

Gentlemen,

On the night of the 13th/14th October 1939, the German U-boat U 47 penetrated into the main Royal Navy anchorage at Scapa Flow and sank the British battleship HMS Royal Oak. The legendary attack is one of the most audacious and remarkable raids in submarine history.

More details can be found at -

http://www.u47.org/english/u47_sca.asp

Tonight is the 70th anniversary of the raid. Some of the survivors gathered in St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall to mark the anniversary -

http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/1435125



Above can be seen Kirk Sound, which is the passage through which U 47 passed (while remaining on the surface) to gain access into Scapa. The causeway which can be seen in the photo is one of the four Churchill Barriers that were build to prevent any further incursion by enemy vessels.

While the attack was carried out with great skill and daring, we must always remember that no fewer than 833 men

[Rokket]

The photo is just right, it certainly sets the bittersweet tone. ovely that there is such a gathering and remembrance.

70 years...things from 100 years ago are "ancient" to us, a little bit familiar and a lot foreign. Not so far now for WWII to slide over into that category.

[dougie47]

Hi Wink,

Here are some more photos. This one is in St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, Orkney. The book includes all 833 names, with one page being turned every day-



The Royal Oak bell is also housed in the Cathedral. This display was unvieled by the battleship's Captain WG Benn on 14th October 1948 -



U 47 passed by several blockships which were supposed to block access to Kirk Sound. Although there are none visible in Kirk Sound, the remains of blockship Reginald is still visible beside one of the Churchill barriers. The Reginald was sunk in this channel in 1915.



Lastly, a photo of the remains of one of the seven torpedoes fired by U 47. This artifact remains in the Stromness Museum in Orkney.



Orkney is a lovely place and a treasure trove of naval history.
 
Cheers,

Dougie

[Siara]

Thanks for that Dougie. Lovely pictures. Im impressed by the torpedo remains. Did that torpedo detonate?

[NZSnowman]

I also thought the last picture was wonderful What was the likelihood of found that   Great picture of the gearing anyway

[dougie47]

Hi gents,

Here are another few shots of the G7e torpedo -







U 47 fired 7 torpedoes, 4 of which hit the Royal Oak. The curator of the Stromness Museum could not advise which torpedo the artifact came from. But he kindly allowed me to take photos. What struck me was the weight of the piece - far heavier than it looks. There are four prop blades (two on each section); the two sections counter-rotate to alleviate torque.

Interestingly, one of the three which missed floated to the surface of Scapa Flow in the comparatively recent past. If my memory serves me well, it was detonated by Royal Navy personnel.

In the course of researching U 47 and her patrol history, I estimated that U 47 was responsible for a death toll in the region of 1,932 sailors. This appalling figure would have been even greater if the German torpedoes had functioned more reliably. Of the 87 torpedoes fired in the first 9 patrols, 56 missed or failed (I don't have the shooting reports for the 10th patrol as the boat was lost on this patrol). U 47 fired upon several troopships off Norway. Thank goodness the torpedoes did not strike these troopships as the loss of life would have been terrible.

It was quite something to handle part of one of the torpedoes fired during the raid. But my enthusiasm was tempered very much by the thought of the destruction wrought by the torpedoes that evening.

Below are photos of another piece of history. This shows the message received by Scapa Flow on 3 Sep 39 upon the outbreak of war - "Commence hostilities with Germany".





This document resides at another museum, this time on the Orkney island of Hoy.

In the forecourt of the Hoy museum are several large artifacts from the German High Seas Fleet. The fleet was scuttled in Scapa Flow in 1919. See -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2497494

This is one of the 5.9 inch guns from the Karlsruehe -



A number of the warships are still in Scapa Flow.

Cheers,

Dougie

 

[Rokket]

fantastic pix, love to see the museum

[UrpoK]

Great pictures and serious facts!
I think real sub enthusiast have to remember the cost of the victories.

Timo

[Rokket]

Good point. I remember an interview with the actor Jimmy Stewart, who was a bomber pilot in WWII. It always bothered him, every run, but it was his job and his part of ending the war.

Every bomb, whether from air or torpedo, is a huge - pardon any unintentional puns - impact. That ship has dozens to hundreds of lives, that target is a collectio of people.

The "civilized" WWI method of stopping ships and unloading the people and then sinking them is quite a different way of doing things!

[Siara]

The "civilized" WWI method of stopping ships and unloading the people and then sinking them is quite a different way of doing things!

That was the case, until the german U-Boot`s were attacked during the resque mission. After that incident all the survivors were left at high seas. U-Boots were to precious.

[Rokket]

Both "opportunities" (uboat sinking a ship, sinking a waiting uboat) were too tempting, too.

[NZSnowman]

Ckeck out this views of the Royal Oak from http://www.adus-uk.com/index.html

[dougie47]

Hi Simon,

Those are some images, thanks for posting. I saw you mentioned "The Royal Oak Disaster" by G. Snyder on another thread. Did you get that book? I'd recommend it. The Royal Oak sinking has many controversial elements and this book solves many of the debatable issues.

Cheers,

Dougie

[NZSnowman]

Yes, I pick this book up. I hadn't see this book before so it was a easy choose to buy.

[Rokket]

great pix!