BULL AND THE BARRIERS: THE WRECKS OF SCAPA FLOW

Over fifty vessels of the Imperial German Navy, ranging from destroyers to battleships, were deliberately sunk by their German crews in Scapa Flow. Many have since been salvaged, mostly in the 1920s and 1930s, but even today many remain and the harbour has become a haven for divers from all over the world. However, the story of Scapa is not only that of the scuttling of the German Imperial Navy, but also that of one of the most daring submarine attacks of all time. In October 1939, Germany's top submarine ace, Gunter Prien, took the "U-47" into the anchorage and sank the "Royal Oak", the pride of the British Royal Navy. This was the second such attack on Scapa. The first, during World War I, resulted in the sinking of blockships in many of the inlets to the harbour. Prien's attack led to the building of the Churchill Barriers and, indirectly, to the construction of the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm, one of Orkney's greatest works of art. "The Bull and the Barriers" is the story in words and pictures of the wrecks dotted in and around Scapa Flow, and is a tribute to those whose bodies remain forever trapped underwater in the "Royal Oak" and other ships.