After the surrender of the Central Powers the German High Seas Fleet was ordered to surrender. On Nov, 19. 1918 the great fleet assembled and began the trip to Scapa Flow. On Nov, 21 the 80 ships arrived at the Firth of Fourth, they were met by 250 ships of the Royal Navy and the U.S. battleship squadron. The ships were inspected to make sure they had been disarmed and at 15:57 the German flag was ordered lowered and not to be raised again. The ships were then escorted in groups into Scapa Flow. All had arrived by Nov. 27.

About 15,000 of the 20,000 crew were removed and the German ships were left with caretaker crews. At 10:30 am on June 21, 1919 the message "Paragraph eleven - confirm" was sent. It took almost an hour, but the message was finally acknowledged and the operation began. Only a few British ships present but they signaled the first battle squadron and they returned at full speed. Out of 80 ships 57 were scuttled successfully. The only battleship saved was the Baden all the rest went to the bottom.

The heavy ships sunk were:
Battleships:
Bayern, Frederich der Grosse, Grosser Kurfurst, Kaiser, Kaiserin, Konig, Konig Albert, Kronprinz Wilhelm, Markgraf and Prinzregent Luitpold.

Battlecruisers:
Derfflinger, Hindenburg, Moltke, Seydlitz and Von der Tann.

Nine German's were shot and killed by the British during the event.

© 2005 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com

The High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow