View of wreck from beach to North North West

Description View of wreck from beach to North North West

Date 12/8/1996

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number SC 645794

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of D 3491

Scope and Content Wreck of World War I German Destroyer B98, Lopness Bay, Sanday, Orkney Islands The terms of the Armistice which brought hostilities to an end on 11 November 1918 stipulated that 74 warships of the German High Seas Fleet (10 battleships, six battle-cruisers, eight light cruisers and 50 destroyers) were to be interned in a neutral port or, if such a port were not available, in one of the Allied countries. Scapa Flow was the chosen venue, and after a rendezvous in the Firth of Forth, the German ships were escorted north. Interned with reduced crews, they languished in Scapa Flow from late November 1918 until 21 June 1919 when, in order to prevent the interned ships being handed over to the Allies in accordance with the newly-published peace terms, they were scuttled on the orders of Rear-Admiral Ludwig von Reuter. Many were later salvaged but the remains of some 14 of these warships still lie on the bottom of Scapa Flow. Many photographs and artefacts relating to the internment, scuttling and salvaging operations are housed in Stromness Museum. This shows the surviving remains of German destroyer B98 which was grounded on the beach of Lopness Bay, just below Langamay, in February 1920. Salvaged from Scapa Flow, the vessel was being towed to a breaker's yard in the Firth of Forth when she broke loose in a storm and drifted towards Sanday. The visible remains comprise parts of the bow section (left), turbine cases (centre), and steering gear (right). Built at Hamburg in 1916, B98 was powered by six oil-driven steam turbines and was capable of speeds of up to 31 knots. At the heart of the Orkney archipelago, Scapa Flow was the main fleet anchorage for the Royal Navy during both World Wars. Its vital importance led to the creation of one of the most concentrated defence networks in Britain. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/645794

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap