SCAPA FLOW

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 287, 5 December 1933, Page 9

SCAPA FLOW

MEMORIES OF WAR DAYS SCUTTLING OF GERMAN FLEET. THE MIGHT OF BRITAIN. IDuring the summer cruise of t>hc Home Fleet a week was spent at Scapa Flow, that spacious anchorage in the Orkney Isles which sheltered the Grand Fleet during four strenuous years of war. Such a visit is of inestimable value, reviving as it docs memories of bygone days; also because of its inspiration for budding youth, as already we have a generation growing up who are unaware of the mighty efforts which this unsurpassed clash of arms demanded) writes Ursa Major in The Navy, thc official organ of the Navy League). Britain’s might, and in particular the “Freedom of thc Seas,” by which we as an island nation move and have our being, was challenged by a Power whose one aim was world domination. Amid all the tumultous upheaval when thrones tottered and fell, nations crashed to indescribable chaos, and life in many places became valueless, the only entity that stood firm and true to its charge, as th 0 First Line of our Empire defence, was thc British Navy. And the major portion of it lay at anchor within these bare and rugged shores. From this roadstead, amid triie desolate wastes in northern mists, the Grand Fleet sailed time after time to trail its cloak before an enemy content to hide rat-like in an inland burrow, and confine its activities to “tip and run” raids on defenceless towns. Thc Return From Jutland. On May 30, 1916. all units put to sea with crows full of pent-up enthusiasm as always, but doubtful of their tryst as the result of those twenty long months of disappointment. Next day the one and only modern fleet action—the Rattle of Jutland—was fought, to an inconclusive end. Back camo the fleet, lessened in numbers ’tis • true, but not in spirit, to its indefinite ' resting place. There were gaps in • the lines of all units, accounted for either by casualties dispatched to dock- I yard ports for repairs or gone never ' to return —the price of Admiralty!

A fitting sequel occurred later when the battle cruiser squadron arrived for the first time after this stupendous battle. Time and dockyard labour had helped to heal many of th P scars gathered in the thickest of the fray. But a vacant space on the upper deck of the Lion, that disclosed a missing tur ret, spoke volumes as to her share of thc glory, and the greeting of cheers that rent the air as tnc “Cat Squadron” passed the other vessels at anchor was heartfelt and profound. A somewhat similar event occurred when the Sixth Division of United States battleships arrived. This scene is perpetuated by the painting of Bernard Gribble showing 4 ‘ Admiral Beatty and thc crew on quarter-deck of IT.M.S. Queen Elizabeth” cheering the approaching squadron. Though long de laved, almost too long. it. gave proof of the unity of thought and action by I the two great English-speaking nations, a solid bulwark for right and justice ' oven though the four corners of the world may tremble at their foundations.

What a different place we find today! Tho miscellany of small craft, trawlers, motor-launches, etc., which maintained the ceaseless patrols outside the entrances have gone to more peaceful pursuits than chasing enemy submarines. Gone also are the boom-de-fence vessels and their nets and booms which blocked the entry, or exit for that matter, of all vessels from mighty battleship to puny motorlaunch, and thus rendered the anchorage safe from the torpedoes of enemy craft. To-day it is thc Scapa Flow of prewar days, very similar to what it was .121 years ago, when, in 1812, Graeme Spence produced an original chart of “The South Isles of Orkney, to show the Situation and Extent of Scapa Flow as a Proposed Roadstead for Linc-of-Battle Ships,” with circles showing the suggested berths for thirty vessels. But no, Scapa Flow can never return to its former pristine state. Still in existence arc the piers hurriedly erected, the beacons and )tlier marks put up for navigational purposes, range finder and other tests, and tho cemetery where lie thc bodily remains of those who gave their all that thc British flag should remain unfurled thc world over for all time. Where the German Navy Went. Another scene, still more to the point, comes into mind. The remnants of thp once proud—nay, even haughty —German Navy, its motto “Our future is on tho sea” badly besmirched, rested on tho bottom, scuttled, the last resort of a defeated foe. Here was to be seen the finest exposition of the triumphal result of the war at sea. The flower of an adversary’s fleet was sunk by their own officers and crows while the captives of their conquerors. If ships could give an account of their feelings, what torrents of remorse would be let loose when after being used as pawns in the great international game of bluff for a “place in the sun,” they finish up as whited sepulchres beneath tho waters of their enemy’s harbour. During a previous visit of the Home Fleet, in 1926, thc topmasts and upper parts of funnels of a battleship were visible like eerie sentinels of a phantom ship below. Another ship with lighters moored alongside was in thc process of being salved. Later she followed the Moltke, the 25.000-ton battle cruiser, which was raised, keel uppermost and towed to Rosy th to be •locked for breaking up. This was a feat unrivalled in the annals of marine salvage. It was certainly one which never entered the heads of the Ger-

r mans at the time of scuttling. Other "' evidence included the hulls of several ‘ | destroyers—all of which had been ' salved and gutted--scattered about the J short' like stinking fish, their rusty ' | shells si blot on the virgin landscape. j In previous naval history, scuttling ■ was reserved as a last resource to avoid ’ I ships falling jnto the hands of their enemies. But the Germans added yet ‘ 1 another tenet to the code. Crestfallen ! and lacking morale they first stiri rendered their ships intact, an almost ' ' 'rd of thing before except when treason occurred, and then thought better of it. A more courageous foe i would have sunk them in the middle of the North Sen on t'he day they were I to be delivered up, thus laying some j claim for their title of it—tho “German Ocean.” I There were some who stated that the responsible authorities were lacking in • their duties to allow these ships to bc i sunk whilst under our jurisdiction. But what was the alternative? Should h they havp been distributed among thc B

Allies like stale fish being got rid orf at a market place, with all the attendant haggling, becoming the certain cause of future enmity? Germany Did Lose the War. No, better by far that they should be scuppered by their own crews in the harbour where their oponents proudly rode as victors, despite the fact that thc majority of the rules of the game had been broken in a most unscrupulous manner. As to who won tho war may be an argument until the end of the universe. But no one can think of these dishevelled hulks, once the pride of the Teutonic race, and remain in doubt as to who lost it. Who won the peace is another question.