2 These 24 made up the full complement of capital ships and cruisers of the High Seas Fleet. The Great Scuttle: The End of the German High Seas Fleet: Witnessing History by Meara, David. Bisher 17,99 €** 16,99 € versandkostenfrei * inkl. This book presents the story of the scuttling of this fleet in Scapa Flow. [55] Upon reaching the High Seas Fleet, Vice Admiral David Beatty's battlecruisers turned back to the north to lure the Germans towards the rapidly approaching Grand Fleet, under the command of Admiral John Jellicoe. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. In den Warenkorb. The scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet on Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919 was an event that brought world focus on to the remote but powerful former naval base of the Grand Fleet in WWI. All of the Germans in boats were taken prisoner, and they were treated as POWs, although a good legal case could be made that they should be denied such protections. The only available recreations were booze and fishing, which also supplemented the monotonous diet. ⇑, 2 Fremantle claimed that he did inform van Reuter, but von Reuter said that he didn't know about the extension until the evening. When Adm. Franz von Hipper led the High Seas Fleet out to sea on October 29, it was materially stronger than it had been at Jutland. Following the German defeat in November 1918, the Allies interned the bulk of the High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow, where it was ultimately scuttled by its crews in June 1919, days before the belligerents signed the Treaty of Versailles. 345 4. It succeeds admirably in bringing to life a world that is so far removed from our own as to be virtually unimaginable. (USNI’s sloth in getting stuff up on its website is a rant that’s been building for the last couple of weeks.) There was serious talk of prosecuting von Reuter, but he was eventually repatriated to Germany without any further trouble. [6], The Reichstag passed a second amendment to the Naval Law in March 1908 to provide an additional billion marks to cope with the growing cost of the latest battleships. 2 These 24 made up the full complement of capital ships and cruisers of the High Seas Fleet. The relevant paragraph discussed von Reuter's intention to scuttle the fleet, and the crews reacted swiftly, opening seacocks and readying for evacuation. Once a rough equality of forces could be achieved, the High Seas Fleet would be able to attack and destroy the British fleet. Apply the same logic to every system onboard, and you see why using captured ships mostly went out with the age of sail. [38] On 16 February 1907,[39] Kaiser Wilhelm renamed the Home Fleet the High Seas Fleet. The lack of food and recreation did not help. 54 posts No Great Scuttle: Dividing the High Seas Fleet - WD Martin No Great Scuttle: Dividing the High Seas Fleet - WD Martin. Also, there was the tricky issue of who would get the ships after the treaty, and France and Italy were both suspicious of the British on that count, because of the potential for changes in the balance of power in European waters. Nevertheless, the fleet continued to conduct sorties into the North Sea and detached units for special operations in the Baltic Sea against the Russian Baltic Fleet. [36] The fleet torpedo boats had crews of about 80 to 100 officers and men, though some later classes approached 200. On 21 June 1919 the ships of the German High Seas Fleet - interned at Scapa Flow since the Armistice - began to founder, taking their British custodians completely by surprise. One of his predecessors had been pushed over the side after a night of drinking while the ship was in Kiel. [28], Steam ships of the period, which burned coal to fire their boilers, were naturally tied to coaling stations in friendly ports. The squadrons were further divided into four-ship divisions. In addition, Tirpitz assumed that Britain would not be able to concentrate its fleet in the North Sea, owing to the demands of its global empire. The only ships still properly afloat were four destroyers, while 32 were sunk and 14 had to be beached. [60] A third 16-point turn followed; Hipper's mauled battlecruisers charged the British line to cover the retreat. All comments are reviewed before being displayed. [6] The Lords of the Admiralty felt the implications of the Second Naval Law were not a significantly more dangerous threat than the fleet set by the First Naval Law; they believed it was more important to focus on the practical situation rather than speculation on future programs that might easily be reduced or cut entirely. Acknowledge. [83] The unrest forced Hipper and Scheer to cancel the operation. [90] After Cox's withdrawal due to financial losses in the early 1930s, Metal Industries Group, Inc. took over the salvage operation for the remaining ships. [87] Once the ships were interned, their guns were disabled through the removal of their breech blocks, and their crews were reduced to 200 officers and enlisted men on each of the capital ships. [19] In 1912, the British concluded a joint defense agreement with France that allowed the British to concentrate in the North Sea while the French defended the Mediterranean. In OTL with the German High Seas Fleet scuttled - there were no 'prizes' to share around for the spoils of war, save perhaps for some Cruisers for France & Italy. Battleships and cruisers of the German High Seas Fleet interned at Scapa Flow, 28 November 1918. Another followed on 17–18 April, where the fleet covered a mining operation by the II Scouting Group. The German High Seas Fleet survived a cataclysmic war almost unscathed, but the bulk of its strength and tonnage was destroyed by order of the German admiral in command at the time. Neither of these (nor the few other cases of captured vessels being used, usually destroyers and the like being used as escorts) is going to need to be kept to the sort of standards you'd want in a front-line vessel like an operational battleship. By concentrating a powerful battle fleet in the North Sea while the Royal Navy was required to disperse its forces around the British Empire, Tirpitz believed Germany could achieve a balance of force that could seriously damage British naval hegemony. Scuttle to Salvage, the demise of the German High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow is a concise, pictorial story of two monumental events in global history: the biggest single shipping loss the world has known; and the largest salvage operation ever attempted. McCutcheon, James, The Ships of Scapa Flow, Amberley, 2013 . 65–66, raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, Scuttling of the German fleet at Scapa Flow, Organization of the High Seas Fleet at the Battle of Jutland, Organization of the High Seas Fleet in late October 1918, List of ships of the Imperial German Navy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=High_Seas_Fleet&oldid=993425311, Naval units and formations of Germany in World War I, Military units and formations of the Imperial German Navy, Military units and formations established in 1907, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 10 December 2020, at 15:28. Instead, the ships endured the ignominy of being held hostage at Scapa Flow where the commander, Admiral von Reuter, awaited news from Paris. The Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, totaling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before in order to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet. [50] Scheer ordered the fleet on sweeps of the North Sea on 26 March, 2–3 April, and 21–22 April. The Great Scuttle book. [15], Before the 1912 naval law was passed, Britain and Germany attempted to reach a compromise with the Haldane Mission, led by the British War Minister Richard Haldane. The Armistice was just that, not formally a surrender. Post Oct 21, 2012 #1 2012-10-21T19:59. [20] Worse still, the British began developing the strategy of the distant blockade of Germany starting in 1904;[21] this removed the ability of German light craft to reduce Britain's superiority in numbers and essentially invalidated German naval planning before the start of World War I. [81], A final fleet action was planned for the end of October 1918, days before the Armistice was to take effect. The Great Scuttle: The End of the German High Seas Fleet: Witnessing History: Meara, David: Amazon.sg: Books [76] The operation began on the morning of 12 October, when Moltke and the III Squadron ships engaged Russian positions in Tagga Bay while the IV Squadron shelled Russian gun batteries on the Sworbe Peninsula on Ösel. [8] Despite their dismissive reaction, the Admiralty resolved to surpass German battleship construction. In little under three hours, 490,000 tons of naval shipping had gone to the bottom of the Flow. It was still a tremendous relief to the British, although they were quick to condemn what they saw as treachery on the part of von Reuter and his crews. Several capital ships, including SMS König, which had been the first vessel in the line, and most of the battlecruisers, were in drydock for extensive repairs for at least two months. Paperback. 10 days after the Armistice, they had sailed into Rosyth, and they were swiftly transferred to the Grand Fleet's former base at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys to the north of Scotland, to be held there by the British until their fate was decided at the negotiating table in Versailles. [7], During the initial period of German naval expansion, Britain did not feel particularly threatened. I had to look up low-background steel, and wiki says this (above the cut, even): The primary source of low-background steel is ships that were constructed before the Trinity test, most famously the scuttled German World War I battleships in Scapa Flow. [45] On the evening of 15 December, the German battle fleet of some twelve dreadnoughts and eight pre-dreadnoughts came to within 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi) of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. No1catman. Witnessing History-6%. The German High Seas warships were the most hi-tech in the world at the time. Britain also made a series of diplomatic arrangements, including an alliance with Japan that allowed a greater concentration of British battleships in the North Sea. On June 21, 1919 the Scottish anchorage at Scapa Flow witnessed one of the most dramatic events in naval history. The German High Seas Fleet decided to sink as many of its own ships as possible to prevent them from falling into Allied hands. Segments of the British public, however, quickly seized on the perceived threat posed by the German construction programs. Mutiny in the High Seas Fleet. Second, there's the issue of keeping it in service. [75] On 18 September, the order was issued for a joint operation with the army to capture Ösel and Moon Islands; the primary naval component was to comprise its flagship, Moltke, and the III and IV Battle Squadrons of the High Seas Fleet. Page last modified on June 22, 2020, at 10:24 AM, A panorama of the German fleet in Scapa Flow, 10 days after the Armistice, they had sailed into Rosyth. [53] The Royal Navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. Baden's quarters were so cramped that the British assumed that her crew normally lived ashore. Scapa was not a popular posting even for British sailors. The German naval budget was already stretched thin; without new funding, Tirpitz would have to abandon his challenge to Britain. THE GERMAN FLEET SCUTTLE . Imagine the Royal Navy sending it out to help Hood and Prince of Wales to fight Bismarck! owned by a private individual who just put them up on ebay, a well-known tendency for a large fraction of people to find the other side's equipment superior, although on second thought maybe that's the "lesser weevil" quip instead...…, Real (armed merchant)men use Hurricanes. Post Nov 12, 2015 #1 2015-11-12T19:02. [48] As a result, the bombardment was not carried out, and by 14:35, Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet's approach and so turned his forces around and retreated to German ports. Despite being forewarned by signal intelligence, the Grand Fleet did not attempt to intercept. Witnessing History. Versandkostenfrei innerhalb Deutschlands. There emerged the distinct possibility that the German fleet would be unable to force a battle on its own terms, which would render it militarily useless. [68] The fleet was reorganized on 1 December;[48] the four König-class battleships remained in the III Squadron, along with the newly commissioned Bayern, while the five Kaiser-class ships were transferred to the IV Squadron. This would be supported by the eight Siegfried- and Odin classes of coastal defense ships, six large and eighteen small cruisers, and twelve divisions of torpedo boats, all assigned to the Home Fleet (Heimatflotte). [26] Each of these ships typically had a total crew in excess of 1,000 officers and men;[31] the light cruisers that screened for the fleet had crew sizes between 300 and 550. Admiral von Ingenohl, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, adopted a strategy in which the battlecruisers of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's I Scouting Group raided British coastal towns to lure out portions of the Grand Fleet where they could be destroyed by the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to challenge the Royal Navy's predominance. She was apparently returned in horrible condition, with live rounds rusted into the guns.). Jutland: The Unfinished Battle Nicholas C Jellicoe. The last ship salvaged from Scapa was in 1939. I think there’s honor among sailors and one of the worst things imaginable for a sailor would be to have his ship captured. Fearing that all of the ships would be seized and divided amongst the Allied powers, the German commander, Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, decided to scuttle … The High Seas Fleet and the Grand Fleet spared for nearly three years before the main event. 1Big Rich. Implicit in Tirpitz's theory was the assumption that the British would adopt an offensive strategy that would allow the Germans to use mines and submarines to even the numerical odds before fighting a decisive battle between Heligoland and the Thames. At its creation in 1907, the High Seas Fleet consisted of two squadrons of battleships, and by 1914, a third squadron had been added. The Scuttling of the High Seas Fleet Even though the Armistice on November 11th, 1918 had signaled the end of the fighting, the Great War had left many loose ends for the diplomats to tie up. [77] By 20 October, the fighting on the islands was winding down; Moon, Ösel, and Dagö were in German possession. The primary component of the Fleet was its battleships, typically organized in eight-ship squadrons, though it also contained various other formations, including the I Scouting Group. Fearing that all of the ships would be seized and divided amongst the allied powers Admiral Ludwig von Reuter decided to scuttle the fleet. 1919 High Seas Fleet - didn't scuttle 1919 High Seas Fleet - didn't scuttle . Paperback. The sailors of the Kaiser’s High Seas Fleet had led the mutiny that helped bring the Hohenzollerns crashing down and the fleet had not sailed for one last clash with the Royal Navy. For a final total of 60 German battleships, Britain would be required to build 90 to meet the 2:3 ratio envisioned by Tirpitz. Around 10:00 a.m. on 21 June 1919, von Reuter sent a flag signal ordering the fleet to stand by for the signal to scuttle. No1catman. The only luxury available in abundance was brandy, which was necessary to make life less boring. [66] Scheer turned north after receiving a false report from a zeppelin about a British unit in the area. I think there’s honor among sailors and one of the worst things imaginable for a sailor would be to have his ship captured. The remaining ships of the High Seas Fleet which had not been interned, including the first two German dreadnought classes, were divided up among the Allies. Portholes had already been loosened, watertigh… The Germans hoped to be interned in a neutral port but the Allies considered it impracticable to supervise and guard the ships in a neutral port. The dreadnought revolution in 1906 greatly affected the composition of the fleet; the twenty-four pre-dreadnoughts in the fleet were rendered obsolete and required replacement. The first occurred on 2–3 November 1914, though no British forces were encountered. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Great Scuttle: The End of the German High Seas Fleet GE Meara David at the best online prices at eBay! A third and final amendment was passed in May 1912 represented a compromise between Tirpitz and moderates in parliament. Tirpitz could also no longer depend on the higher level of training in both the German officer corps and the enlisted ranks, nor the superiority of the more modern and homogenized German squadrons over the heterogeneous British fleet. Sixteen minutes later, Friedrich der Grosse rolled over and sank, the first of the German ships to go down. The second squadron of dreadnoughts—the III Battle Squadron—which included four of the Kaiser-class battleships, was only completed when the four König-class battleships entered service by early 1915. In total, 52 of 74 ships were sabotaged to keep them from Britain, France, Italy and the USA. The operation was however cancelled due to poor weather after the cruiser München was torpedoed by the British submarine HMS E38. [58] At 18:55, Scheer decided to conduct another 16-point turn to launch an attack on the British fleet. Finally, June 21st, 1919 dawned. The entire fleet conducted several cruises into the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea. [54], At 16:00 UTC, the two battlecruiser forces encountered each other and began a running gun fight south, back towards Scheer's battle fleet. Scuttling began immediately: seacocks and flood valves were opened and internal water pipes smashed. No1catman. [92], "New Apparatus for Coaling Warships", pp. 345 4. [40] Prince Henry was replaced in late 1909 by Vice Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff, who served until April 1913. The signal was repeated by semaphore and searchlights. 'S five battlecruisers and supporting cruisers and one battleship of drinking while the ship to let water in out. 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