On October 14, 1939, just after the start of the second world war, Britain suffered a serious naval disaster that gave Germany a propaganda victory. In the fog of war it is hard to determine the precise details but a German U-Boat managed to penetrate Scapa Flo, the home base of the Royal Navy in the Orkney islands at the tip of Scotland, and sink a British battleship.
The Captain of U-Boat U-47 had a family connection that saw him holiday at Scapa Flo between the wars. Gunther Prien noted that the base was also the home of fishing trawlers and to avoid opening the defence boom constantly to allow them passage the navy had permitted a small opening between the sunken block ships that guarded the five entrances to Scapa Flo.
When war between Britain and Germany started Prien joined the navy and was given command of U-47. He suggested to Admiral Karl Doenitz that he thought a U-Boat could scrape through this narrow entrance and was given permission to make the attempt. It was a daring strategy and the only attempt at disguise was to paint out the big identification letters on the conning tower. Submarines of all nations looked remarkably similar.
U-47 approached in broad daylight, on the surface. Farmers in the field noticed the submarine but assumed it was British, and it was not challenged. Prien sailed openly up the waterway and then submerged and lay on the bottom, waiting for darkness. When he later approached the area which was the naval base he was utterly shocked to find it completely empty. He had expected to find battleships, cruisers and perhaps aircraft carriers but the warships had put to sea in the expectation of a German air attack on the base.
Searching this broad base of water he eventually came across an old battleship riding at anchor. This was HMS Royal Oak, a first world war battleship that had been originally coal fired and later converted to oil. It was twenty-five years old and long past its prime, being capable of only twenty-one knots it was incapable of keeping up with modern fleet actions. It was now something of a training ship and amongst its 1234 person crew were many juvenile boys leaning a sea trade.
U-47 fired four torpedoes at Royal Oak. Three missed and the fourth failed to explode, but crashed into the ships side and brought many on deck to investigate. Finding no visible cause, they returned to bed and Prien moved U-47 closer and fired two more torpedoes from his stern tubes.
This later attack was brilliantly successful. The explosions tore gaping holes and started a fuel fire ,and within minutes the battleship rolled on her side and sunk, killing 833 of her crew. U-47 quickly withdrew to her entry point and successfully returned to Germany. Prien and his crew received a heros welcome. They were feted in Berlin and awarded the highest decorations. The attack was regarded as an epic victory and fully publicised by the Nazi propaganda industry.
But for sheer good luck the Royal navy might have suffered a defeat similar to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. An enemy submarine in a crowded harbour might have sunk enough warships to cripple the Home Fleet and altered the balance of the naval war. Scapa Flo received an urgent update of its defence facilities and later in the war Gunther Prien and his crew were attacking at Atlantic convoy when depth charges sent U-47 to a watery grave.
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