FOR a school trip, the excursion on board the local tug, the Flying Kestrel, for a summer sail on the calm waters beyond Stromness was surely unlike any other.
The excited children from the Orkney town were thrilled to have a day away from lessons and even better, their school outing would involve the chance to see the German fleet’s huge battleship as the British Government negotiated their surrender.
Piled on board the little water tender, the 160 children from Stromness Higher Grade Public School settled down to cruise towards Scapa Flow where the interned fleet rested in humiliation, its battery of guns silenced by the Armistice to signal the end of the First World War.
By noon, however, as the children gathered for a lingering glance at the Kaiser’s magnificent fleet of battleships and cruisers, something extraordinary was about to unfold.
The sunken light cruiser Bremse
And the scuttling of the German fleet, perhaps one of the most astonishing incidents connected to the Great War, would remain etched on their memories for as long as they lived.
“We watched the last great battleship slide down with keel upturned, like some monstrous whale,” recalled James Taylor, a 16-year-old schoolboy at the time and among the most unlikely of witnesses to a dramatic moment of history.
“Suddenly without any warning and almost simultaneously these huge vessels began to list over to port or starboard; some heeled over and plunged headlong, their sterns lifted high out of the water. Out of the vents rushed steam and oil and air with a dreadful roaring hiss.”
By chance, the children’s school trip on June 21, 1919, was also the day Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter issued the order to scuttle the 74 warships from the German High Seas Fleet under his command and interned in Scapa Flow.
Read more: In pictures: Scapa Flow divers reveal new images of HMS Vanguard wreck
Incredibly, despite the mayhem that ensued as giant vessels disappeared beneath the water – spewing sailors’ possessions, furniture and equipment and sending massive bursts of air up to the surface in a final, explosive farewell – none of the children were hurt. Indeed, reports later suggested many thought the episode had been arranged as part of their school day out.
The momentous events of that day will now be remembered this summer when a series of centenary commemorations take place in Orkney. During one, descendants of the schoolchildren will gather on board the local ferry Thorsvoe and set sail from Stromness on Friday, June 21.
The ships will pause above one of the seabed wrecks for a service of reflection and two-minute silence, as Navy divers from Britain and Germany make a commemorative dive to the vessel. The flotilla will then continue to Hoy for a service of commemoration at the Lyness Royal Naval Cemetery alongside the graves of the 15 German sailors who lost their lives during the internment and on the day the fleet was scuttled.
The commemorations will be at the heart of a programme of events aimed at marking the historical significance of the scuttling, its impact and its lasting legacy in Orkney.
It includes a major exhibition which will tell the story of the scuttling, drawing on unpublished documents and eyewitness accounts of events leading up to and during the scuttling, as well as beyond.
Further Scapa 100 events will include a series of talks and performances by German Navy and Royal Navy musicians.
Admiral von Reuter was acting under the mistaken belief that peace talks had failed when he gave the command to scuttle his fleet to prevent the warships from falling into the hands of the British and Allied forces.
The children watched, “awestruck and silent”, as 50 of the ships went to the seabed – one of the greatest losses of shipping ever recorded in a single day. The Flying Kestrel was surrounded by ships heeling at odd angles, with debris floating all around and the terrifying noise of tearing metal.
Read more: Orkney undersea archaeologists find boat used by fleeing sailors from the HMS Royal Oak
Perhaps most harrowing was the sight of German sailors on board small boats who had refused to answer orders to stop, being fired upon. Nine died and 10 were wounded. The episode produced fury from Allied Peace delegates gathered in Paris at the time, who had counted on receiving a number of the German vessels to help replenish their own war-wounded fleets.
The Scapa 100 commemorative events begin on Saturday, with the opening of the exhibition at Orkney Museum.
Antony Mottershead, arts officer with Orkney Islands Council, said: “The varied events will provide many insights into the enormous impact the scuttling had on the Orkney community and on those who witnessed the ships going down.”
Local dive boat operator Emily Turton, a founder member of the Scapa 100 initiative, said: “An important aim of the programme is to explore the lasting legacy left by the scuttling of the fleet. A new industry sprung up as pioneering techniques were developed to raise entire ships – and salvage valuable components from others as they lay on the seabed.”
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