Projects
- Introduction
- The Museum of The Black Watch, Perth
- Clackmannanshire Council
- Aberdeenshire Council
- Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Museum, Stirling
- The Gordon Highlanders Museum, Aberdeen
- Museum nan Eilean, Lewis
- Museum of the Isles, Skye
- West Lothian Council
- Kildonan Museum
- Highland Council
- Hunterian Museum & Art Gallery
- McLean Museum & Art Gallery, Inverclyde Council
- Orkney Islands Council
- West Dunbartonshire Council
- Argyll & Bute Council
- Dysart Primary School
- Erskine Hospital
Project Title: Fortress Orkney
Exhibition: The sinking of 'HMS Royal Oak'
Scapa Flow was thought to be impenetrable but in the darkness of the night of 13 October 1939, German U-boat U 47 surfaced in Scapa Flow. Early in the war German reconnaissance aircraft had surveyed the defences of Scapa Flow, whilst submarines monitored British shipping. Gaps between the blockships in Kirk Sound were identified. The main fleet had sailed that day but 'HMS Royal Oak' remained behind. In the icy waters of Scapa Flow, 833 men of the 'Royal Oak' perished, and the wreck site is now an official war grave. Here some of the survivors tell their story.
Assets in this exhibition:
'HMS Royal Oak' at gunnery practice
Description
This photograph was taken in the Pentland Firth, with Hoy in the background. You can clearly see the Old Man of Hoy silhouetted to the rear centre of the picture.
How a German submarine penetrated the defences of Scapa Flow
Early in the war German reconnaissance aircraft had surveyed the defences of Scapa Flow, whilst submarines monitored the movements of British shipping. The information was given to Commodore Donitz, Flag Officer U-boats, who planned a submarine raid on the base. The task was given to Lieutenant Commander Gunther Prien in U 47. Gaps between the blockships in Kirk Sound were identified as possible entrances into Scapa Flow for the 66.5 metre U-boat.
U 47 arrived off Orkney on the night of 12 October 1939 and lay on the seabed for almost 24 hours. She surfaced and headed towards Kirk Sound during slack water at high tide. In the darkness of the night of 13 October 1939 U 47 slipped past the blockship Seriano, grounding slightly on the Holm shore as she went. Prien found himself in Scapa Flow, but was disappointed to discover that the main Fleet had sailed that day. His frustration was relieved when he saw a battleship lying under the cliffs at Gaitnip, Holm.
'HMS Royal Oak' was anchored at the north-eastern side of Scapa Flow to provide extra anti-aircraft cover for the Fleet and for the radar station at Netherbutton. She had just returned from a patrol of the Fair Isle channel and it should have been a time for repairing any damage and having a much needed rest. On his return from the south side of Scapa Flow, Prien saw the silhouette of the 'Royal Oak' and moved in to attack.
'HMS Royal Oak'
Description
'HMS Royal Oak' in Scapa Flow
The attack on the 'Royal Oak'
When the first torpedo struck the 'Royal Oak' at 1.04 am it had only scored a minor hit which was dismissed as an internal explosion. Some of the crew feared it may have been an enemy air-raid, and took cover below the ship’s armour plated deck. This action sealed the fate of these crewmen, as they had no chance of escape. The last three torpedoes that U 47 fired found their mark, tearing open the hull of the battleship. This was at 1.16 am and the crew had only thirteen minutes in which to save themselves.
The torpedoes hit the starboard side of the ship, sending a pillar of flame as high as the mast. Some of the crew were killed by the explosions, while others died when the cordite in one of the magazines ignited, sending sheets of flame through the ship. The generators failed due to the torpedo attack, plunging the ship into darkness. Oil poured out of the stricken ship, turning the sea into a thick sludge which made it difficult for the men to swim to safety.
When the fatal torpedoes struck the 'Royal Oak' she rolled over, dragging the drifter the 'Daisy II' up her side. The mooring lines were cut, and the drifter slid back into the water. The 'Daisy II' saved many lives that night, as did boats launched from the seaplane carrier Pegasus and destroyers that steamed to investigate the attack.
Although the shore was only half a mile away, the intense cold of the sea meant that many people died of hypothermia. Others made it to the shore, only just visible in the pitch darkness. Many more never escaped from inside the ship.
Part of torpedo
Description
Part of one of the torpedoes that was fired at 'HMS Royal Oak'.
Source
Date: 2009
Contributor: Stromness Museum, L2000.L2
Location: Stromness
Original Source: Stromness Museum
Remembering 'HMS Royal Oak'
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Description
'Royal Oak' survivors Kenneth Toop, Taffy Davis and Don Harris, together with local eye-witnesses Captain John Gray and Jim Harrison, talk about their experiences on that fateful night.
Transcript
“It was just an ordinary night and we never thought very much about it, we were laying at the buoys – you know, we were tied up maybe four or five on what we called ‘the trot’. There were no… nothing… activity at all until early… small hours of the morning. The real activity started… you know, they realized that the thing had been torpedoed and the Destroyers went tearing around the Flow at great speed, dropping depth charges, and everybody was alerted, of course, all the… I suppose the shore side… we all shifted from the moorings and everybody was trying to pick up survivors or, you know, some sort like that.”
“Well I was down below when the first explosion took place and nobody knew exactly what had happened. I got dressed and went up to investigate and I finished up on the port side of the upper deck and while I was there I lit a cigarette, and after about a quarter of an hour nothing… everything was still, nothing further had happened and so I thought, ‘well, I’ll put my cigarette out and go down below again,’ and just as I put the… threw the cigarette over the side the next three torpedoes hit – on the starboard side, fortunately – away from me, and the ship rocked and the showers of water came down and then the ship started to heel over almost immediately, and it wasn’t long before it was obvious that she was going.”
“Almost immediately I felt the ship start to list and the lights went off, and the public address, that had failed and I knew that we were in very, very deep trouble. And I climbed out of my hammock, pulled on my trousers, slipped into my shoes and headed for the nearest ladder leading to the upper deck, in the darkness, and there was a chap showing tremendous courage – he was a Petty Officer – he was standing at the foot of this ladder with a… holding a torch – a lighted torch – and he was guiding men up the ladder and saying to them quite calmly, “Keep calm boys, keep calm. Everybody will be alright, keep calm, just keep moving, keep moving.” And it was something of an inspiration to see this man, who probably sacrificed his own life to save others.”
“Oh yeah, it was one fifteen in the morning. I was sleeping in P2 six inch gun placement, there was this chap alongside me named McCarthy, and when the torpedoes struck - I used to sleep like a log, and I still do – but he shook me, he said, “Come on Lofty, you’d better get out, there’s something happened”.”
“So I wondered what to do. Thought about jumping in the water but it looked cold and dark and while I was hesitating someone on the forecastle shouted, “Make your way aft to the 'Daisy'.” That was a fishing drifter that was tied up on our port quarter. And by this time the ship was heeling over – oh, fifty, sixty degrees – and it was possible to walk down the ship’s side. So I jumped for the 'Daisy' and grabbed her guardrail and pulled myself inboard and the men who were sitting on the side of the ship were calling out to the 'Daisy' not to cast off. The people in the 'Daisy' who had different… who were looking at the thing from a different point of view, of course, they were shouting out to the skipper to cast off and the skipper, John Gatt, he was the only person, I think, who didn’t get in a flat spin that night.”
“The oil was gushing out of the ship, it must have been, oh, somewhere in the vicinity of an inch… an inch or so thick and it was like trying to swim through treacle, and added to that there was another hazard that was other crew members who were very poor swimmers, and some who were probably non-swimmers, and they were grasping at anyone and anything in the area, and I had to try and cut my way through about seven or eight – or more – of these poor swimmers before I got clear and… I just swam away, I had no real idea of where I was going in the dark and I happened to swim to one of the picket boats that was down.”
“More by luck that judgement I just managed to swim around. You know, it’s a terrible feeling that… with oil fuel, you can’t wipe it out your eyes because it’s in… it’s everywhere, your head, your hair and everything, but I did manage – although I’m not a strong swimmer – I did manage to keep afloat and get rid of my shoes. Eventually the 'Daisy' – they heard us shouting, I suppose – and we were pulled onboard.”
“I thought to myself ‘this is… this is the end, I might as well say the Lord’s Prayer’ and I did that, I started to recite the Lord’s Prayer and I heard the Marine that was with me – the last one left, wasn’t he – he joined in the prayer and halfway through the prayer his voice stopped and I looked where he’d been and he had gone and that left me alone. Then I gave a last despairing look round over my shoulder - and this is the last thing I recall - was seeing this… the bows of a very small craft coming right towards me, directly towards me and I lost consciousness at that stage and… must have been that someone virtually… run in to me and someone leaned over the side and dragged me out of the water.”
“Nobody knew exactly where to turn. We went down that night, at two o’clock in the morning, with blankets, just after she was torpedoed. Well, I think the oil killed them really; they were just picking the bodies up and carting them in to Scapa. It was a terrible sight.”
“I was extremely fortunate. I… and I… you know, I realise that.”
The story of Herbert Johnston, part 1
This is the story of Herbert (Bertie) Johnston, my great, great uncle who is 90 years old. He is one of the 386 survivors of the Royal Oak and the only Orcadian survivor.
Thorfinn Johnston, Stromnesss Academy S2, 2009.
"The night that the 'Royal Oak' was sunk I was actually on duty and I was probably nearer the first torpedo than anybody else on the ship because I was right in the bows of the ship and right down at the bottom of the ship where the CO2 machinery was. And it was about 1 o'clock in the morning, there was a phenomenal explosion - it really terrified me - and I went up to go to my action station but I was delayed in coming back because after the first explosion everybody believed… thought we were safe because we were in harbour so nobody would believe that it could have been a torpedo. And I imagined it was an air raid and a bomb had hit the fo'c's'le or the bow. But I went up and I dilly dallied a bit at going down and that was what saved my life. While there was a delay there was another explosion and I thought I would go on the deck in case there was something serious wrong. And of course there was something serious wrong. We'd been hit by another torpedo and she started to list right away.”
Story of Herbert Johnston, part 2
This is the story of Herbert (Bertie) Johnston, my great, great uncle who is 90 years old. He is one of the 386 survivors of the Royal Oak and the only Orcadian survivor.
Thorfinn Johnston, Stromnesss Academy S2, 2009.
"Well what happened was at the second explosion I went on the deck and when I got on deck, by that time it was obvious she had leaned over quite a bit and I thought 'What will I do now?' And I noticed an officer went over to the ship's side and he went over the railings and by that time the ship's side was sloping like a roof and he I slid down into a boat that was tied there called a picket boat. So I followed him. And I slid down into the picket boat and watched the 'Royal Oak' roll over until she was nearly over. She was just like a huge plate upside down in the water. I thought as I was watching I just couldn't believe my eyes.
Soon after that the boat that I was on got so crowded that it rolled as well and capsized and I was thrown in the water and I looked back and I was just going to swim back to it when it went over again. By that time we had what we call a drifter, a small ferry boat and she was by that time, she was lying off a bit and she was picking up survivors. Because people were swimming to her I swam to her as well. Of I course when I was nearly there they helped me to get out of the water and I stayed on her and they took us over to a liner."
'HMS Royal Oak' on the seabed
Description
This is a sonar image of 'HMS Royal Oak' lying on the seabed. It clearly shows a hole blown in her stern by one of the torpedoes fired by U 47.
Source
Date: 2006
Sailors marching to the funeral of those lost on 'HMS Royal Oak'
Description
Sailors marching along Cemetery Road which leads from Lyness pier to the Naval cemetery at Lyness. Survivors of the disaster are not wearing uniform.
Source
Date: 1939
Location: Lyness, Orkney
Original Source: Orkney Library and Archive, Ref. L339-3
We do not sail over that spot
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Description
The sinking of 'HMS Royal Oak' had a profound effect on everyone living in Orkney at that time.
Transcript
Nora Thomson: "Jimmy Thomson, well he was a diver with Cox and Danks. Jimmy was… he was a good diver, and his brother Sandy was his linesman. I know that he did a lot of diving at the ships, and the raising of the ships. He was one of the big heavy-suit divers of course, it wasn't just frog suits, it was heavy diving. He was the first one down at the 'Royal Oak' when it was sunk, just to survey the ship, see what like it was, see how it was sitting on the seabed and to see what had happened, I guess. There was other divers too but Jimmy was the first one down. And I think it shattered him."
Janet Alexander: "I remember going on a boat, to the south of Scapa Flow, and my father saying, 'That is where the 'Royal Oak' went down'. And telling me this ghastly story and saying, 'We do not sail over that spot'."
Source
Date: 2009
'HMS Royal Oak' Memorial
Description
This memorial stands in St Magnus Cathedral, Orkney. In the glass case beneath the bell is a book of remembrance, which list the names of the 833 men who lost their lives on 14 October 1939.
Source
Date: 2009
Contributor: Rebecca Marr
Location: Kirkwall, Orkney
Original Source: Rebecca Marr
Torch from 'HMS Royal Oak'
Description
Torch recovered from near the wreck site. The wreck is an official war grave and diving there is not permitted.
Source
Date: 2009
Contributor: Stromness Museum
The story of the U-boat Commander
The U 47 escaped from Scapa Flow using the same channel as it had entered by, though this time staying close to the south. Gunther Prien, the U-boat’s commander, had radioed to Germany that he had sunk 'HMS Royal Oak' and had also badly damaged 'HMS Repulse', although this ship was in dry dock in Rosyth at the time.
On their return to Germany on 17 October they were greeted by Donitz, now promoted to Admiral, and informed that Prien had been awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, while the crew were awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class.
They were flown to Berlin where they met Hitler and the propaganda minister Dr. Goebbels, who was planning a book on the raid. A German broadcast that same evening gave a distorted view of events, as did Prien’s book 'My Night in Scapa Flow'. It is now known that Prien did not write the book, but that it was produced by a ghost writer working for the Nazis.
Gunther Prien was not to survive the war. In the first week of March 1941, Prien’s U 47 was one of three U-boats that attacked a convoy 300 miles off the coast of Iceland. The destroyer 'HMS Wolverine' gave chase, trying to detect the submarine using hydrophones so as not to frighten it away. Eventually it launched two depth charge attacks, resulting in the sinking of U 47 on 8 March 1941. There were no survivors.
Gunther Prien receives a medal from Adolf Hitler
Description
After sinking 'HMS Royal Oak', Gunther Prien and his crew received a rapturous welcome back home in Germany. Prien was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross and the crew were awarded the Iron Cross, Second Class. They were flown to Berlin where they met Hitler and the propaganda minister Dr. Goebbels.
