Scapa Flow – The Killavil Connection (By John McDonagh

By John McDonagh

Scapa Flow is a large harbour in the Orkney Islands, off the North Eastern coast of Scotland. Sheltered by mainland and the islands of Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy, its relatively safe waters have provided a protected and secure anchorage for trade, travel and conflict throughout the centuries from the Bronze Age to the present day. In ancient Norse, Scapa Flow means ‘Bay of the Long Isthmus’. One thousand years ago, the Vikings were using it as a base for raids on the British Isles and as a secure winter anchorage for their longships. In more recent times, it was the principal base for the United Kingdom’s navies during the First and Second World Wars and continued in use as a naval base until its decommissioning in 1956. With calm waters, a level sandy bottom and a depth of sixty metres it is regarded as one of the best and most secure anchorages in the world.

During the early days of W.W.1, British Admiral John Rushwort Jellicoe had the anchorage defences reinforced and strengthened. It was from this base that the British Navy sailed on May 31st to confront the German Grand fleet, commanded by Reinhardt Von Scheer. The resulting carnage, the Battle of Jutland, was the most costly naval engagement of the entire war resulting in the British losing fourteen of their prestigious warships along with 6,784 sailors for the loss of eleven of Germany’s ships and 3,058 German seamen. Both sides claimed victory, Germany had sunk more of the British ships but the German grand Fleet, unnerved by the Jutland experience, never put to sea again for the entire duration of the war.

After the capitulation of Germany, the remaining seventy four ships of the German fleet were interned in Scapa Flow pending a decision on their future from the peace treaty of Versailles.

On 21st June 1919, after seven months of indecision, German Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, gave orders to scuttle the fleet because the Versailles Treaty gave no clear indication of what should be done with the ships and he did not want them to fall into British hands. The Royal Navy managed to prevent the sinking of twenty one ships but fifty three were scuttled and sent to the bottom. Most of them were salvaged for scrap during the late 1920s and 1930s until the salvaging was interrupted by the onset of W.W.II.

Primarily because of its great distance from German airfields, Scapa Flow was again selected as Britain’s main naval base during the Second World War even though it was believed by some Admiralty planners that the marine defences were not nearly as impenetrable as they needed to be.

The strong defences built during the First World War had decayed and fallen into disrepair. Blockships sunk to impede submarines had collapsed and anti-submarine nets were not up to the standard needed to stop the much more sophisticated U-Boats of W.W.II. Frantic efforts to repair and strengthen the defences were begun at the outset of war but they were not completed in time to prevent the successful penetration of the anchorage by a German submarine.

On October 14th 1939, a German submarine or U boat entered Scapa Flow commanded by Gunter Prien,

He, aided by some very high quality aerial photography and local intelligence, managed to find a poorly protected entrance through the narrow approaches of Kirk Sound. Around midnight, at high tide, undetected by the Royal Navy’s anti-submarine measures, he quietly guided his deadly craft, U47 into the calm waters of Scapa Flow to conduct his fourth and deadliest attack of the war.

The Royal Oak was one of five ‘revenge class’ warships built by the Royal Navy during the First World War. With a length of 189 metres, a beam of 27 metres and a displacement of 28,000 tons, her keel was laid down on January 1st 1914 at Devonport Dockyard. Originally intended as a coal fired vessel, before completion the boiler design was changed over to more efficient oil. The Royal Oak was commissioned and joined the naval service on May 1st 1916. Just one month later it took part in the Battle of Jutland scoring a number of

hits on the German cruisers, S.M.S Wiesbaden, S.M.S Derffinger and S.M.S Seydlitz. Later in the war it was used to patrol the Southern coast of Britain. During the interwar years the ship was refitted and upgraded many times and served with both the Atlantic and Mediterranean fleets but it was considered to be too slow and cumbersome for a modern navy.

On 14th of October 1939 the R.O. was anchored in Scapa Flow where it was believed that her anti-aircraft capabilities would strengthen and enhance the air defences of the harbour.

Captained by W.G. Benn with a crew of 1,219 sailors including 163 boy sailors aged from fourteen to eighteen years, the ship was riding at anchor with its crew blissfully unaware of the imminent danger from U47.

Having sneaked undetected into the very large anchorage, Gunter Prien in his silent U boat spent some time trying to identify a prestigious target and he later stated that the bay was “bright as day illuminated by the Northern Lights.” In the North of the harbour R.O came into view and range and Gunter Prien moving into position, launched a salvo of four torpedoes. Two of the torpedoes missed their target, one stuck in the launch tube and failed to launch and the fourth struck the prow of the R.O. without causing any appreciable damage. Amazingly, the explosion did not alert the crew of the warship to their imminent danger. They did not comprehend that they were under attack. Captain Benn and his engineers, alerted but not alarmed, conducted an inspection. Finding nothing amiss they concluded that a drum of paint had exploded in the paint shop, no further action was taken and the sailors went back to their hammocks.

Prien couldn’t believe his luck, he positioned his submarine once again and launched four more torpedoes. Once again they missed their target and once again they were undetected by the crew of the R.O. An undaunted Prien moved in closer and fired three more torpedoes, this time with devastating consequences. Two of the torpedoes struck amidships creating a thirty foot wide hole, the ship heeled over immediately and all the lights went out. In just thirteen minutes it was on the bottom, with over 800 sailors still on board, including eleven Irishmen.

The Irish who died hailed from several different counties, three from Cork, two from Wexford, two from Down, two from Belfast, one from Fermanagh and one, twenty seven year old John Walter Gallagher from Knockgrania, Killavil Co Sligo, son of Michael James and May Gallagher. The little house where he was born and spent his early years, though now unoccupied, still stands beside Coleman’s Cross Killavil. According to naval records John was married to Euronwy Eluend Gallagher of Harpurhey Manchester and is “Remembered with Honour” on the Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

In the absolute pandemonium and confusion that occurred in the aftermath of the attack, all the naval resources were directed towards the rescue of the struggling, drowning sailors desperately fighting to stay afloat in a sea covered with fuel oil. While the various commanders were trying to determine what had happened, the wily Prien took advantage of the confusion to sneak out of the harbour and escape into the open sea.

For the next number of months he went on to wreak havoc on British shipping, sending twenty eight more British ships to the bottom until U47 was eventually located and sunk with all hands on March 10 1941, by the British Destroyer Wolverline.