Scapa Flow scuttling
On 21 June 1919 the interned German High Seas Fleet scuttled itself in Scapa Flow, Orkney: 52 of the 74 ships sank. Most were raised for scrap in the following two decades; the wrecks that remain are dive sites and a source of low-background steel.
Dated events and their evidence
- 1918 CE mainstream
November: after the Armistice the German High Seas Fleet is interned at Scapa Flow while its fate is negotiated source - 1919 CE mainstream
21 June, the day the Treaty of Versailles was due to be signed: Rear-Admiral Ludwig von Reuter signals 'Paragraph Eleven' and the crews open the seacocks; 52 of the 74 ships sink source - 1923 CE mainstream
after locals complain that the wrecks endanger navigation, a salvage company is formed and raises four sunken destroyers; Ernest Cox then buys 26 destroyers and two capital ships and lifts 24 of the destroyers in a year and a half source
Where
58.8900° N, 3.1800° W
The point is Wikipedia's position for the scuttling, in the middle of Scapa Flow; the wrecks lie spread across the anchorage.
Sources
Each event carries Aion's own evidence grade (mainstream, disputed or speculative). This page repeats what the globe shows for this place.