Following the end of the First World War the German High Seas Fleet was interned at the British Royal Navy’s base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands under the terms of the Armistice whilst negotiations took place over the fate of the ships. Fearing that all of the ships would be seized and divided amongst the Allied powers, the German commander, Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, decided to scuttle the fleet. Intervening British guard ships were able to beach a number of the ships, but 52 of the 74 interned vessels sank. Nine German sailors were shot and killed plus sixteen wounded aboard their lifeboats rowing towards land. Many of the wrecks were salvaged over the next two decades and were towed away for scrapping, the rest left and are now dive sites.
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Following the Twenty-Second 