THE NAVY AT SCAPA FLOW
[Illustration: BATTLE SQUADRON EXERCISING IN THE FLOW.]
THE NAVY AT SCAPA FLOW
The photographs which follow depict various aspects of the work and
play of the Grand Fleet and the Auxiliaries at Scapa, and are more
or less self-explanatory. Owing to limitations of space, it is not
possible to deal adequately with a subject on which so many volumes
have been written, but an effort has been made to include as many types
as possible of the varied units of the Grand Fleet, and to depict the
various phases of the everyday life and recreations of the personnel
of the Fleet. Owing to the strict photographic censorship during the
war, it was not practicable to take many subjects which would otherwise
have found a place in this record, but those which are shown in the
following pages will give the reader some little idea of how the Navy
"carried on" during the eventful years 1914-1919.
[Illustration: Humphrey Joel. ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET EARL BEATTY ON THE
QUARTERDECK OF H.M.S. "QUEEN ELIZABETH."]
[Illustration: H.M.S. "QUEEN ELIZABETH."]
[Illustration: H.M.S. "REVENGE" AND SHIPS OF THE FIRST BATTLE SQUADRON
AT SCAPA.]
[Illustration: H.M.S. "RAMILLIES."]
[Illustration: H.M.S. "RESOLUTION."]
[Illustration: H.M.S. "ROYAL OAK."]
[Illustration: Humphrey Joel. FOURTH BATTLE SQUADRON EXERCISING IN THE
FLOW.]
[Illustration: Humphrey Joel. BATTLESHIPS "ORION," "MONARCH," AND
"CONQUEROR" IN THE FLOW.]
[Illustration: Humphrey Joel. BATTLESHIPS "COLOSSUS," "ST. VINCENT,"
AND "BELLEROPHON" EXERCISING IN THE FLOW.]
[Illustration: H.M.S. "RENOWN." (In which the Prince of Wales made his
recent visit to the Colonies.)]
[Illustration: H.M.S. "TIGER": A FAMOUS SHIP OF THE BATTLE CRUISER
SQUADRON.]
[Illustration: H.M.S. "WHITSHED." (One of our Latest Type Destroyers.)]
[Illustration: H.M.S. "BARHAM."]
[Illustration: H.M.S. "EMPEROR OF INDIA."]
[Illustration: Humphrey Joel. LIGHT CRUISER "CALLIOPE" AT SCAPA.]
[Illustration: "MAKE AND MEND" ON LIGHT CRUISER "YARMOUTH." (Note the
bins for "Bones" and "Pig Food.")]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. THE DECK OF AN AEROPLANE CARRIER,
H.M.S. "FURIOUS."]
[Illustration: Humphrey Joel. SUBMARINE "G 13" ALONGSIDE H.M.S.
"QUEEN ELIZABETH."]
[Illustration: SUBMARINE "K 16" UNDER WAY IN THE FLOW.]
[Illustration: OFFICERS OF SUBMARINE "K 7" IN THE CONNING TOWER.]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. MARINES DRILLING ON THE QUARTERDECK
OF A BATTLESHIP.]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. GENERAL VIEW OF CAPTAIN'S SUNDAY
MORNING INSPECTION.]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. "TIDYING UP" FOR INSPECTION.]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. OFFICERS AND MEN EXERCISING ON THE
QUARTERDECK.]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. "HOLYSTONING."]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. WASHING DOWN DECKS.]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. STOKERS AT WORK. (Over 4,000,000
tons of coal were supplied to the Fleet at Scapa from the outbreak of
war to the date of Armistice.)]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. CHURCH SERVICE ON H.M.S. "QUEEN
ELIZABETH."]
[Illustration: HOSPITAL SHIPS AT SCAPA FLOW.]
[Illustration: H.M. HOSPITAL SHIP "MAGIC II.," AFTERWARDS RENAMED
"CLASSIC."]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. TRANSFERRING A "COT CASE" FROM A
BATTLESHIP TO THE HOSPITAL SHIP DRIFTER.
(The more serious cases from the Fleet were sent to the Hospital
Ships--of which there were generally three or four at Scapa one of
which, H.M.H.S. "Agadir," was set aside for infectious cases only.
In addition to the drifter "Coryphæna," shown in the photograph,
two other drifters were detached for Hospital Ship duties, named,
rather suggestively, the "Golden Harp" and "Elysian Dawn!")]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. DENTIST AT WORK ON A BATTLESHIP
(H.M.S. "COLLINGWOOD").]
[Illustration: H.M.S. "IMPERIEUSE" WITH FLEET MAIL STEAMER "ST. NINIAN"
AND MAIL DRIFTERS FROM THE FLEET ALONGSIDE.]
[Illustration: MAIL BOAT "ST. OLA" COMING ALONGSIDE H.M.S. "VICTORIOUS."
(The "St. Ola" took the place of the "St. Ninian" during the last
few months of the war, and mails were then distributed by H.M.S.
"Victorious.")
For the first three months of the war all mails for the Fleet were
landed and distributed at Scapa Pier. In November 1914, a Branch
Post Office was opened on H.M.S. "Imperieuse," where the mails and
newspapers were sorted and despatched to the Fleet. Some idea of the
volume of business transacted to the date of the Armistice can be
gathered from the following figures: 42 million letters and parcels
sorted and despatched; 85 million letters and parcels delivered; value
of postal stamps sold, £275.500.]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. SORTING MAILS FOR THE FLEET ON
H.M.S. "IMPERIEUSE."]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. DISTRIBUTING NEWSPAPERS FOR THE
FLEET (H.M.S. "IMPERIEUSE.")]
[Illustration: DOCKYARD WORKMEN LEAVING H.M.S. "VICTORIOUS" FOR WORK IN
THE FLEET.]
[Illustration: REPAIRING A STEAM PINNACE ON THE SLIPWAY AT LYNESS.]
[Illustration: SCHOOL CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT ON H.M.S. "VICTORIOUS."
(The Navy is renowned for its hospitality, and the above shows a group
of school children and their teachers who were entertained to a cinema
show and tea on board. Many of the children had never seen the "movies"
before.)]
[Illustration: THREE OF THE YOUNG ORCADIAN GUESTS.]
[Illustration: Imperial War Museum. "NO COUPONS REQUIRED."
(The work of victualling the Navy at Scapa was no small task, as the
following figures of the monthly Fleet requirements indicate: Meat,
320 tons; potatoes, 800 tons; flour, 6,000 140-lb. bags; sugar, 1,500
120-lb. bags; bread, 80,000 lbs.)]
[Illustration: CREW OF DRIFTER "SHALOT." (Attached to the Victualling
Store Officer R.F.A. "Ruthenia.")]
[Illustration: LIFTING CHAIN CABLES.]
[Illustration: MOORING VESSEL "RECOVERY" AT SCAPA FLOW.
(The mooring work of the Base was performed under the control
of the Admiralty Port Officer, H.M.S. "Imperieuse." Amongst the
mooring vessels which did useful work in laying and lifting
moorings for the Fleet, in addition to the "Recovery" pictured
above, should be mentioned the mooring craft "Strathmaree," "Ben
Doran," "Ben Tarbet," and "Bullfrog.")]
[Illustration: U.S.S. "PATUXENT" AND "272" ALONGSIDE H.M.S.
"VICTORIOUS" FOR REPAIRS.]
[Illustration: AMERICAN MINESWEEPER IN THE FLOATING DOCK FOR REPAIRS.]
[Illustration: A DAMAGED BRITISH DESTROYER BEING REPAIRED IN THE DOCK.]
[Illustration: S.S. "BORODINO" JUNIOR ARMY AND NAVY STORES' STORE-SHIP
WITH THE GRAND FLEET.]
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF SHOP ON S.S. "BORODINO."
(The Junior Army and Navy Stores was one of the most popular
"institutions" at Scapa, and from 1914 to 1919 it was the great
shopping centre of the Fleet. Almost every variety of article was
stocked, from "an elephant to a shirt button," and in addition a
hairdressing saloon and a laundry were installed.)]
[Illustration: A CORNER OF AN OFFICER'S CABIN. (An officer's cabin is
his exclusive "sanctum," and in this case the occupant appears to have
been determined to keep in mind "the girls he left behind him!")]
THE LIGHTER SIDE OF LIFE AT SCAPA FLOW
[Illustration: FISHING FOR SEA-TROUT.]
[Illustration: A SHIP'S PICNIC.]
[Illustration: A BATHING PARTY.]
[Illustration: THE NAVAL CEMETERY AT LYNESS.
(The Naval Cemetery at Lyness is situate on some rising ground
overlooking the waters of the Flow. Here lie buried those who died
whilst serving at Scapa, those who fell in the Battle of Jutland,
and those who perished in the "Hampshire," "Vanguard" and other
vessels. Their memory is perpetuated by the memorials which have
been erected by their shipmates, some of which are here shown.)]
[Illustration: THE "HAMPSHIRE" MEMORIAL.]
[Illustration: AN INTERESTING STONE TO THE MEMORY OF A CHINAMAN WHO
DIED AT SCAPA.]
[Illustration: THE "MALAYA" MEMORIAL.]
[Illustration: THE "VANGUARD" MEMORIAL.]
[Illustration: MAKING FOR HOME. (H.M.S. "Victorious" in the Irish Sea
on the way to Devonport, March, 1920.)]