Jutland to junkyard : the raising of the scuttled German High Seas Fleet from Scapa Flow, the greatest salvage operation of all time

Under the terms of the treaty ending World War I, the German High Seas Fleet was compelled to sail to the Scottish anchorage at Scapa Flow. Before the British could take control of the ships, the German officers scuttled the fleet, sending 16 capital ships and numerous smaller craft to the bottom. From 1924 the German ships were raised and their high-quality metal fittings converted to scrap, in the greatest salvage operation of all time. On June 21, 1919, at Scapa Flow in Orkney, one of the most extraordinary events in naval history occurred. To the astonishment of those who witnessed it, the German High Seas Fleet - one of the most powerful in history - began in unison to sink. By late morning, ten battleships, six battlecrulsers, eight light cruisers and a host of smaller ships lay on the seabed.. "Although at the time the Admiralty stated that salving the ships was an impossibility, from 1924 on, the great battlefleet was, ship by ship, raised and scrapped. Jutland to Junkyard is the story of this, the greatest salvage operation of all time. In 1919 the German High Seas Fleet began in unison to sink in Scapa Flow. Shortly after the Admiralty stated that salving the ships was an impossibility. From 1924, using techniques at the frontiers of science, the battlefleet was raised and scrapped. This is the story of the salvage operation.