The best ships of the High Seas Fleet were interned at the British naval anchorage of Scapa Flow in the Orkneys, Scotland in 1919. While the fate of these ships were being argued by the Allies, the German sailors led by Admiral Ludwig von Reuter took matters in their own hands and scuttled the fleet on June 21, 1919.
Imperial German Ships at Scapa Flow 1919 |
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| Ship | Type | Year Launched | Fate, June 21, 1919 | Ultimate Fate |
| Baden | BB | 1915 | Beached | Sunk as target 8/16/21 |
| Bayern | BB | 1915 | Sunk | Salved 1933 |
| Bremse | Minelaying CL | 1916 | Sunk | Salved 1929 |
| Brummer | Minelaying CL | 1915 | Sunk | Unsalvaged |
| Coln | CL | 1916 | Sunk | Unsalvaged |
| Derfflinger | CB | 1913 | Sunk | Salvaged 1939 |
| Dresden | CL | 1917 | Sunk | Unsalvaged |
| Emden | CL | 1916 | Beached | Scrapped 1926 |
| Frankfurt | CL | 1915 | Beached | Sunk as target 7/18/21 |
| Friedrich der Grosse | BB | 1911 | Sunk | Salvaged 1937 |
| Grosser Kurfurst | BB | 1913 | Sunk | Salvaged 1933 |
| Hindenburg | CB | 1915 | Sunk | Salvaged 1930 |
| Kaiser | BB | 1911 | Sunk | Salvaged 1929 |
| Kaiserin | BB | 1909 | Sunk | Salvaged 1936 |
| Karlsruhe | CL | 1916 | Sunk | Unsalvaged |
| Konig | BB | 1913 | Sunk | Unsalvaged |
| Konig Albert | BB | 1912 | Sunk | Salvaged 1935 |
| Kronprinz Wilhelm | BB | 1914 | Sunk | Unsalvaged |
| Markgraf | BB | 1913 | Sunk | Unsalvaged |
| Moltke | CB | 1910 | Sunk | Salvaged 1927 |
| Nurnberg | CL | 1916 | Beached | Sunk as target 7/7/22 |
| Prinzregent Luitpold | BB | 1912 | Sunk | Salvaged 1931 |
| Seydlitz | CB | 1912 | Sunk | Salvaged 1929 |
| Von der Tann | CB | 1909 | Sunk | Salvaged 1930 |
BB=battleships, CB=battlecruisers, CL=light cruisers
Destroyers (50): G38, G40, G86, V129, S32, G101, G102, G103, V100, B109, B110, B111, B112, G104, S53, S54, S55, G91, V70, V73, V81, V82, V43, V44 ,V45, V46, S49, S50, V125, V126, V127, V128, S131, S132, S56, S65, V78, V83, G92, S136, S137, S138, H145, G89, S36, S51, S52, S60, V80, G39.
32 of the 50 destroyers were sunk on June 21, 1919. The other 18 were beached and later broken up or expended as targets. All of the destroyers sunk at Scapa Flow were later salvaged.
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906-1921. (1985). Conway Maritime Press: London.
van der Vat, Dan (1982). The Grand Scuttle: The Sinking of the German Fleet at Scapa Flow in 1919. Hodder and Stoughton: London.
The Imperial German Naval Ensign provided courtesy of Carsten Linke (1996) c/o Flags of the World website. I recommend checking it out.
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