Word: scapa
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Famed German subsea minelayer of World War I was U-J5, which sowed the northwest outlet of Scapa Flow. The British knew she was working there and diligently swept up after her. What they did not know was that U-J5's mine-carrying capacity had been increased by 16 over older models. After they had swept up the supposedly correct number (20) of mines, they let their ships go out through the field and one of the extra mines blew up the cruiser Hampshire, with War Secretary Earl Kitchener aboard. Other submarine-mining triumphs of 1914-18 were...
...British warship had, to his knowledge, been sunk by a Nazi bombing plane) was the more impressive when corroborated by no less a warrior than First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. For four weeks an Admiralty commission had chewed its cud over Royal Oak's sinking in Scapa Flow. Last week Churchill stood up, with even more than his usual show of nimble-wittedness, and admitted for himself and the Admiralty that...
...Scapa Flow's defenses were weak when war was declared...
...Undoubtedly, Scapa Flow was not submarine-proof and it would have been submarine-proof, in my opinion-and I am sure it is the opinion of the whole service -if Mr. Churchill had been in office a few months before the war. There would have been no question of any state of unpreparedness in any of our ports...
...World War I, Admiral Jellicoe moved the Fleet from dangerous Scapa Flow to Belfast, Ireland. * Unofficial report is that the Admiralty had warning that some sort of raid was imminent, moved the Fleet out just in time. In his weekend oration (see p. 21), Mr. Churchill declared the Fleet "awaited their attack in the Firth of Forth during the last week...