“The Navy has suffered a great loss of life in these first two months of war than all the other forces, French and British, on Land and Sea combined. ” – First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill.
On 14 October 1939, HMS Royal Oak was sunk by U-47 whilst anchored in Scapa Flow, Orkney.
Of Royal Oak‘s complement of 1,234 men and boys, 835 were killed that night or died later of their wounds.
HMS Royal Oak, a Revenge-class warship was built for the Royal Navy during World War 1, and saw action at The Battle of Jutland. It was extensively refitted in the 1920’s and then again in the 1930s. As an ageing warship she was in Scapa Flow to serve as extra defences for Kirkwall. Scapa Flow was an important base for the Royal Navy and Orkney of strategic military importance.
U-47 successfully manoeuvred its way through the Scapa Flow defences to torpedo the Royal Oak. This led to moves to build the Churchill Barriers. The deaths of 134 Boy Seamen is the largest ever such recorded loss for the Royal Navy.
At the start of World War 2 just under 5,000 Boys were serving in the Royal Navy at sea. This was seen as an essential part of their training. In future parental consent would be obtained in exceptional circumstances where Boys under 17 might receive training as sea – announced by Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty and reported in The Liverpool Evening Express, 25 October 1939.
Newspapers across Britain posted stories about those who had lost their lives and the tales of survivors. Families were plagued by reporters wanting more details about their loved ones – alive or dead.
One survivor was Corporal John Payton, 22, a Marine who joined the service aged 17. Reporters turned up at his parents’ home at Ash Road, Saltley, Birmingham, asking for details about him. His mother only received a telegram the day after the disaster that he was alive. It would be many days after that families would learn if their husband, father, brother had survived.
First Lord of the Admiralty, William Churchill, announced a speedy enquiry into the loss of the Royal Oak. In Germany the sinking of the vessel within the protected waters of Scapa Flow was hailed a great achievement.
In his statement to the House of Commons following the results of the enquiry, Winston Churchill said that neither the physical obstructions nor the patrol boats were sufficient to make anchorage in Scapa Flow proof against U-Boat attack. He said that none of the officers on board the Royal Oak at the time could conceive of the first explosion being caused by a U-Boat torpedo and assumed it was an air attack. Large numbers of men were sent to armoured air defence stations. He told the House that the Admiralty was resolved to learn a bitter lesson in taking for granted that Scapa Flow was a secure and safe anchorage.
Fiona Grahame