Scapa Flow: The mission that shocked the world
In 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany after the unjustified invasion of Poland. From September 1939 until March 1940, it was known as the phony war. For eight months their was no further invasion or gains by the Nazis after poland so one might be suprised to learn that in October 1939 u-boat commander Gunter Prien is sailing out of the docks from Germany on a top Secret mission to penetrate and enter Scapa Flow and sink the British Home Fleet. Both the German and British public would feel the outcome of this mission. It’s important to let you, the reader, know that under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was to hand over all their top secret information and not possess Submarines. This was because of Germany's use of unrestricted U-boat warfare during the First World War and the Lusitania incident, which saw an ocean liner ship be struck by a German submarine, something that would rear its ugly head again during World War 2. However, Germany throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s would secretly work on submarines and new torpedo designs, and in 1935, the Anglo-Saxon naval treaty was signed that permitted Germany's navy to be ¼ the size of the British navy. This would come back to bite the British later on during the war.
A portrait of Prien taking from the book
The story of this top-secret mission is told in the book Gunther Prien and U-47 the Bull of Scapa Flow from the sinking of HMS Royal Oak to the Battle of the Atlantic by Dougie Martindale, throughout the 400-plus pages the author recounts all 10 war patrols made by Kapitanleutnant Gunther Prien from the scapa flow mission, to the U-boats failures during the Norway campaign, the infamous night of the long knives, and the final patrol for U-47. The author also writes about and discusses the many controversies and conspiracies surrounding the Scapa Flow mission. Finally, in the last part of the book, the author writes about some of the men involved in the book. My experience reading this book was that it grabbed my attention and kept it the whole time. As someone who is fascinated with German U-boats and the Battle of the Atlantic, naturally, I gravitated to this book. I found it very informative, and the author makes it easy for the reader to understand by explaining what he means when he is using acronyms, and at the end of every patrol chapter, giving a summary that is easy to understand. This book is recommended for anyone who has an interest in gaining more understanding about not only the Scapa Flow mission, but also the man who would go on to become one of the legendary U-boat aces during the Second World War and the role he played in the Battle of the Atlantic. Remember to subscribe for more book reviews, and let me know what you think about the review!
A picture of HMS Royal Oak taking from the book
