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In this tense atmosphere, the German fleet moved slowly at a speed of 10 knots.

The British were impatient with this and asked the German fleet to increase its speed to 12 knots.

But both sides soon found out that due to the low quality of the German sailors, the speed of 12 knots would lead to confusion in the formation.

Even if the speed was increased to 11 knots, it would not be possible.

In the end, the British could only be patient and accompanied the German fleet to the Scottish Forth Bay on the 20th. Here Rutte receives a telegram from Betty:

"After sunset at 4 p.m. today, the flag of the German Navy will be lowered. It must not be re-raised without permission. ”

At the beginning of the exotic journey, the Germans thought that they had come to England to fulfill the terms of the Armistice Agreement concerning the disarmament of the German fleet.

Once the British confirmed that the German ships were incapacitated, the High Seas Fleet could go to some neutral port.

However, when the fleet arrived at the Bay of Forth, the British were not long in reply:

The final destination of the High Seas Fleet was not the port of a neutral country, but Scapa Gulf, further north.

Rout was taken aback by this and immediately protested, claiming:

"This is contrary to the clause of the Armistice Agreement that 'neutral ports are the first option.'"

And the British argued:

"Since no neutral nation was willing to accept the German fleet, they could only be detained in England."

Indeed, now even the blind can see that Germany's defeat is a foregone conclusion, and of course no one will blame the Entente bloc that has just won the victory for the sake of this loser.

For this reason, the Germans now have nothing to do but feel deceived.

Starting on the 21st, the High Seas Fleet was launched in phases and batches. The destroyer set off first.

Large battleships followed. Each German warship was monitored by a British warship of the same type to ensure a smooth journey.

By the 27th, Root's fleet had all reached Scapa Bay, the northernmost point of Scotland.

At the same time, warships that remained on the extradition list and remained on the German mainland were also heading directly to Scapa Bay.

The "King", which had repaired its malfunction, arrived here on December 6.

A month later, the battleship "Baden", which replaced the "Mackensen", also arrived.

Even the destroyer V30, which sank halfway, found a replacement, V129.

At this point, a total of 74 German warships were anchored in Scapa Bay, and the High Seas Fleet completed their assembly.

When the Germans initially decided to hand over the fleet, they were optimistic.

Since the Armistice Agreement is only valid for 36 days, it is widely believed that a final peace treaty will be signed around Christmas.

But as the German fleet was brought to Scarpa Bay, the mood gradually declined.

Scapa Bay has a cold climate and monotonous scenery. And the attitude of the British towards the Germans, of course, could not have been very good.

German warships were required to anchor in the open waters of the bay, and sailors were not allowed to go ashore or even lower their boats without permission.

These bans deeply inconvenienced the Germans. German warships were designed to fight against the powerful British Navy in the North Sea, so they always emphasized the survivability of the ships and ignored the comfort of the ship's habitation, especially not suitable for long-term voyages.

In fact, German sailors lived ashore in peacetime, going to sea by boat only during combat and, if necessary, staying on board for a short period of time.

Now they have to live on a warship for a long time, which, of course, will not be pleasant.

The British, on the other hand, looked at it coldly and gloated.

The British also insisted that the German government was responsible for all the provisions needed for the high seas fleet, and that Britain was not responsible for feeding these people.

After the Germans had supplied them with supply ships, these ships were responsible for bringing the surplus sailors back to Germany.

The policy of the British was to keep only 200 men on each large battleship; Only 80 people were needed on the cruiser;

The destroyer had only 12 to 20 men, who were only responsible for the basic maintenance of the ship.

Then there was no need to worry about the threat of the German fleet - they could not even escape!

As the victorious Allies quarreled at the Paris Peace Conference, the Armistice was repeatedly extended.

The High Seas Fleet had to remain stranded in Scapa Bay from winter to summer.

The mood of the German sailors became increasingly irritable, and although many had been repatriated, thousands remained to look after the huge fleet.

Many of them were revolutionaries, which made Rout fear for his safety.

Eventually, he moved away from the battleship "Frederick the Great", the flagship of the High Seas Fleet, and transferred to the light cruiser "Emden".

It's easy to see why:

The large warships had the most revolutionary sentiment because of the large number of sailors, and the warships repeatedly slipped to the brink of mutiny;

On small and medium-sized warships, because the officers and men have a relatively close relationship and the attitude of the sailors is relatively mild, they are more "safe."

However, when both the revolutionaries and the establishment learned of the severe restrictions imposed on the German navy by the proposed Treaty of Versailles, the internal contradictions immediately dissipated and turned to the outside world.

Under this treaty, the German Navy was to retain only six old dreadnoughts, with a total number of no more than 15,000 officers and men.

This meant that the German capital ships currently being seized in Scapa Bay would not be able to return to their homeland.

At the moment, the Entente countries are still quarreling with each other over the fate of these warships. France and Italy insisted on a piece of the pie, while Britain certainly wanted to keep it for itself.

If this is not possible, then it is preferred to destroy these warships. Regardless of the outcome, the officers and men of the High Seas Fleet – driven by the sense of military honor – were reluctant to hand over their ships.

Since there were no shells to fight, it was impossible to escape with a warship.

Self-scuttling of warships was the only acceptable option, and as soon as the draft peace treaty was revealed in early May, the Germans began to prepare for it.

As early as their arrival in Scapa Bay, the British had already carried out a close inspection of each German warship to prevent the latter from hiding weapons.

Not even light weapons, and certainly not for the Germans to keep explosives.

In addition, the Germans were also forbidden to use radio to communicate with the outside world.

Therefore, they can't get local aid, so they can only rely on themselves.

The only thing the Germans were fortunate enough was that the British were not entitled to stay on German warships for long periods of time, as they were held hostages and not prisoners of war.

This gave the Germans full freedom to sabotage their own warships.

By the end of May, the Germans had completed all preparations.

But when to do it is still a big question, and Scarpa Bay is remote and uninformed.

Root, too, had no access to the mainland by radio, and his main sources of information were British newspapers, though they were all old from a few days ago.

In early June, the Germans learned from the newspapers that the German government had already rejected the draft treaty on May 29.

This meant that peace talks might be about to break down, and in order to prevent the warships from falling into the hands of the enemy, Rout informed the captains of the ships to be ready to scuttle the warships at any time.

If the British forced their way onto the ship, they did not even have to wait for his orders, but acted immediately.

Fortunately, this did not happen, and on the 20th, Root learned from a copy of the Times four days earlier that the Entente had given an ultimatum if the German government still refused to accept the Treaty of Versailles.

As of the 21st, the Armistice Agreement will be abrogated. The Entente was to return hostilities with Germany.

It was this news that made Root make the final decision to prepare for the shipwreck.

In fact, on the very day of the 20th, the German parliament had voted to accept the humiliating Treaty of Versailles.

At 10 a.m. on June 21, 1919, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Rütte, dressed in full naval uniform, boarded the bridge of the "Emden".

His staff officers came at this time to report to him:

"The British fleet had gone to sea for exercises that morning. Only one destroyer remained in the harbor as a guard. ”

Unable to believe his good fortune, Root ordered two signal flags marked "D" and "G" to be hung on the mast of the "Emden".

It means "Attention of all ships, ready to receive further orders." Half an hour later, Rout ordered a new signal to be sent "Confirmation: Act 11."

In his famous epic opera The Ring of the Nibelungen, Wagner uses Act 11 as the final chapter of the whole story, "Twilight of the Gods".

Since the "Emden" was moored at the northernmost part of the fleet, only a few German warships received this signal.

They then relayed the signal to their friendly neighbors to the south, and in this way, within an hour, the entire fleet had received the order.

German officers and men raised the flag of the German Navy, which was forbidden to be hoisted, and at the same time opened the ship's sea valve.

At 12:16, the flag-flying flagship of the High Seas Fleet, Frederick the Great, sank first, and other ships followed suit.

When the British who remained in the harbor discovered the Germans' move, they immediately notified the fleet that had gone out to sea for exercises, and at the same time gathered soldiers to forcibly board the German warship in an attempt to stop the Germans.

The Germans had been prepared for this, and on all warships, the control mechanisms of the sea-opening valves and underwater torpedo tubes were destroyed.

The watertight hatches between the cabins were all opened, and the handles of some watertight doors were still tightly connected to the bulkheads by wires wrapped around them, making it impossible to close the hatches in a short period of time.

On board the "King", the British shot eight officers and men, including the captain. But the seriously injured engineer was able to complete the task of releasing the water.

The only recourse for the British was to drag the German ship to run aground before it sank.

But the tugboat is limited, and it can only be counted on the early return of its own warship. By the time the British fleet finally returned to base at two o'clock in the afternoon, it was already over.

In the end, 5 battleships, including 10 battlecruisers and 52 battleships, sank into the sea.

Only one battleship and part of the light ships ran aground, and just like that, the High Seas Fleet, with its tragic self-sinking, followed its empire.

From this time on, a new slogan began to circulate among the officers and men of the German Navy: "Don't complain, try again." ”

Many people do not understand why the Germans chose such an extreme way to end it, since they have been defeated, there is nothing to lose in surrendering.

But it's not that simple.

Unlike the army, the navy is an aristocratic arm that requires a lot of money to build, and so far only a few countries have been able to maintain a large fleet.

But once the country is defeated, what will happen to the navy, which had spent so much money in the past?

Surrender obediently to the enemy, and then give the expensive warship to the enemy?

Or fight to the death and break the net?

Neither! It can only sink itself.

It's like a project you've worked so hard to make, and the result is to be handed over to the enemy, who would want to?

Historically, both the Qing and German navies have experienced the humiliation of defeat, and both have a sizable fleet.

First, let's look at Germany's High Seas Fleet, a maritime force that had plagued the British Navy until the end of World War I.

As a traditional maritime power, Britain's basic idea has always been to ensure the absolute superiority of its navy over the European continent, and Germany has broken this situation.

By the time the throne of the Second German Empire passed to Wilhelm II, Germany's military, industrial, and economic indicators had far surpassed France's, and the British were keenly aware that Germany was likely to break the balance of power on the European continent.

And it was at this time that the self-righteous Wilhelm II drove out Bismarck and tried to fully realize the rise of Germany on land and at sea, and so the arms race between Britain and Germany began.

With its strong economic strength, Germany spared no expense in building a high seas fleet.

By the time World War I broke out, its capital ships had three-quarters of the guns of the Royal Navy.

It can be said that Germany is capable of rivaling any world power at sea except for Britain, and this is what makes the British angry.

After the outbreak of the First World War, Britain and Germany were fighting to the death at sea, but unfortunately just when they were inseparable at sea, news came from land: Germany was defeated.

As years of positional warfare had brought down the economy of the German rear, and the entry of the ugly country into the war had instantly changed the balance of power, the overwhelmed Germany declared its surrender.

At this time, a huge German fleet of 11 battleships, 8 cruisers, 5 battlecruisers and 50 destroyers was also among the surrenders, would they be willing to give up the efforts of generations of Germans?

Of course not!

After all, the land has surrendered, and no matter how strong the fleet is, it is impossible to never dock.

After much thought, the commander-in-chief of the fleet, Admiral von Reut, decided that the fleet would be buried at the bottom of the sea, which was also the best way to do it.

Since then, the pride of the Germans has ceased to exist.

Due to the large number of sunken ships, a good habitat for fish was formed on the seabed, and many warships were later salvaged and put ashore for display, and Scapa Bay has also become an adventure site for many diving enthusiasts.

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