The Most Impossible U-Boat Target of WW2

During the early days of World War 2, the Kriegsmarine sent their U-47 Type VIIB submarine on a one-way mission that was believed to be impossible to achieve.

Led by Captain Gunther Prien, the secret operation consisted of infiltrating the Royal Navy’s most important naval base. Scapa Flow was located in the Orkney Islands in Scotland, and the objective was to do as much damage as possible to the British fleet stationed there.

It was a crazy mission, and even the toughest of sailors doubted that it could be done.

Nevertheless, one cold morning in October of 1939, Captain Prien and his crew set course for Scapa Flow to prove that the Royal Navy was not invincible and that they weren’t afraid of it…

[kengoold]

hey mate, as an ex Australian Airforce person, with a dad that served in the Australian navy in WW2, on a mine sweeper hunting japanese submarines off the Australian east coast, as a radio operator in the bombing of Darwin, I love you're work. awesome mate. History really is war, sad but true. These dark days should never be forgotten. Love your work.

[sudzonicful]

I'm an orkney native, the story of that tragic night is interwoven in to our history. It's still felt here today.

[fembotheather]

Always feel a sense of regret that such talented and dedicated people didn't have an opportunity to devote their strengths to a peaceful world.

[joncashiv]

"The die was cast"....I can only watch Dark Docs, Skies, Tech, Footage, Seas & Dark5 now....the Narration just keeps me so intrigued like no other....Please keep up your incredible work Mr. Dark, and Thank You

[southerneruk]

Biggest lost of Naval Cadets (under 18 years olds, many were 15 and 16 years of age) It was after the sinking of the Royal Oak that Churchill raise the age for any new person joining, it was too late for those who were under 18 years of age in the Royal Navy and were at sea, My dad was 15 and in the Navy in 39 he had friends that was on the Oak few manage to get ashore and few went down with the ship, Dad was put on a Corvette in June that year and was at sea when it happens, his starting rank was Ship strapper (rigger)
BTW the Royal Oak was at anchor, when she was targetted.

[robertwaid]

The attack on Scape Flow, was one Helluva, daring raid by Gunther Prein.

[mattblom]

Drachinfel's great uncle was on board Royal Oak. It helped inspire him to become a naval historian.

[MartyInLa]

A great piece of history. It's too bad he didn't go into more detail about what Prien had to do to sneak the U-Boat into the harbor, and out.

[jt]

The footage of the ship sinking shows the British skill at camouflage. They made a battleship look like an oil tanker!.

[markfryer]

I have read a blow by blow account of the attack on Scapa Flow by U-47 and it truly is nail biting stuff. The sneaking in via a poorly blockaded channel past the rusting hulks of the block ships and their mooring cables, fighting the current and the close confines, leaves one in a cold sweat. Once inside Scapa Flow and the heart stopping moment that a car's headlights reach out over the water towards U-47 for a brief moment, is then crushed by the realisation that the anchorage was essentially empty. The Royal Navy had decided to disperse from Scapa Flow just after the last Luftwaffe reconnaissance flight had been overhead, so there was no way of knowing that the anchorage was almost empty. Then came the attack on Royal Oak and the first salvo of torpedoes had missed or failed to work. Prien pulled away and motored into another arm of the Flow while his crew reloaded with fresh torpedoes. I can't recall if they modified the firing mechanism or not, but every Navy except for the Japanese was to have reliability issues with their torpedoes at the start of their involvement in the war.
Prien returned to the Royal Oak and fired another salvo and this time two of the torpedoes worked when they struck the Royal Oak and tore a great big hole in her side. Explosions and fire ensued before she turned over and sank with great loss of life. The U-47 then proceeded to make it's escape via the way it had entered and again just managed to scrape past the blockships and out into open water. She quickly made her way back to Germany for a heroes reception for Prien and the entire crew. Meanwhile Britain was mourning the loss of the Royal Oak and the 800 men and boys aboard her when she sank.

[michaelphelan]

I thought Klink was in the Luftwaffe ;)

[willlauzon]

Apperently Prien wasn't picked for his skill, he was picked for his attitude. Donitz had only one candidate in mind for his selection and it was this dude. And he DID it

[lordgarion]

People never seem to realize, that something doesn't need to be invincible, and you don't need to be scared of it, for it to kick your ass.

[danescottstephens]

As God is my witness, I could have sworn that Colonel Klink ran a prison camp during WWII...

[stuart]

If only Colonel Klink was head of the U-Boat training school from the start.

[jusdafax]

Most of the times that they talked about the commander of the uboat, they showed pictures of someone who looks suspiciously like Werner Klemperer, who played the German POW commander in the sitcom Hogan's Heroes. Whenever they show pictures of what they claimed was the British fleet in Scapa Flow, the pictures were actually of mothballed liberty ships in the United States. The narrative was quite interesting, but I wish that they would use pictures that were more accurate.

[austinhorton]

I’m currently in Orkney right now on vacation. You can still see several sunken merchant marine ships sticking out of the water that they used to block the entrance along with a massive sea barrier. Incredible sight.

[EEnnisjr]

That had to be Col. Klink in this clip. He looked 100% likes him, so obviously Klink.

[mikeholton]

politics aside looking at just the skillset, the Kriegsmarine had several sub commanders that were as skilled as any that ever pulled the plug, virtually all of them were eventually killed in action as sub hunting technology outstripped the U Boat's advancement's in evasion technology. nice video.

[tontoschwartz]

These are some very excellent episodes. Thank you so much for them.