A tour round Scapa Flow, the largest natural harbour in the Northern hemisphere, give you stunning scenery and stories from Vikings to the Hudson’s Bay Company, to the World Wars of the 20th century.
Scapa Flow
The largest natural harbour in the northern hemisphere and the strategic home of the British Fleet in both World Wars.
The Royal Oak
British battleship sunk in 1939 by daring U boat Captain Gunter Prien in a midnight raid on Scapa Flow. The first major Allied loss of life in the Second World War with over 800 men killed.
The German High Fleet
Over 90 ships were interned in Scapa Flow after the German defeat in World War 1, dramatically scuttled on midsummers day in June 1919. Six battleships still lie on the sea bed and are visited by divers from all over the world.
The Churchill Barriers
Constructed as a result of the loss of the Royal Oak on command of War Minister Winston Churchill to protect the Home Fleet stationed in Scapa Flow. Much of the construction work was completed by Italian POWs.
The Italian Chapel
The Miracle of Camp 60 – Created from concrete and scrap metal, the Italian POWs created a place to worship. Two Nissen huts were lined with plasterboard and creatively converted into a beautiful chapel.
Symbol of Peace
The interior fresco was copied by Domenico Chiochetti from a postcard he had kept throughout the war. He returned many years later to renovate the chapel and a lasting relationship of friendship continues between Orkney and his own community of Moena in Northern Italy.
