HMS Royal Oak
This video was made by Peter Rowlands, who is the only civilian diver that has been allowed to film on this tragic war grave.
On the night of Friday 13th oct 1939 the German U boat Commander Gunter Prien penetrated the British Navy's main anchorage at Scapa Flow and sank H.M.S. Royal Oak. 833 men lost their lives in one of the worst tragedies in British Naval History.
The wreck of the Royal Oak is a designated war grave and all diving is prohibited. But a special permission was granted by the Ministry of Defence and the Royal Navy for the wreck to be filmed as a moving tribute to all those who lost their lives.
The video includes underwater images of the wreck which have never been seen before and there are interviews with survivors, and Orcadian Sandy Robertson, who was the first diver to go on the wreck the day after she sank.
Also included is coverage of another unique event when the ashes of Dorothy Golding ,wife of Bandsman Arthur Golding, who went down with the ship, were taken by her grandson and placed in the wreck to at last reunite the couple.
The finale is the unfurling of a battle ensign by a Royal navy diver on the upturned hull on the anniversary of her sinking.
H.M.S. Royal Oak DVD price £19.45 including postage
You can buy this DVD online using PayPal
Or you can send a cheque to:
P.Mitchell, 5 Western College Road, Plymouth, Devon. PL4 7AG
You can email enquiries to peter@submerged.co.uk
Hello did any one went and looked at the wreck site of this ship do you photo of the wrecksite.
I read a very good Pdf-document about Royal Oak, written by Peter Rowlands. Just one little detail that disturbed me somewhat. Peter Rowlands writes this about Roayal Oak:
“She was fitted with an awesome array of firepower starting
with eight 15″ guns – the largest guns ever fitted on a British Naval vessel.”
Well that is not exactly the truth. The Nelson class battleships mounted 16″ and the Furious 18″.
a sad but true story when i was ayoung boy we had two young
sailers staying with us that were on board HMS ROYAL OAK
my poor mother was verry upset at the news of the sinking
but the strange thing was on the monday morning she
receved a letter from the ship with acouple of hat bands
a photo of the lads and a letter saying what a wonderfull
time they were haveing sad/
Able Seaman ‘ Edward Ralf Britt ‘
Passed away 23rd December 1985 .
He was the youngest survivor of the Royal Oak disaster and my father .
@Claes Lundqvist
Ummm Excuse me but 18″ guns on the Furious?
I thought HMS Furious was an aircraft carrier and the only 18″ guns I had heard of were on those Japanese battleships Yamato and Musashi (sp?).
Might you be thinking of a ship that was planned but never built? I would very much like to read up on that ship.
Thank you, Michael
my grandad served on the royal oak when she went down he did sevive but 835 of his mates did not i wounderd if any one remembers there relatives mention his name he was able seaman joseph figg
i was named after fredd connor my dads brother who died on the royal oak he was a petty officer / stoker RIP FREDD