Jutland to Junkyard [Paperback]

S. C. George (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2000 | ISBN-10: 1841580015 | ISBN-13: 978-1841580012 | Edition: 3rd

Under the terms of the treaty ending World War I, the German High Seas Fleet was compelled to sail to the Scottish anchorage at Scapa Flow. Before the British could take control of the ships, the German officers scuttled the fleet, sending 16 capital ships and numerous smaller craft to the bottom. This was only the beginning of an incredible maritime story. From 1924 the German ships were raised and their high-quality metal fittings converted to scrap, in the greatest salvage operation of all time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I was deeply moved and full of gratitude to my brave officers and crew who had carried out their orders so brilliantly. All these magnificent battleships and destroyers had gone, sunk, once the pride of the German nation. The German fleet had gone to its grave. - Rear-Admiral Ludwig von Reuter 'Anyone with with an interest in the Scapa Flow story... will find this an excellent read, and those with an engineering mind will find it particularly hard to put down' - New Shetlander --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Birlinn Ltd; 3rd edition (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841580015
• ISBN-13: 978-1841580012
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,263,128 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Lightweight Account of the Greatest Salvage Operation, December 17, 2000

By 

R. A Forczyk (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Jutland to Junkyard (Paperback)

This book is an attempt to chronicle the greatest underwater salvage operation in history, which took place in Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands between 1924 and 1939. In June 1919, the surrendered German High Seas fleet, interned in Scapa Flow, scuttled itself to avoid being handed over to the victorious Allied nations. At the time, it was thought that the ships were lost beyond retrieval.

However a band of intrepid businessmen, engineers and divers decided that the ships could be raised and sold for scrap metal. The initial effort, by Ernest Cox, started by raising the smaller German destroyers from relatively shallow water. The author effectively describes the methods used to winch these light vessels up from the seabed. Yet the best parts of the book focus on the intense efforts to raise the battleships. All but one were lying upside down on the sea floor and they were usually 100-200 feet underwater. Each battleship took about 9-10 months to raise and required the use of tall compression chambers drilled into the overturned hulls.

Although Cox's company lost money on the salvage effort, another company that started in the 1930s was far more successful. This company, Metal Industries, was able to realize a profit of about £50,000 on each battleship it raised. By 1939, a total of 12 battleships, 1 light cruiser and 27 destroyers were raised. Only 3 battleships and 4 light cruisers were left underwater since they were located too deep for economical salvage.

The best value of this book is the large collection of unusual photographs of the raising of the sunken battleships and diagrams on how it was done. However this book has a cursory quality to it and it is quickly apparent to the reader that the author has not expended much effort on research. Most of the research in fact, appears based on contemporary local newspaper accounts. It is also odd that the author devotes two chapters to the coming of the First World War and the Battle of Jutland, yet covers salvage operations since 1939 in only 2 pages! Although the book was written in 1973, the forward to this edition was written in 1999 and yet it fails to mention that steel from the sunken battleships was used on US space probes in the 1970s and 1980s due to its freedom from radiation. The author does briefly mention that since all steel since 1945 has been slightly tainted by radiation, the high quality armor plate from the ships still under water in Scapa Flow possess a unique value but he fails to really address this current value of the salvage operations.

This book is a useful addition for anyone who wants to learn the ultimate fate of the Kaiser's High Seas Fleet or to learn more about underwater salvage. However, as history, this book is a lightweight.

3.0 out of 5 stars For Hochseeflotte buffs only, April 24, 2005

By 

birchden "birchden" (Eastbourne, East Sussex United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: JUTLAND TO JUNKYARD (Paperback)

This is a reprint of a book published in the UK 1973. It is the only one so far published that tells the whole story of the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet from June 1919 to the end of major salvage operations. As such, it is an obvious `must buy' for any student of the High Seas Fleet; it will also be read with interest by anyone who has dived or is planning to dive the remaining wrecks.

However, the book cannot be recommended without reservation. There is a nagging feeling that the author is not always 100% sure of his material. One example of this is a bizarre passage on page 81 where he notes that one of the salvors' wives went up the Hindenburg's mast for a spot of knitting after the `Hindi' was finally refloated. However, a photo shows quite clearly that by this time all masts etc had been cut away. George (or perhaps an editor?) then concedes that the book's German publisher did indeed question this `fact'! Another example can be found on page 100, where there is a description of Metal Industries' oxygen making arrangements that raises more questions than it answers. And one could go on.

Also, disappointingly, the rather plodding text somehow fails to evoke much of the atmosphere of these remarkable salvage operations. Yes, the basic facts are (more or less) there, but the result is not very involving. And while there is a good selection of photos from various phases of the salvage operation, the reproduction is generally mediocre.

One can also question whether it was really worth including the account of the Battle of Jutland at the beginning of the book, which is far too brief to cover this topic adequately and which uncharitable readers might feel was included to pad things out.

On the plus side, however, there are some useful diagrams in the text and a number of interesting appendices giving some statistics of the salvage operation.

So, if you have an interest in the High Seas Fleet, buy this book. But if you are looking for a solid work of maritime history, you could be disappointed.