On the night of Friday 13th October 1939 German U Boat Commander Gunther Prien penetrated the British Navy’s main anchorage at Scapa Flow and sank HMS Royal Oak. 833 men lost their lives in one of the worst tragedies in British Naval history.
The wreck of HMS 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.
This 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 down by her grandson, Christopher Kilford, and placed in the wreck to reunite the couple once again. The finale is the unfurling of a battle ensign on the upturned hull by a Royal Navy diver on the anniversary of her sinking.
The final credits include the names of all those who died in the tragedy. www.hmsroyaloak.co.uk