20240624 Monday

Now we go to the islands in the north of Scotland where no sane person visits. But D wants to see them, so we will put aside the sanity and have at it.

Stornoway is first. We've elected a ship's tour of Great Bernard, whatever that is. Description follows…..

Today it's Krikwall in the Orkney islands. We'll be going on the South Isles Panoramic Drive, during which we'll see the famous Scapa Flow anchorage the British used time and again as a fleet anchorage. Part of the British fleet that battled at Jutland sailed from Scapa Flow.

At the end of WW1, many German ships and submarines surrendered here, then scuttled their ships to prevent the English taking them. Many of these have been salvaged but a number are still on the bottom.

Despite all the defenses set up here after WW1 and prior to WW2, Gunther Prien drove his U-Boat into it, sank a large ship, and got back out. Hitler gave him an award for the feat.