U-47 Strikes Britain: The Raid on Scapa Flow and the Sinking of HMS Royal Oak, 1939

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In 1939, German U-boat U-47, under the command of Günther Prien, embarked on a daring mission that would become legendary. Tasked with infiltrating the heavily guarded British naval base at Scapa Flow, the stealthy submarine's mission would not just be a tactical victory, but would prove to Germany that it had to significantly expand its submarine program...
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🧾 Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
📚 Sources:
Written by House of History
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🖼 Photos, paintings and imagery: Public Domain, Wikicommons
🧾Machinima: Total War, Creative Assembly
#HouseofHistory #History

[@HoH]

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[@doncao6838]

I never miss a video Thank you for making these videos, I like historians and I also like this type of animation.

[@englishgoordie]

In the early 90s I worked on a ship called the Hebridean Princess , we were visiting the the site of the final resting place of the Royal Oak . I came across one of our passengers standing alone looking upset/distressed so I approached him and asked if he was alright. He was a elderly gentleman who thanked me for my concern, turns out he was a member of the crew onboard U-47 and had come on that particular cruise to pay his respects to the crew of the Royal Oak . We ended up talking for quite some time about his experiences during the war including how he had been transferred in 1940 to a different U-boat then captured after that vessel was damaged and the crew abandoned ship, he spent the rest of the war as a pow . He didn’t know that U-47 had been lost along with all his old crew mates until after the war.

[@joshuariddensdale2126]

The Scapa Flow raid was recreated in both Silent Hunter 2 and 3. But a fact some people may not know is that Prien's XO, Engelbert Endrass, later became one of the highest scoring Uboat captains himself.

[@SHR2002]

My great-uncle, Rear Admiral Evelyn Blagrove, died on Royal Oak so this documentary touched me. Thank you.

[@seanp9277]

Secrecy was so important that Dornitz did not inform the surface fleet of the mission and the result was that the Home Fleet was lured away. U-47 might have sunk or damaged several capitol ships if the surface fleet had stayed home.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Actually, Admiral Forbes had dispersed his fleet to other ports, principally Loch Ewe, because of intelligence that an air raid on Scapa Flow was imminent. HMS Royal Oak remained behind because of superficial damage caused by a storm which had washed away many of her Carley Floats, and because her AA armament was considered a useful addition to Scapa's defences.

[@nirfz]

Or they would have gotten detected and sunk without doing any/much damage. As far as i read they had to enter and exit above water especially because of the currents situation... And in the article it was also stated that in WW1 two german submarines were sunk in a similar attempt. (for this reason and that it was more heavily defended)

[@user-vo8ss2bm3p]

They failed to sink two out of two and had two misses in the first salvo at stationery targets. And they had up to 14 torpedoes only. No way they would be able to sink "several" ships.

[@seanp9277]

​@@user-vo8ss2bm3p In a crowded anchorage if the target is missed there is a good chance of the torpedo hitting another ship.

[@seanp9277]

@@dovetonsturdee7033 I heard there was a Luftwaffe component to the naval sortie.

[@HerrLindstrom]

Everyone who owns Silent Hunter 3 and has started a campaign from the war's start has done this or at least attempted it. On my way out I almost got sunk by an anti sub net and had to surface just before dawn as there were destroyer patrols out an about. I sunk a heavy cruiser and light cruiser at scapa. Idk how i made it out of there and back to port 😅

[@Martin77641]

Yeah see videos of silent hunter and there were so much named big ships. I watched from one that played the game and in scapa flow was Hood and Nelson/Rodney. Don't know which was it from the last 2.

[@tacticalcalebgaming7264]

Well speaking of that you can do that in Silent hunter 5

[@HerrLindstrom]

@@tacticalcalebgaming7264 yes but not in a Type VIIB. In SH 5 u can only sail in one particular the type VIIC. SH3 you can be in a Type IIa, IIB, VIIB, VIIC, IX and the XXI. Imo SH3 is the superior game to SH5

[@cpj93070]

I have done exactly that but with Silent Hunter 5 and the wolfs of steel mod spanning the whole length of the war from August 31st 1939 to May 8th 1945 it literally took me a couple of months to complete but survived the whole war.

[@tacticalcalebgaming7264]

@@HerrLindstrom yes I know but you are not wrong because I do remember correctly it is very fun but I couldn’t figure it out how to mod a silent hunter 3

[@user-pu8uh4mw8z]

Got to give him credit. Audacious and brave, and that's from a Brit.

[@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire]

It was incredible seamanship

[@BIBIWCICC]

A truly incredible attack, one thing wrong though, the captain of the Royal Oak abandoned ship within second of the attack and tried to swim ashore. A boat launched from the stricken ship was launched and brought him back onboard under force, he was made to stay until she started to sink. The propaganda of the day said he was there onboard throughout.

[@nonbigbrain9662]

Great video! Imagine how terrifying it would have been to be woken up by a large bang and then getting trapped within a ship

[@CaptainSeato]

RN: "KMS, you may not have greater naval tonnage than us." Donitz: "So if I reduce YOUR tonnage, we're good..."

[@arnonym5430]

If GB was defeated in 1940-41, it would of allowed the Wehrmacht to field 6000 extra tanks on the russian front, plus the additional fuel not being consumed by the Kriegsmarine anymore, adding some more thousands of tons of diesel

[@IberisStukov]

uhh don't think the the type VII was produced from 1936-1440, none the less good video

[@cynwraeth1943]

Didn't you know Da Vinci sketched it?

[@HoH]

My mistake - slight typo. Should obviously be 1944.

[@arnonym5430]

Well there was different version s of the Type VII, U47 was a VII B, as well as U99 and some others, the most numerous was the VII C, followed by the VII C/41 from July 1943-to early 1945. The last version had no deck gun anymore, instead a lenghtened aft part of the conning tower for more AA guns as well a thicker pressure hull, which allowed to reach depths up to shy of 300 meters

[@cynwraeth1943]

@@arnonym5430 /woooosh

[@IberisStukov]

@@HoH No worries

[@choysakanto6792]

"Young boy seamen" 💀

[@F.R.E.D.D2986]

Get your head out the gutter

[@AnthonyOMulligan-yv9cg]

Seamen filled submarines

[@hohenstaufen.1010]

1000 years Ruhm und Ehre for Gunter Prien. Ruhe im Frieden kameraad.

[@magellantv]

This was such a fascinating video, thank you!

[@HoH]

Great to have worked with you guys - love your documentaries!

[@magellantv]

@@HoH Thank you, we feel the same!

[@billb207]

Great video! A couple of points: 1) It was on 13th October that U-47 crossed the North Sea, the attack occurring after 1am on the 14th. 2) The death toll on Royal Oak has varied over the years due to uncertainties, but now stands at 835, up from the 833 which had been the official figure for some time. It was accepted by the Royal Oak Association.

[@Red-rl1xx]

I've got a model of the U47. It's a cutaway model, meaning one side is open so you can see the interior compartments. It's one of my favorites in my collection.

[@arnonym5430]

Models who show a ships or tanks interior are also more fun to assemble and paint, after 3 or so tank models of mine i was already better at it than many colleagues who were building them for years.

[@KHK001]

Amazing video as always!

[@nirfz]

As you now have gone more into naval history, i think the story (or parts of it) of U27 of the K.u.K austro hungarian navy in WW1 could be "fun" for a video. Sadly there is not much out there in form of information, i have only found one short book in german about it. But the part where they sailed to damascus (and how) is something i hadn't heard or expected for example.

[@user-un6mp8jn9p]

You Guys do a great job!! Impressive, thanks!!

[@user-vc9bf6on7q]

My late Father-in-Law was an Education Officer aboard HMS Royal Oak. He survived only because at the time of the sinking he had been called to a meeting ashore.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Never miss a video! You're the Best house of history❤❤❤😊❤😊😊

[@HoH]

Appreciate it!

[@simsch97]

You got one fact wrong in the animation. U-47 didn't return to Kiel directly after Scapa Flow. They ended the mission in Wilhelmshaven. Only 6 days later they moved back to Kiel.

[@Martin_Swe]

Great video! It would be interesting to see some of the battles and operations from the Rhodesian Bushwar on the channel. Cheers!

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Another wonderful historical coverage video was shared by an amazing ( house of history) channel... video about German submarine U-47 ...striking Britain during WW2

[@brokenbridge6316]

Nicely done video

[@evanneal4936]

Just so everyone knows...it wasn't submarines that caused the US to join ww1. It was the fact that they gave France and Britain a lot of money and military equipment they couldn't get back unless they joined to ensure entente victory... the lusitania and all other ships the u boats sunk were fair game and legal targets since they were carrying military equipment and soldiers on board. The lusitania had u.s. citizens on it on purpose to try to get around the rules, allowing them to transfer fair targets without being attacked. It was a tactic and strategy. Or it was staged, possibly even as a false flag operation, to get the US directly involved deliberately. Im a historian, too, so this is not just my opinion. it's fact, backed up by sources. Just nobody is supposed to talk about it because anything making the usa and Britain look bad is usually covered up and censored. Especially by popular media. Its the same in ww2. All targets were legal and rules followed, but Britain tried to bend the rules deliberately and made it look like Germanys fault deliberately for propaganda.

[@erkutkoksal1913]

Perfectly noted

[@ferdaygaming4295]

Looks like history Will repeat it soon if regional war in Middle east getting more hotter than already is.

[@henryopitz3254]

Great video! Would love to see more of german submarine warfare!

[@rickwilliams3629]

I greatly enjoy your work! Please consider producing a video of the Luftwaffe raid on the port of Bari Italy. I think you will do it justice and I don't believe any other channel has touched this raid.

[@HoH]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@richardstone5552]

Thanks

[@DonWan47]

Great video

[@nontasxen6556]

We have to admit that Prien was a capable and brave U-commander

[@jiyuhong5853]

If that lighthouse had been slightly more alert this never would have happened. Hell Below Killer Strike covers this as well

[@LAH92]

11:49 - I never realised until now, Denmark outline is shaped like a man with a bag on, with his right hand slightly held out. Surely i'm not the only one seeing this!?

[@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire]

The officer of the watch when the Royal Oak was a Royal Marine - Lieutenant Vincent Jeffries. He was blown overboard, went on to become a Commando, served in 47 Commando and fought at Port-En-Bassin on D-Day and later in the Netherlands where he was awarded an American Distinguished Service Cross. After the war he met one of the Submariners in a pub in France, he said he could buy him a pint and there was no animosity

[@MrSinclairn]

As noted from the vid,Prien and his U-boat were later all lost,when sunk by HMS Wolverine,so how could Jeffries have met him,later on !?! 🙄

[@Peoples_Republic_of_Devonshire]

@@MrSinclairn oh bugger you're right, I read the book in which that was referenced a couple of years ago and must have misremembered

[@denism66]

I visited the site of the sinking of the Royal Oak a number of years ago by boat. Many of the people on the boat were visibly moved, it is probably the saddest war grave I have been to. Most of the people that died were just kids.

[@user-pj3ch8ou2h]

U-47 had the element of surprise. It could have scored a few hits on Pegasus as well as it was a sitting duck just like Royal Oak.

[@CentralGaming-xj8ti]

Cool vid

[@rogueriderhood1862]

I read a book recently, 'The Book At War, Libraries And Readers In An Age Of Conflict' by Andrew Pettegree, which mentioned this incident. Pettegree's account: "A long-term sleeper agent in Kirkwall, Orkney, alerted German intelligence to the insufficiency of the anti-submarine nets at the naval base at Scapa Flow. This resulted in one of the most audacious feats of the first year of the war, when a U-boat made it's way into the anchorage and torpedoed the aircraft-carrier Oak Royal' . Andrew Pettegree is, apparently, Professor of Modern History at St. Andrews University. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I think if I was studying history at St Andrews I would be seriously concerned.

[@randallrussell7683]

The type VII was 3 times the tonnage and even went back in time to 1440.

[@KlingelTimi.]

3:55 I think there is a little Mistake: the Type VII U-boat was build between 1936 and "1944", not 1440. But great Video!

[@dallastexas2641]

My guy. Gneisenau is not, and I can’t stress this enough, NOT, a battlecruiser.

[@Martin77641]

Great story and how you tell and show it to us. Sadly there is a small mistake with he numbers. The VII class was built to 1940 but it shows 1440.

[@HoH]

Woops 😅

[@Maringer86]

I hope you make videos on wolfpack subs attacking convoys. For example, like Convoys HX 229/SC 122)

[@HoH]

I just finished writing a script about Convoy PQ 17. I hadn't thought of doing a video on Convoys HX 229/SC 122, but I will have a look...

[@frutt5k]

Raid on the Medway is a long time ago, 1667, but was a masterpiece of planning and the first time 'marines' were used at sea.

[@jonrivers7779]

That isnt, quite true. The Romans established 'Marinus' units or naval infantry during the first Punic war 264-241BC. The first organised marine Corp was created by the Doge Enrico Dandolo of Venice. They took part in the conquest of Byzantium 1203-1204. King Carlos 1 established the Spanish Marines 1537......Marines were well established by Medway

[@HoH]

I bought a book about this recently... so who knows.

[@frutt5k]

@@jonrivers7779 That alsp isn't true since the trglodiers in the Eemian employed them in there Hamburg siege.

[@lollius88]

Typical nationalist lies 🇳🇱🤡🇳🇱🤡

[@daiichidoku]

wow. SF was recce'd by an inverted Emil? experten.

[@davidgorny4766]

Little attention to being period-correct: The map shows the bridges across the Danish straights and the Berlin Skyline the Tower on Alexanderplatz. All very much post-war.

[@HoH]

Good shout, I will fix the bridges. Re. the Berlin skyline - it is quite difficult to mimic the pre-war skyline 😅

[@arnonym5430]

It is difficult to find correct OG WWII era footage, many archives are still not fully open today.

[@samdumaquis2033]

Interesting

[@hollowpointer1]

Small detail, your map shows a bridge between Fyn and Zealand, and a bridge between Zealand and Sweden. Those did not exist at the time, they where build later.

[@Shakeelkhan-qz3ob]

Make video on Japanese attack on the pearl Harbour 1941

[@Jadegreif]

While the animations are well done, it bothered me that the torpedos shots did align with the u-boat. They really couldn't broadside torpedos you know ;) Also, calling Gneisenau a Battlecruiser might open a whole can of worms :)

[@HoH]

That's a very valid point, thanks for mentioning it. I'll make sure to do better in the future.

[@RubberDuckie-vq4ni]

I was looking to see if anyone else spotted this. I thought submarines torpedo tubes shoot from the front and rear, not broadside like destroyers.

[@martind.1183]

Donu have a Video about the submarine I-19?

[@HoH]

Not yet, but I see if I will come across some information on it in a book.

[@martind.1183]

@@HoH there is a rly good book about the ijn navy with focus on submarines

[@raigarmullerson4838]

Love the content. Cheers from Estonia

[@HoH]

Awesome, thank you!

[@DeaconBlu]

Cool vid and thanks for putting it up. But umm… I’ve a question…honest question, as I’d like to know the proper info… I have Always heard Gunther Priens name pronounced “preen” as opposed to Pree-in. Which is correct? Again, nice vid. Thanks folks! 😎👍

[@nirfz]

As a native german speaker i have to admitt, it's hard to say without knowing or any relatives of him or having heard him say his own name. At first glance i would be with you on the "preen" thing, because in german "ie" is an elongated "i" which makes it the same sound as the english "ee" like in need, feet, Lee... But then again there are some who do pronounce ie in their names like he did in the video, even when there is no sign above the e to mark it as being a seperate vowel to pronounce. (former austrian racing driver Christian Klien is such a case where he and the journalists don't make it an "ee" sound but pronuce the i and the e seperately) So, who knows... If you can find an audio of the radio messages of back then mentioning him, you could find out. But i don't think there will be much of that on the internet.

[@HoH]

I think I should have gone with "Preen", but it was just an oversight. 5 years ago I made a video where I mispronounced "reconnaissance" and some viewers haven't let me live that down since... 😅

[@DeaconBlu]

@@nirfz thanks for that insight! 😎👍

[@DeaconBlu]

@@HoH I had and have interest in giving you a hard time over it mate. I’m just curious as to the correct pronunciation. Regardless of all that, I enjoy your material and am greatful for your efforts.

[@HoH]

@@DeaconBlu I didn't mean you specifically! I think you asked a very valid and good question.

[@lolxdani9996]

Day 2 asking for a video about the Battle of Cárdenas during the Spanish-American War

[@jessebauer7372]

This was the Nazi equivalent of the Dambusters and the Doolittle Raid.

[@joezhou4356]

Knock, knock

[@TK-ve1uo]

The name "Prien" is pronounced "Preen", as in "seen". Nonetheless, an interesting video.

[@ygdmdx]

seven years war when will go on

[@feza9804]

👍

[@KanJonathan]

Modern skyline of Berlin?

[@notthefbi7932]

German u- boat kills vs Japanese u-boat kills and tactics 🤔

[@Cap-hornier]

So many errors.... U-47 took the Kiel Canal. They never saw a merchant vessel during their mission... etc.

[@ijh867zter6]

"Hitler's preference for the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe" the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine were part of the Wehrmacht. What you mean is the Heer.

[@DocLeQuack]

At this point Wehrmacht and Heer have become interchangeable.

[@arnonym5430]

They even called foreign armies wehrmacht during the time, that was common back then, even the bundeswehr was first called Neue Wehrmacht from 1950-56, when it was established under Adenauer and Blank

[@pj2123]

As far as I know the Royal Oak sank at 0129 on the morning of the 14th not later in the day as you state kzbin.info/www/bejne/h2KVoWSHZsd0fJI

[@Lord.Kiltridge]

Wehrmacht and Heer are not the same thing and should not be used interchangeably. Wehrmacht was the name for the combined armed forces of Nazi Germany. Meaning Wehrmacht _is_ the army (Heer), navy (Kriegsmarine) , _and_ air force (Luftwaffe). Therefor adding _and Luftwaffe_ or _and Kriegsmarine_ to Wehrmacht is redundant.

[@DocLeQuack]

And unfortunately Wehrmacht has become interchangeable with the Heer.

[@arnonym5430]

Their number plates showed it WH=Wehrmacht Heer, WL=Wehrmacht Luftwaffe, WM=Wehrmacht Marine

[@lilboy3102]

I respect your videos ❤ but could you please make a video on the sinking of Ashigara by HMS Trenchant Just a reminder 😅 I have more requests to you. Will tell you later 😅

[@HoH]

Thanks, I think that's a great suggestion. These videos take ages to make - I did add your suggestion to my (ever-expanding) list of topics I'd like to cover. Feel free to post more recommendations and I'll add them to the list as well.

[@lilboy3102]

@@HoH so approximately after how many more videos will you make that ?

[@HoH]

@@lilboy3102 No idea yet..

[@Dilley_G45]

Prien is pronounced Preen not Pree-anne. And it wasn't wolverine, there is new discoveries

[@notenzo5743]

Bro got the submarine images from hoi4😂😂😂

[@JB-rt4mx]

What is Hitler & Donuts ? 🍩🍩

[@model101t800]

Jutland happens, Germans lose the war Germans sank their own fleet in Scapa Flow British salvage the fleet, sell the steel to Germany Germans build the first A an B type VII series from that steel One of those Type VIIB's sinks a Jutland veteran in Scapa Flow 25 years later Mind Blown Ow and I have the Robbe U-47

[@zetectic7968]

Only some ships that sank in shallow water were salvaged. The larger ships remain on the sea bed.

[@jarrodbedelen]

We fought the wrong enemy.

[@arnonym5430]

Todays Globalism would of made the actual soldiers from both sides end the war by their own, quicker than in a blink of an eye

[@richardsmith9509]

Do you think you could spell SCARPA FLOW correctly ??????????????????????????????

[@HoH]

What do you mean?

[@tigransuqiasyan4839]

That’s a Great historical trip ✨✨✨ fantastic worke.🫡

[@sonnyb7612]

Kriegsmarine W.

[@Luke_Sandy_High_Ground]

extremely rare

[@MyRearLeftNipple4938]

Imagine a submarine in the year 1440 3:58

[@arnonym5430]

Ironically, DaVinci already draw sketches of a wooden submersible back in the late 1400s