HMS Royal Oak remembered

Commemorative events were held today, marking 79 years to the day that 834 lives were lost when HMS Royal Oak sunk to the bottom of Scapa Flow.

Following a service at the garden of remembrance at Scapa this morning, wreaths were laid over the final resting place of the ship, below the cliffs at Gaitnip.

The battleship was torpedoed by a German submarine in the early hours of October 14, 1939.

Of the ship’s complement of 1,234 men and boys, 834 were killed that night, or died later of their wounds.

Members of the Royal Oak Association travelled from various parts of the UK, joining locals to pay tribute to those who were lost, as did members of the Royal Navy Northern Diving Group, who have been carrying out annual survey work on the wreck, as well as the changing of the White Ensign on the hull of the ship.

Following the ceremonies at Scapa, the event was further marked at the Kirkwall Branch of the Royal British Legion.