For those interested in WWII Orkney has the most important naval base in England during the World Wars: Scapa Flow . Churchill had sent blocking sinking ships to create an impenetrable barrier against possible submarine attacks. Despite this, in 1939 the German submarine U-47 with Günther Prien in charge entered the base and sank the Royal Oak with a torpedo hit. This battleship hadn't been achieved in the previous war. It killed 833 crewmen. Three days after the attack, four bombers Junkers Ju 88 of the Luftwaffe
bombed the base reaching the battleship HMS Iron Duke . After the attack, some roads were built to block the oriental entrances, known as " Churchill Barriers ".
HOW TO GET SCAPA FLOW?
Scapa Flow is in Lyness , in the east of the island of Hoy in the archipelago of the Orkney Islands , north of Scotland. View location map here .
- By plane: There are flights from Edinburgh or Aberdeen to Kirkwall Airport , the capital of the islands, operated by Loganair through http://www.flybe.com . You can book tickets here from 80 pounds the rounf trip . Keep in mind that Kirkwall airport is on the island of Mainland so then we will have to take a ferry to Lyness on the island of Hoy . The ferry leaves from Houton and to get there from the airport, you have to go to West Castle Street where you can catch the bus number 2 (for details and schedules VISIT this page ). A better way (especially since you will visit many more places like the Italian Chapel ) is to rent a car at the airport. To view the route to the ferry click here . Once in Houton you can park your car there or pass it to Lyness on the ferry but the base is very close to the terminal so it's no needed. The price of the ferry is 4.5 pounds the normal ticket and 13.20 pounds if you go with the car. It takes 35 minutes to arrive. You can check schedules here .
- By ferry: It's a bit complicated because there isn't a direct ferry from Scotland to the base. Ferries depart from Aberdeen , Scrabster , Gills Bay .NorthLink Ferries connects three days a week Aberdeen to Kirkwall (Mainland). The journey takes just over seven hours and the ticket price is 17.30 pounds . From Scrabster we can get to Stromness (Mainland). There are up to three trips a day from Monday to Friday and two on Saturday and Sunday. The crossing time is approximately 90 minutes and the ticket of 14.10 pounds round trip. From Kirkwall, Stromness can be reached by bus. With Pentland Ferries can reach St Margaret's Hope (South Ronaldsay) in about 1 hour out from Gills Bay . There are three daily departures (four in summer) and the ticket costs 12 pounds . Once there to move between islands you can rent a car and move through Orkney's Ferry .
To plan routes, check timetables and Orkney's public transport this page will provide all the information: http://www.travelinescotland.com/journeyplanner/enterJourneyPlan.do?hss=0tokn105870488
photo: Gregory J Kingsley
