Scapa Flow is a sea basin surrounded by the Orkney Islands off northern Scotland. It is about 15 miles (24 kilometers) long and 8 miles (13 kilometers) wide. Scapa Flow became the headquarters of the battleship squadrons of the British Grand Fleet during World War I (1914-1918). On June 21, 1919, the defeated German navy scuttled its remaining ships in the basin. In World War II (1939-1945), a German submarine sank the British battleship Royal Oak as it lay at anchor in Scapa Flow. Today, Scapa Flow is an important terminal for an oil pipeline from the North Sea.
