Ronald William Milnes

Unknown

On 14 October 1939, Royal Oak was anchored at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland, when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-47. Of Royal Oak's complement of 1,234 men and boys, 833 were killed that night or died later of their wounds. The loss of the outdated ship, the first of the five Royal Navy battleships and battlecruisers sunk in the Second World War did little to affect the numerical superiority enjoyed by the Royal Navy and its Allies, but the sinking had considerable effect on wartime morale.

The raid made an immediate celebrity and war hero out of the U-boat commander, Günther Prien, who became the first German submarine officer to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.

Before the sinking of Royal Oak, the Royal Navy had considered the naval base at Scapa Flow
impregnable to submarine attack, and U-47's raid demonstrated that the German Navy was capable of bringing the war to British home waters. The shock resulted in rapid changes to dockland security and the construction of the Churchill Barriers around Scapa Flow.

U-47 sent its last radio message at 04.54 on 7/3/1941 while chasing the convoy OB-293 in the North Atlantic south of Iceland and was then reported missing after it repeatedly failed to report its position.

All 45 crew including Korvettenkapitän Günther Prien Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Eichenlaub MIA.

The wreck of Royal Oak, a designated war grave, lies almost upside down in 100 feet (30 m) of water with her hull 16 feet (4.9 m) beneath the surface. In an annual ceremony to mark the loss of the ship, Royal Navy divers place a White Ensign underwater at her stern. Unauthorised divers are prohibited from approaching the wreck at any time under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.