The Scuttling of the German Fleet: 2019 Summer Exhibition at the Orkney Museum. Panel 1, Part 2. Naval Mutiny
Naval Mutiny
There had been growing resentment among the sailors of the High Seas Fleet on the run up to the Armistice. Poor food rations and conditions brought unrest in 1917. The sailors refused to work. There was political unrest, too, especially on board the larger warships, as news of the Russian Revolution spread through the fleet. Sailors’ councils were created, based along the same lines as revolutionary Russian soviets.
While officers tried to tighten their control, they underestimated the mood of the sailors. Ships were sabotaged. Sailors staged a walk-out on the light cruiser SMS Pillau when leave was cancelled. The crew of the battleship SMS Friedrich der Grosse refused to work after an incident concerning food. While on a night-firing exercise, the der Grosse crew had eaten bread that was to have been issued the following day, and they were refused bread when the next day came. The situation was diffused when the sailors were given porridge instead.
The crew of the battleship SMS Prinzregent Luitpold went on hunger strike when worms were found in the soup. Another likely result of tension onboard the battleship SMS Konig Albert was the sudden death of the captain, who fell overboard one night and drowned. He had a reputation for ‘great severity’ and had just punished a sailor for bringing a socialist newspaper on the ship.
The crew of the battleship SMS Prinzregent Luitpold went on hunger strike when worms were found in the soup. Another likely result of tension onboard the battleship SMS Konig Albert was the sudden death of the captain, who fell overboard one night and drowned. He had a reputation for ‘great severity’ and had just punished a sailor for bringing a socialist newspaper on the ship.
On 31st July 1917 a film was to be shown on board the SMS Prinzregent Luitpold, as the shore-based training had been cancelled due to bad weather. This film show was a rare treat and was greeted with delight by the crew. The film, however, was cancelled when the weather improved. This led to 49 stokers walking off the ship. The captain had 11 of them arrested, to make an example of them. This, in turn, led to hundreds of sailors walking off the ship (The figure is unclear, but between 350-600.) and holding politically charged meetings. On their return, the ship was sent to another anchorage to isolate it from the rest of the fleet, and 75 sailors were arrested. The discontent came from more than the loss of a much-anticipated film show; it was also about the harsh treatment that the men received. Strikes broke out on other ships, and more ships were sent into isolation. The two men identified as the main ringleaders of the unrest on SMS Prinzregent Luitpold were 25-year-old Albin Köbis and 23-year-old Max Reichpietsch. After a short trial, the two men were executed by firing squad.
In late October 1918 a last daring plan was made to attack the coast of Flanders and the Thames Estuary with light cruisers and battle-cruisers. The plan was to draw out the Grand Fleet, where they would be ambushed by the German High Seas Fleet. This audacious plan never happened, as the crews refused to sail. The commanding officers had lost control of the High Seas Fleet.
