On the night of 13/14 October 1939, the German commander of U-boat U-47, Günther Prien, steered past the sunken block ships and chains which inadequately protected the British naval base at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. The U-Boat sank the old British World War I battleship HMS Royal Oak and then escaped into the North Sea. The loss of the Royal Oak was insignificant in naval terms though over 800 men perished with her, however this was a bitter blow to British moral.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
  • by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz
• Preface
• 1 Good heavens they’re putting on the lights!
• 2 What do you think of it, Prien?
• 3 In the headlights of the car
• 4 Open the tubes fast!
• 5 What should we answer, sir?
• 6 The Bull of Scapa Flow
• Appendices
  • I Crew of the U-47
  • II Technical specifications of U-47
  • III Data concerning the tides
  • IV Extracts from Hydrographic Pilot
  • V War Diary of U-47
  • VI Memoirs of Grand Admiral Dönitz
  • VII War Diary of Grand Admiral Dönitz
  • VIII Account of Captain S. W. Roskill
  • IX Memoirs of Sir Winston Churchill
  • X Technical specifications
    • (a) Royal Oak
    • (b) Iron Duke
    • (c) Repulse and Renown
    • (d) Hood
    • (e) Pegasus
  • XI The sinking of the Royal Oak
  • XII The Scapa Flow Mystery
• Plate Section