Gardening became at one period quite a popular, as well as profitable, recreation amongst many of the men and officers, and although neither the soil nor the climate was very promising, some remarkably good crops of vegetables were obtained, which were especially welcome in view of the difficulties of obtaining fresh fruit and vegetables on board ship. One enterprising ship actually raised chickens and pigs on one of the islands, although the uncertain movements of the ships made the feeding question a difficult problem at times.
A variety of indoor amusements was provided on board ship. The "movies" were always a standing attraction, whilst billiards proved a popular war-time innovation, the movement of the ship adding a fascinating element of uncertainty to the game! Some excellent "shows" were organised, and an improvised stage, with the necessary accessories, was rigged up on the Frozen Meat Ship "Gourko," which proved an ideal "theatre ship," although it was advisable to come warmly clad, as the auditorium was over the refrigerating room!
Very little of interest occurred at the Base in the early part of 1918, and the Grand Fleet spent a considerable time in this year at Rosyth, where the completion of the boom defences permitted exercises and firing to be carried out with almost the same degree of safety and convenience as at Scapa. The progress of the war was, as elsewhere, watched with great excitement towards the end of the year, and the signing of the Armistice on the 11th November, 1918, came as a great relief after four years of strain and effort. One of the most welcome of the minor changes effected by the Armistice was the removal of the Censorship which had been rigorously maintained during the war, and for the first time the general public became aware of the jealously guarded secret of the location of the Northern Base of the Grand Fleet.
The German Ships interned at Scapa.
(Battle-cruisers "Hindenburg" and "Derfflinger" in the foreground.)
German Battleship "Kaiser" entering the Boom at Scapa Flow for Internment at Dawn on 26th November, 1918.
The entry of the German ships into Scapa Flow for internment towards the end of the month was a memorable sight, which will not soon be forgotten by those who witnessed it. The vessels came north from Rosyth in detachments, and each group of ships entered the Flow in the grey dawn of an autumn morning, escorted by our own ships. Little groups of spectators who had gathered at points of vantage on the islands identified the various ships as they entered with great interest, and more especially in the case of those who had last met them in action. It was some compensation for those who had spent so many months and years at Scapa that "the Day" should have culminated in such a dramatic and complete surrender of the German Fleet, although it seemed then almost unthinkable that such a surrender should have been made without at least an effort to strike a last blow, or in the last resort to scuttle their ships in port. That some, at any rate, of the officers of the German Navy had these feelings was evident from the destruction of one of their submarines just before the Armistice in the act of entering the Flow, whose outer defences it had indeed penetrated. There seems little doubt that this was a last desperate attempt to sink as many as possible of our Fleet before the final and then inevitable surrender, and one cannot but acknowledge the spirit and the bravery of those who took part in such a forlorn hope.