Princess Royal joins survivors of HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow

With the waves lapping gently underneath them, and their heads solemnly bowed, three survivors who had been on board HMS Royal Oak when it was sunk by the Germans off Orkney 70 years ago, yesterday visited the scene to pay tribute to those they lost. Kenneth Toop, 86, from Basingstoke, Bert Pocock, 87, from Reading, and Norman Thackery, 89, from Stokesay Castle, Shropshire, joined the Princess Royal for a special memorial service on HMS Penzance, close to the wreck at Scapa Flow. They are among just a handful of men who can bear witness to what happened aboard the vessel, which sank within 13 minutes of being struck by torpedoes on October 14, 1939. A German submarine attacked the battleship in the dead of the night, while most of its 1,200-strong crew were asleep below deck. More than 800 men lost their lives in the tragedy,... [read full story]                    

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