45 – The fate of the German ships

On 23rd June 1919 the Admiralty announced that the sunken ships were not a danger to navigation and “where they are sunk, they will rest and rust”.

The four floating capital ships were patched up and towed away.

Emden was towed to France in March 1920, and finally broken up in Caen in 1926.
Frankfurt went to the USA and was sunk in aerial bombing experiments in July 1921.
Baden was sunk by the Royal Navy as a gunnery target off Portsmouth in August 1921.
Nurnberg was refloated in July and eventually expended as a target ship off the Isle of Wight in July 1922.

Baden under tow to Invergordon

Nurnberg and Emden refloated. 

The beached destroyers had similar fates, sunk for target practice or broken up for scrap.

Destroyers being towed to the breaker’s yard at Rosyth

Despite the Admiralty assurances, the sunken ships were a hazard to navigation, and they had to be removed.

The whaler Ramna stranded on SMS Moltke