About
The Scapa Flow Museum occupies the site of the former Lyness naval base on the island of Hoy, Orkney, telling the remarkable story of Scapa Flow, the vast natural harbour that served as one of the Royal Navy's most important anchorages through both World Wars. Reopened in 2022 following a major redevelopment supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the museum occupies former Admiralty oil-pumping and storage buildings on the site, itself a significant piece of naval infrastructure heritage, and combines extensively updated galleries with the surviving industrial fabric of the former base to give visitors an unusually immersive sense of Scapa Flow's strategic significance across the twentieth century.
The museum's central and most dramatic story is the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow in June 1919, when interned German naval crews deliberately sank the majority of their own fleet rather than allow it to be divided among the Allied powers under the terms of the eventual peace settlement, an extraordinary act that remains one of the most significant single events in naval history and left a legacy of wrecks on the seabed of Scapa Flow that continues to attract divers and researchers from around the world.
Alongside this First World War narrative, the museum tells the story of Scapa Flow's equally significant Second World War role as the main base of the British Home Fleet, including the sinking of HMS Royal Oak by a German U-boat that penetrated the anchorage's defences in October 1939 with heavy loss of life, an event that prompted Winston Churchill to order the construction of the Churchill Barriers, causeways linking several of the southern Orkney islands that both sealed the eastern approaches to Scapa Flow against further attack and, built substantially using Italian prisoner-of-war labour, remain a permanent and much-used feature of the Orkney road network today.
The museum's galleries cover the vast scale of wartime infrastructure that once supported the fleet at Lyness, including fuel storage, repair facilities, accommodation and recreational buildings for the thousands of naval personnel stationed there, alongside personal testimony, artefacts and archival material illustrating the everyday experience of service at this remote but strategically vital base.
Operated by Orkney Islands Council, the museum benefits from its genuinely evocative setting within the former naval base's surviving buildings, with some displays incorporating original pumping and storage machinery still in situ, and its relative remoteness, reached via inter-island ferry from Orkney Mainland, is itself part of the visitor experience, echoing the isolation that characterised naval service at Scapa Flow throughout its operational history.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Check ferry timetables from Orkney Mainland to Hoy before planning your visit, as access depends on the inter-island ferry service.
- Allow a generous amount of time, both for the museum itself and for travel to and from Hoy.
- Combine your visit with a walk to the Old Man of Hoy or other Hoy attractions to make the most of the ferry crossing.
- Ask about guided tours of the wider former base site in addition to the main museum galleries.
- Visit the Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm, Orkney Mainland, to see a further legacy of the Churchill Barriers' construction.
- Book ferry crossings in advance during the busy summer season, particularly if travelling with a vehicle.
- Divers interested in the scuttled fleet wrecks should inquire locally about dive charter operators and permit requirements.
- Dress for changeable Orkney weather, as the site includes some outdoor former base infrastructure.
Highlights
The Scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet
The museum's central First World War story is the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow in June 1919, when interned German crews deliberately sank the majority of their own fleet to prevent its division among the Allied powers, one of the most extraordinary single events in modern naval history.
Displays cover the internment of the fleet following the Armistice, the circumstances leading to the scuttling order, and the ongoing legacy of the wrecks that remain on the seabed of Scapa Flow, several of which continue to be dived and studied by researchers and enthusiasts today.
The Sinking of HMS Royal Oak
A powerful and sobering highlight covers the sinking of the battleship HMS Royal Oak by the German submarine U-47, which penetrated Scapa Flow's defences in October 1939, with the loss of over eight hundred men, one of the most significant British naval losses of the early Second World War. Displays and testimony convey both the scale of this tragedy and its far-reaching consequences for British naval defensive planning at Scapa Flow.
The Churchill Barriers
Interpretation traces the direct consequence of the Royal Oak sinking: Winston Churchill's order to construct the Churchill Barriers, a series of causeways linking several southern Orkney islands to seal Scapa Flow's eastern approaches against further U-boat attack. Built substantially using Italian prisoner-of-war labour, the barriers remain a permanent feature of the Orkney road network today, and the museum explains both their wartime defensive purpose and their remarkable lasting civil engineering legacy.
The Former Lyness Naval Base Buildings
The museum occupies former Admiralty oil-pumping and storage buildings that once formed part of the extensive Lyness naval base infrastructure, with some displays incorporating original pumping and storage machinery still in situ within the historic industrial fabric.
This authentic setting gives visitors a direct physical connection to the scale and character of the wartime base, distinct from a purpose-built modern museum building.
Collections
The Scapa Flow Museum tells the story of one of the Royal Navy's most strategically important anchorages through both World Wars, centred on two defining events: the scuttling of the interned German High Seas Fleet in June 1919, and the sinking of HMS Royal Oak by a U-boat in October 1939, which prompted the construction of the Churchill Barriers still used across southern Orkney today.
Reopened in 2022 after major Heritage Lottery Fund-supported redevelopment, the museum occupies former Admiralty pumping and storage buildings at the historic Lyness naval base, with some original machinery preserved in situ alongside extensively updated interpretive galleries. Personal testimony, artefacts and archival material illustrate both the base's vast wartime infrastructure and the everyday experience of the thousands of naval personnel who served at this remote but strategically vital Orkney anchorage across the twentieth century.
Scapa Flow at War
Core galleries covering the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet, the sinking of HMS Royal Oak, and the construction of the Churchill Barriers.
Life at Lyness Naval Base
Displays on the everyday experience of naval personnel stationed at the Lyness base, set within the former Admiralty pump house and storage buildings.
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.