German High Seas Fleet – Tom Crean present at the surrender

Tom Crean joined the crew of HMS Inflexible on 14th November 1918 shortly before she took part in escorting the German High Seas Fleet to surrender

It was three days after the First World War armistice had been signed. This brought about a ceasefire and  effectively ended the fighting. Crean, now promoted to a Warrant Officer, was in charge of quarterdeck duties as Boatswain, onboard the battlecruiser as the ships of the German High Seas Fleet were interned and later escorted from the Firth of Forth to Scapa Flow in the Orkneys

The German ships were later, on 21st June 1919, scuttled in the final act of defiance of a war that had cost millions of lives.

The scuttling of the ships was the single greatest loss of warships in history and the nine German sailors killed that day were the last to die during World War One. A week later on the 28th June, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed and the First World War was officially brought to an end.

To read Tom Crean’s full story. The book can be purchased at the following link.

Biography of Tom Crean – Crean – The Extraordinary Life of an Irish Hero