Trumpeter 1/350 05378 British Royal Navy HMS Royal Oak Battleship Kit
13 sprues, hull & deck. L: 540 mm, W: 89.9 mm, Total parts 510+
HMS ROYAL OAK was a British Royal Navy Revenge-class battleship commissioned in 1916 during the First World War. Considered outdated by the outbreak of the Second World War, ROYAL OAK continued to serve with the Home Fleet, based at Scapa Flow, Orkney — a key Royal Navy anchorage. On the night of 13–14 October 1939, while at anchor within what was considered a secure harbour, ROYAL OAK was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-47, which managed to slip through Scapa Flow’s defences. The attack resulted in the loss of 833 lives, including 134 boy seamen aged between 15 and 17. The sinking of ROYAL OAK was a significant early blow to the Royal Navy and highlighted the threat posed by German U-boats, which led to immediate improvements in the security of Britain’s naval anchorages. U-47 itself was reportedly lost with all hands on 7 March 1941, although no wreck has been found and the loss is ‘unexplained’. Today, the wreck of ROYAL OAK remains a recognised war grave and a place of remembrance to those who served. The White Ensign ‘flies’ on the wreck and is changed by Navy divers on the anniversary of the sinking. ROYAL OAK was the largest, and the last, battleship to be built at Devonport dockyard, Plymouth.