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Tony Booth
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Cox's Navy: Salvaging the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow, 1924–1931 Kindle Edition

by Tony Booth (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 306 ratings
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A deep dive into the biggest salvage operation in history: the recovery of German warships—the Allies’ spoils of World War I—from Scottish waters.

On Midsummer’s Day 1919 the interned German Grand Fleet was scuttled by their crews at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands despite a Royal Navy guard force. Greatly embarrassed, the Admiralty nevertheless confidently stated that none of the ships would ever be recovered. Had it not been for the drive and ingenuity of one man there is indeed every possibility that they would still be resting on the sea bottom today.

Cox’s Navy tells the incredible true story of Ernest Cox, a Wolverhampton-born scrap merchant, who despite having no previous experience, led the biggest salvage operation in history to recover the ships. The 28,000-ton Hindenberg was the largest ship ever salvaged. Not knowing the boundaries enabled Cox to apply solid common sense and brilliant improvisation, changing forever marine salvage practice during peace and war.
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  1. Print length
    292 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Pen & Sword Maritime
  5. Publication date
    October 19, 2005
  6. File size
    1936 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
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  9. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tony Booth is an author and historian.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0091WB98U
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pen & Sword Maritime (October 19, 2005)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 19, 2005
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1936 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 292 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 306 ratings

About the author

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Tony Booth

Tony Booth

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
306 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Jim Knox
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read about an obscure piece of history
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2021
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Wonderful story of the kind of man we need more of. Smart determined and tenacious. It is quite possible that some of us own pieces of the old German fleet all because Cox did his job.
One person found this helpful
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dunkmack
4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating book - but no photos in Kindle edition
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2013
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This was a fascinating book about the enormous effort required to raise many of the scuttled German ships at Scapa Flow. The text gives a real flavour for the harsh working conditions and covers the topic very well, concluding neatly with a link to modern salvages and how they rely on the techniques originally developed by Cox.

Unfortunately the Kindle edition is let down by the absence of photographs. There are a few illustrations, but I understand that the paper edition has a generous collection of plates which are absent from the Kindle edition; hence four rather than five stars.
4 people found this helpful
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Joe in Austin
5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating story.
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2020
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When the magnificent German High Seas Fleet was scuttled in Scapa Flow after WW1, the technology to raise those ships simply didn't exist. As scrap iron they were worth a fortune to whoever raised them . Cox, had dropped out of schooland who learned engineering from books, observation, and work experience, did it. He raised ships from small patrol boats to enormous battleships successfully and developed methods and procedures that are still used.
The book is well written and for me it was a "page turner".
2 people found this helpful
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Spruce Goose
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating character
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2017
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A great yarn on a truly remarkable individual. Self taught, driven individual who set about raising the Kaiser’s scuttled fleet. If the price for scrap had been better, he probably would have raised the lot.
2 people found this helpful
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David
5.0 out of 5 stars History completed
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2013
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As a history major I never lost my interest in what happened after the event. The book explains technical development which kept the interest of a person without a technical background giving understanding without excessive detail . Book completes the story which is largely ignored
4 people found this helpful
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Barry
4.0 out of 5 stars Steptoe on another level
Reviewed in the United States on October 18, 2012
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This a very interesting book on a subject that few people are aware of...it is hard to imagine how he dealt with the Navy and MOD and the competition and still made money - not as much as I thought he did mind you ! very entertaining for anyone with interest in the navies of WW 1 - pity it did not give more to the German organisation planning to scuttle and the fate of the crews from the ships.
One person found this helpful
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World traveling engineer
5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Read
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2024
Very well written, easy to read - and a really, really well told and interesting story. At no point did my interest wane for even a moment…
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Interesting.
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2012
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As I had just visited Scapa Flow and the site written about in the book,this just filled in missing information on the ships there.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Woodman Chris
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 9, 2021
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I knew about the scuttling of the German Fleet and that it had been salvaged, but did not know of the heroic work of Mr Cox. If this sort of thing is of interest then I cannot recommend this book too highly.
The job wouldn't be done today without the considerable constraints of ' Elf & Safety' and the consequent increase in costs involved. Having said that, Cox was very aware of the risks involved and did more than many would have done to keep the risks to as low a level as possible.
This was a book that I found hard to put down and so read it quicker than otherwise would have been the case. Buy it. You won't regret it !.
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ernesto s. schmid rossello
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente
Reviewed in Spain on March 24, 2020
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Muy interesante. Lectura amena, pese a lo especializado del tema. Exhaustivamente documentado. Como estudioso de la historia de la armada imperial, me ha resultado muy útil.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book. The man himself was so far ahead ...
Reviewed in Canada on April 8, 2017
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Excellent book.
The man himself was so far ahead of time in ship salvaging and even 60yrs later more or less the same technique was used to raise that Korean ferry recently.
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Crusader
4.0 out of 5 stars Re cycling of war ships 1920-30's style
Reviewed in Australia on June 19, 2022
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This was a book worth reading as it gave a side of the German High seas fleet at the bottom of Scapa Flow. Showed the technology that had to be developed by Cox to make it possible to get the ships from the bottom of Scapa Flow to a position where they could be salvaged.
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Gianni
2.0 out of 5 stars Recuperi navali
Reviewed in Italy on March 1, 2013
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Interessa solo iper-appassionati però digiuni di questo ciclopico lavoro a Scapa Flow. Interessante comunque ma un po' ripetitivo.
Modesto ma interessante corredo iconografico
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