We entered the harbor carefully at just a few knots
On past the ack-acks - torpedo nets
Cranes and docks the size of city blocks
Rose up out of the ocean
Once pleasant now somewhat deceiving
Knowing what was to come
For it was the Orkney islands in northern Scotland
In the Fall on 1939
And we called it Scapa Flow

I turned to starboard - saw the old Royal Oak
With guns the size of tree trunks
Heard the whine of engines high overhead
Looking up to see a squadron of Swordfish
Torpedo-bombers heading for the aircraft carrier
Anchored in the distance
Someone told me it was HMS Victorious

Dozens of destroyers either moved or sat still
Dwarfed by the mighty and the powerful
Capital and sister ships
Dreadnought servants of the Empire
Towers of Britannia that reached for the sky
Metal icebergs disappearing under the waves

And off to port sat HMS Hood
Pride of the Royal Navy
The largest battleship in the whole bloody world
I was glad that she was on our side
Receiving our orders to sail the next day
For it was September 3rd
And England was at war again
A sense of adventure and forebode filled us all
In Northern Scotland the Fall of ‘39
And we called it Scapa Flow

© 1983
Inputted and revised © 2019

460 hits as of October 2024

04/01/2019

Posted on 04/01/2019
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti