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Commanded by Gunther Prien; U-47 achieved one of the great
asymmetric victories of the Second World War on October 14, 1940.
Prien's victory was actually two part: first in penetrating Scapa Flow's
formidable defenses and second, in sinking the Battleship H.M.S. Royal
Oak. Scapa Flow had been the Royal Navy's primary anchorage since
the First World War. Her defenses were formidable and included not
just anti-submarine nets, mines, ships sunk to block the channels,
searchlights, and regular patrols, but also the dangerous waters and
tides in the channels leading to the vast anchorage. Ironically, the
opportunity offered by this superb navigational accomplishment was
almost lost from faulty torpedoes. Prien however proved as meticulous
as he was daring and he overcame the absurd technical difficulties he
faced.

After slipping into the middle of the great British naval base Prien
chose the Royal Oak as his target and carefully maneuvered his
U-boat into firing position. At about 1:00 am he lined up U-47 to fire
his first salvo of 4 torpedoes from the surface, in clear conditions, and
at a distance of a mere 4,000 yards. Prien disgustedly watched as
one torpedo malfunctioned and remained in the torpedo tube, two
others missed, and another struck just a minor blow. Undaunted Prien
calmly and grimly ordered his crew to reload the tubes - a process
taking a full twenty minutes. Finally, with reloading complete, Prien
lined up his vast, immobile target one more time and fired another
salvo of three torpedoes. All three struck the British battleship in an
enormous explosion of water, flame, and ship parts. The Royal Oak
capsized and sank beneath the waves, taking 800 men down with her
from the 1,400-man crew. Even with torpedoes as ineffective as
Germany's, Prien had demonstrated the U-boat's efficacy as an
asymmetric weapon against an otherwise superior naval opponent.