Interning the High Seas Fleet prevents a new naval balance

The British selected Scapa Flow because it was distant from Germany, easy to watch, and difficult for information to reach or leave. Access controls at both the islands and the anchored ships left German crews unaware that the treaty deadline had been extended. German preparations had made the ships unusually easy to sink, and the Grand Fleet's absence on exercise appeared to create the moment to act. The ships saved from sinking overlapped with vessels Britain had already said it wanted under a settlement, adding to the episode's appearance of convenience without proving foreknowledge. Depth and salvage cost later made many remaining wrecks unattractive to recover. German sailors shot during the scuttling can be described as the last casualties of World War I only with a chronology that excludes continuing violence such as the Russian Civil War. The strategic consequence was that the scuttling denied the French, Italians, Americans, or others a sudden transfer of capital ships and the design knowledge that came with them.