Scotland, Orkney Isles, Scapa Flow, SMS Hindenburg, Scuttled 21 June 1919

Not so much a 'then and now' today, but more a 'before and after'. These old postcards show the battlecruiser SMS Hindenburg before and after her scuttling in 1919. I don't have the space here to describe the events of the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow, but the wikipedia entry is a good place to start and has some good links at the end of the article.
The first postcard shows the ship in 1918. The message on the back of the card is remarkable - posted (probably in a letter) from Houton Bay Seaplane Base on the Orkney Isles, Saturday 21st June 1919 - "Dear Vi, this is a jolly photograph isn't it. I think I know the fellow that took it he is a schoolmaster at a little school in the Orkneys, quite close to where I stayed. Well all but one of the big ships were sunk today and only two light cruisers were saved. Luckily includes the Emden, she is beached close to a seaplane station.  A destroyer dashed alongside her and sailors boarded her with cutlasses and revolvers & forced her crew to save the ship. Well cheers, Ted". The second postcard shows what the Hindenburg looked like after the scuttling. The wreck was eventually raised and scrapped in 1930. The Street View image below doesn't show any view of the wrecks, but it does show how beautiful Scapa Flow is today. As usual, click on the pictures to enlarge. This is my entry for today's Sepia Saturday blog.

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