 When the ships were interned , they had their guns disabled through the removal of their breech blocks . The fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations that ultimately produced the Versailles Treaty . It became apparent to Reuter that the British intended to seize the German ships on 21 June , which was the deadline for Germany to have signed the peace treaty . To prevent this , he decided to scuttle his ships at the first opportunity . On the morning of 21 June , the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers ; at 11 : 20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships . Bayern sank at 14 : 30 , but Baden was run aground by British guards ; she was the only capital ship that was not sunk . After being refloated and thoroughly examined , Baden was expended as a gunnery target , finally being sunk on 16 August 1921 to the southwest of Portsmouth . Bayern was eventually raised for scrapping on 1 September 1934 and broken up over the following year in Rosyth . 
