 Orkney was the site of a navy base at Scapa Flow , which played a major role in World War I. After the Armistice in 1918 , the German High Seas Fleet was transferred in its entirety to Scapa Flow while a decision was to be made on its future ; however , the German sailors opened their sea @-@ cocks and scuttled all the ships . During World War I the 10th Cruiser Squadron was stationed at <unk> Minn in Shetland and during a single year from March 1917 more than 4 @,@ 500 ships sailed from Lerwick as part of an escorted convoy system . In total , Shetland lost more than 500 men , a higher proportion than any other part of Britain , and there were waves of emigration in the 1920s and 1930s . 
