 After Germany 's defeat in the war and the signing of the Armistice in November 1918 , Markgraf and most of the capital ships of the High Seas Fleet were interned by the Royal Navy in Scapa Flow . The ships were disarmed and reduced to skeleton crews while the Allied powers negotiated the final version of the Treaty of Versailles . On 21 June 1919 , days before the treaty was signed , the commander of the interned fleet , Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter , ordered the fleet to be scuttled to ensure that the British would not be able to seize the ships . Unlike most of the scuttled ships , Markgraf was never raised for scrapping ; the wreck is still sitting on the bottom of the bay . 
