[2] To relieve the administrative burdens on Miller and Jellicoe, the post of the Admiral of the Orkneys and Shetlands was created to oversee the defence of the islands, naval bases and shore duties.

[3] Admiral Jellicoe was significantly concerned about the possibility of submarine or destroyer attacks on Scapa Flow.

While the Grand Fleet spent almost the first year of the war patrolling the west coast of the British Isles, their base at Scapa was defensively reinforced, beginning with over sixty blockships sunk in the many entrance channels between the southern islands to enable the use of submarine nets and booms.

[5] The Grand Fleet was based first at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, and later at Rosyth on the Firth of Forth.

[6] Following the German defeat, 74 ships of the High Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte) of the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) were interned in Gutter Sound at Scapa Flow pending a decision on their future in the peace Treaty of Versailles.

[11] The order of battle of the Grand Fleet at the end of the war in 1918 included 35 dreadnought battleships and 11 battlecruisers.