http://german-navy.tripod.com/...considering the part that Germany played in World War II...there navy actually grew stronger!

"The scuttling of the German fleet took place at the Royal Navy's base at Scapa Flow in Scotland after the end of the First World War. The High Seas Fleet had been interned there under the terms of the Armistice whilst negotiations took place over the fate of the ships. Fearing that the fleet would be seized and divided amongst the allied powers, the German commander, Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, decided to scuttle the fleet. The scuttling was carried out on 21 June 1919. Intervening British guard ships were able to beach a number of the ships, but 52 of the 74 interned vessels sank. Many of the wrecks were salvaged over the next few years and were towed away for scrapping. The few that remain are popular dive sites." "The signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918, at Compiègne, France, ended the First World War. The Allied powers had agreed that Germany's U-boat fleet should be surrendered without the possibility of return, but were unable to agree upon a course of action regarding the German surface fleet. The Americans suggested that the ships be interned in a neutral port until a final decision had been reached, but the two countries that were approached – Norway and Spain – both refused. Admiral Rosslyn Wemyss suggested that the fleet be interned at Scapa Flow with a skeleton crew of German sailors, and guarded in the interim by the Grand Fleet. The terms were transmitted to Germany on 12 November, instructing them to make the High Seas Fleet ready to sail by 18 November, or the allies would occupy Heligoland. On the night of 15 November, Rear-Admiral Hugo Meurer, the representative of Admiral Franz von Hipper, met Admiral David Beatty aboard Beatty's flagship, HMS Queen Elizabeth. Beatty presented Meurer with the terms, which were expanded at a second meeting the following day. The U-boats were to surrender to Rear-Admiral Reginald Tyrwhitt at Harwich, under the supervision of the Harwich Force. The surface fleet was to sail to the Firth of Forth and surrender to Beatty. They would then be led to Scapa Flow and interned, pending the outcome of the peace negotiations. Meurer asked for an extension to the deadline, aware that the sailors were still in a mutinous mood (which had earlier led to the Wilhelmshaven mutiny), and that the officers might have difficulty in getting them to obey orders. Meurer eventually signed the terms after midnight. Negotiations over the fate of the ships were underway at the Paris Peace Conference. The French and Italians each wanted a quarter of the ships. The British wanted them destroyed since they knew that any re-distribution would be detrimental to the proportional advantage in numbers they had compared to other navies. Under Article XXXI of the Armistice the Germans were not permitted to destroy their ships. Both Admirals Beatty and Madden had approved plans to seize the German ships in case scuttling was attempted and Admirals Keyes and Leveson had recommended that the ships be seized anyway and the crews interned ashore at Nigg Island, but their suggestions were not taken up. Their concern was not without justification, for as early as January von Reuter had mentioned the possibility of scuttling the fleet to his chief of staff. Having learned of the possible terms of Treaty of Versailles in May he began to prepare detailed plans to scuttle his ships. Admiral Erich Raeder later wrote that von Reuter was informed that the fleet was to be scuttled at all costs. A further reduction of crews with the departure of two transports to Germany on 18 June meant that von Reuter was left with reliable men to carry out preparations. On that day he sent out orders, paragraph 11 of which stated, "It is my intention to sink the ships only if the enemy should attempt to obtain possession of them without the assent of our government. Should our government agree in the peace to terms to the surrender of the ships, then the ships will be handed over, to the lasting disgrace of those who have placed us in this position". His orders were sent to the interned ships on 18 June. In the mean time the signing of the Treaty of Versailles was scheduled for noon on 21 June. The First Battle Squadron prepared to board the German ships in force to check for signs that the fleet was preparing to scuttle. On 13 June Admiral Madden requested in person at the Admiralty a daily political appreciation from 17 June onwards so as to be prepared to take action, but as Madden related to Beatty shortly afterwards, "they had no reliable indication of the German attitude towards the peace terms". Admiral Fremantle submitted to Madden on 16 June a scheme for seizing the German ships at midnight of 21-22 June, after the treaty was meant to be signed. Madden approved the plan on the 19th, but only after he had been informed that the deadline for signing the treaty had been extended to 19:00 on 23 June and he neglected to officially inform Fremantle. News of the extension had been seen by Fremantle in a newspaper on the same day and he assumed it to be true. He had been under orders from Madden for some time to exercise his battleships against torpedo attacks which required good weather in order to recover the torpedoes. The weather on the night of 20 June was favourable so Fremantle ordered the First Battle Squadron to sea at 09:00 the next morning, 21 June. The operation to seize the German ships was postponed until the night of his squadron's return to Scapa Flow on 23 June, after the deadline to sign the treaty had expired. - The fleet is scuttled: At around 10:00 on 21 June von Reuter sent a flag signal ordering the fleet to stand by for the signal to scuttle. At about 11:20 the flag signal was sent, "To all Commanding Officers and the Leader of the Torpedo Boats. Paragraph Eleven of to-day's date. Acknowledge. Chief of the Interned Squadron". The signal was repeated by semaphore and searchlights. Scuttling began immediately, seacocks and flood valves were opened and internal water pipes smashed. Portholes had already been loosened, watertight doors and condenser covers left open, and in some ships holes had been bored through bulkheads, all to facilitate the spread of water once scuttling had begun. There was no noticeable effect until noon, when Friedrich der Grosse began to list heavily to starboard and all the ships hoisted the Imperial German Ensign at their mainmasts. The crews then began to abandon ship. The British naval forces left at Scapa Flow comprised three destroyers, one of which was under repair, seven trawlers and a number of drifters. Fremantle started receiving news of the scuttling at 12:20 and cancelled his squadron's exercise at 12:35, steaming at full speed back to Scapa Flow. He and a division of ships arrived at 14:30 in time to see only the large ships left afloat. He had radioed ahead to order all available craft to prevent the German ships sinking or beach them. The last German ship to sink was the battlecruiser Hindenburg at 17:00 by which time fifteen capital ships were sunk, and only Baden had survived. Four light cruisers and thirty-two destroyers were sunk. Nine Germans were shot and killed and about sixteen wounded aboard their ships as the British tried to order them to stop the scuttling. 1,774 Germans were picked up during the afternoon and transported by battleships of the First Battle Squadron to Invergordon. Fremantle had sent out a general order declaring that the Germans were to be treated as prisoners-of-war for having broken the armistice and they were destined for the prisoner-of-war camps at Nigg." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttling_of_the_German_fleet_in_Scapa_Flow

It went underwater. You bet, I mean U Boat.

As a matter of interest,the wrecks are a good source for metal for making medical electrical equipment because the metal is not contaminated with radio activity.

The High Seas Fleet was interned at Scapa Flow. Most of these ships were scuttled by their crews in 1919. Other ships were divided up between the victor nations, some used as warships, others scrapped or used as targets. +5

The entire defense system of Germany was reduced to below 100,000 and the restrictions imposed of the German Navy by the allied forces didn't allow it to grew any further until Hitler's arrival.