Background
On the morning of 5 November, HX 84 had been passed by the cargo liner Mopan, which was also bound for Liverpool, enroute from Port Antonio, during which an offer had been made to Mopan's Master, Captain Sapsworth, for Mopan to join HX 84. However, the offer had been declined and Mopan continued eastbound alone.[2][3]
Mopan
Having been thwarted from using its Arado Ar 196 seaplane the previous day, on 5 November the weather was suitable for Admiral Scheer to utilise its air reconnaissance. A seaplane was launched at 09:40hrs having been ordered to make a sweep 100 nautical miles (190 km; 120 mi) wide and 70 nautical miles (130 km; 81 mi) deep. When the seaplane returned at 12:05 the observer reported having sighted a convoy steaming eastbound at position 52°41′N 32°52′W / 52.683°N 32.867°W / 52.683; -32.867. This meant that the intervening distance between Admiral Scheer and the convoy was approximately 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi). No escort had been observed. This confirmed the earlier B-Dienst radio intercept by Admiral Scheer which had identified the convoy as being HX 84.[2][3]
Onboard Admiral Scheer a dilemma was presented to Kapitän zur See Theodor Krancke regarding whether he should attack the convoy before nightfall, or wait and make his attack at dawn the following day. Kapitän Krancke made the decision to attack, with Admiral Scheer altering course onto 150 degrees and increasing speed to 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) allowing Krancke to intercept at approximately 15:30.[2][3]
At 14:27, an hour before Admiral Scheer was scheduled to intercept the convoy, a single smoke column was observed. Once visual acquisition had been made a flag could be observed flying from the vessel's masthead, however the purpose of this could not be established. Unsure as to the identity of the vessel Krancke decided to maintain his course, as to turn away to the east would significantly reduce his ability to intercept HX 84 before darkness fell.[2][3]
The vessel was Mopan, by this time approximately three hours ahead of HX 84. On the bridge of Admiral Scheer, as the range decreased, it was decided that the vessel was an armed merchantman, acting as a screen, and stationed ahead or on the flank of the convoy.
Krancke trained all his armament on to Mopan with Admiral Scheer firing warning shots from her secondary armament of 15 cm (5.9 in) SK C/28 guns, which exploded close to the freighter's bow. At 15:08, by use of a signal lamp, the Admiral Scheer ordered Mopan to heave to.[2][3]
Admiral Scheer then proceeded to hoist a flag signal stating "Take to your boats and bring your papers across."
Krancke kept his guns trained on Mopan's wireless transmission aerials on her masthead and accompanied this with an order that the ship's wireless was not to be used. This caused some rancour onboard Mopan with her wireless officer, James Macintosh, on more than one occasion pleading with Captain Sapsworth to ignore the request from Admiral Scheer and transmit the internationally recognised signal: R-R-R "(I Am Being Attacked By A Raider)," thereby affording Convoy HX 84 the ability to take some form of evasive action.[2][3]
However, with the guns of Admiral Scheer trained on the Mopan, and given the realisation that at any time his ship could be destroyed, Sapsworth chose to refuse Macintosh's requests and instead ordered his ship's company to abandon ship, upon when they would transfer to Admiral Scheer in order to be taken prisoner. The order was carried out in a measured and organised manner, something that was not lost on Krancke.[2][3] Following the evacuation of Mopan, Admiral Scheer proceeded to sink the vessel. However, this proved to be a more difficult task than was initially envisaged.[2][3]
If he was to make a successful interception of HX 84 before nightfall, Krancke knew that time was beginning to run short. No prize crew was sent to Mopan, instead Admiral Scheer opened fire on the merchantman from a distance of approximately 300 yards (270 m) using a combination of her secondary armament of 15 cm guns and her main armament of 28 cm (11 in) SK C/28 guns. Vexed by the continued stubbornness of Mopan, Krancke ordered an increase in the rate of fire from the Admiral Scheer's gunners in addition to which he requested the presence of Captain Sapsworth, who cautioned against the targeting of the aft end of his ship as it was where the ammunition for Mopan's 4-inch (102 mm) gun was stored. Mopan finally sank at 16:05.[2][3]
Interception
Jervis Bay
Almost two hours had been lost by Admiral Scheer having devoted time to Mopan and the onset of dusk arrived as the cruiser closed with the convoy, a situation that caused significant annoyance to Krancke.[2][3]
As HX 84 appeared before Admiral Scheer Captain E.S.F. Fegen of Jervis Bay sailed clear of the convoy and attacked the raider so as to cause as much delay as possible, and to allow the convoy to scatter. Incensed with the earlier delay and the approach from the Jervis Bay, Krancke was determined to sink the British vessel.
Jervis Bay was sunk after 20 minutes of fighting with the loss of 190 of her crew. Nevertheless, their sacrifice allowed the convoy to begin to escape.[4]
Beaverford
The merchant ship SS Beaverford, armed with only two guns, engaged Admiral Scheer in a cat-and-mouse gunnery duel that lasted for over four hours before Beaverford was sunk with all hands. This allowed most of the convoy to complete their escape.[5] However, given that the convoy ships were scattering in all directions, it is unlikely that anyone on another ship could have reliably seen all of this. The story is also contradicted by the account Admiral Scheer's captain wrote after the war. Krancke paid generous tribute to the courage of Jervis Bay, and of a small burning freighter that fired back just before she sank (this must have been Kenbane Head). He did not mention any battle with Beaverford, which he records only as a ship carrying a deck cargo of timber that Admiral Scheer caught up with as it fled at speed far to the south of the main action. When finally caught, Beaverford proved hard to sink by gunfire, and was therefore torpedoed to save ammunition. There is no mention of any fight or any return fire from Beaverford, and far from being a four or five hour battle, Beaverford was attacked only 50 minutes after Kenbane Head and about an hour before Admiral Scheer caught up with Fresno City. There was no time for any such battle.[6] The sinking of Beaverford was witnessed from Fresno City, also fleeing south. Her captain's log recorded: "The Beaverford, bearing 110 degrees East South East was attacked and set on fire, distant about 10 miles".
Other ships
Maiden, Trewellard, Kenbane Head, and Fresno were sunk and the tanker San Demetrio damaged, but failing light now allowed the rest of the convoy to escape. San Demetrio was abandoned by her crew, but two days later some of the crew, now in lifeboats, sighted San Demetrio, still afloat and still ablaze. They reboarded her, got the engines running, and brought her in to port. This incident later formed the basis for the script of the film San Demetrio London. Admiral Scheer was only able to sink six of the 38 ships in the convoy.
Aftermath
It is debatable, given the unimportance of intercepting a sole merchantman instead of attacking a 38-ship convoy with negligible protection, that Admiral Scheer should have allowed such operational delay. The time taken to intercept, evacuate and sink Mopan, followed by the actions involving Jervis Bay and Beaverford, undoubtedly enabled HX 84 to escape extensive destruction.[2][3] Though failing to warn HX 84 of the direct threat faced by the convoy, Sapsworth equally succeeded in forestalling an attack on the convoy by ordering the slow and orderly evacuation of Mopan.[2][3]
A monument to Jervis Bay was unveiled on 5 November 1941 at Albouy's Point, in the City of Hamilton, Bermuda, in front of a Guard of Honour provided by the Royal Marines detachment of HMS Despatch, by Vice Admiral Sir Charles Kennedy-Purvis, Commander-in-Chief of the America and West Indies Station, who said:
To-day is the anniversary of a very gallant naval deed, that of the action of H.M.S. Jervis Bay, in which the ship was lost with most hands, carrying out her duty on November 5th, 1940.... The Jervis Bay was serving at the time under my command on this station and she was well-known in this City, where her officers and ship's company had many friends....The Jervis Bay was a medium-sized liner of 16 knots, used on the Australian trade. She was taken up at the beginning of the war and armed with eight 6-inch guns, of which four could be fired on one broadside. She was manned by a crew mostly Royal Naval Reserve and Mercantile Marine. The only Royal Naval Officer was Captain Fegen, her Commander - that was all. On November 5th towards evening she was steaming in the centre of the front line of a big convoy of nearly forty ships. These ships were disposed in columns of four with the columns abeam of each other. Suddenly, the port wing ship sighted smoke on the port bow, and very soon afterwards the foretop of a man-of-war.... Captain Fegen instructed the Commandant of the convoy, if this proved to be an enemy ship, to turn his convoy to starboard and to scatter, while he went out to port to engage the enemy. It soon became plain that the ship was German - one of the pocket battleships. The Jervis Bay steamed out ahead and turned to port. The convoy turned to starboard, dropping smoke floats and soon after scattered. The Jervis Bay proceeded on her course and was soon enveloped in the fire of six 11-inch guns. She was heavily straddled and hit and took fire. As soon as he was within range with his own guns, Captain Fegen opened fire and kept his 6-inch guns firing until the last. The ship became a blazing wreck and after an hour's action went to the bottom. A few survivors were picked up that night. The Jervis Bay delayed an attack on the convoy for a while and in that time the convoy was all over the ocean, with the result that only some 20% of the ships were lost and 80% of the convoy reached home.
Now, that is a tremendous decision to take when you are faced with overwhelming odds, but I know that in Captain Fegen's case there were no second thoughts. He had been brought up by his training of nearly forty years in His Majesty's Navy and by tradition to believe that the duty of an escort of a convoy is to protect that convoy at all costs. This he did. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for bravery which His Majesty the King can award.[7]
Ships in the convoy
Allied merchant ships
A total of 38 merchant vessels joined the convoy, either in Halifax or later in the voyage (convoys formed at Bermuda, coded BHX merged on the ocean with the convoys from Halifax as it was easier to protect one large convoy than two smaller ones).[8][9] Five merchant ships were sunk when the unified convoy was attacked, with one more sunk after the convoy dispersed.
| Name
|
Flag
|
Tonnage (GRT)
|
Notes
|
| Andalusian (1918)
|
 United Kingdom
|
3,082
|
|
| Anna Bulgaris (1912)
|
 Greece
|
4,603
|
|
| Athelempress (1930)
|
United Kingdom
|
8,941
|
Joined ex-BHX 84
|
| Atheltemplar (1930)
|
United Kingdom
|
8,992
|
Joined ex-BHX 84
|
| Beaverford (1928)
|
United Kingdom
|
10,042
|
Sunk by Admiral Scheer
|
| Briarwood (1930)
|
United Kingdom
|
4,019
|
|
| Castilian (1919)
|
United Kingdom
|
3,067
|
|
| Cetus (1920)
|
 Norway
|
2,614
|
|
| Cordelia (1932)
|
United Kingdom
|
8,190
|
Joined ex-BHX 84. Returned post-dispersal
|
| Cornish City (1936)
|
United Kingdom
|
4,952
|
|
| Dan-Y-Bryn (1940)
|
United Kingdom
|
5,117
|
|
| Danae Ii (1936)
|
United Kingdom
|
2,660
|
|
| Delhi (1925)
|
 Sweden
|
4,571
|
Joined ex-BHX 84
|
| Delphinula (1939)
|
United Kingdom
|
8,120
|
|
| Emile Francqui (1929)
|
 Belgium
|
5,859
|
|
| Empire Penguin (1919)
|
United Kingdom
|
6,389
|
|
| Erodona (1937)
|
United Kingdom
|
6,207
|
|
| Fresno City (1929)
|
United Kingdom
|
4,955
|
Sunk by Admiral Scheer
|
| Hjalmar Wessel (1935)
|
Norway
|
1,742
|
|
| James J Maguire (1939)
|
United Kingdom
|
10,525
|
|
| Kenbane Head (1919)
|
United Kingdom
|
5,225
|
Sunk by Admiral Scheer
|
| Lancaster Castle (1937)
|
United Kingdom
|
5,172
|
|
| Maidan (1925)
|
United Kingdom
|
7,908
|
Sunk by Admiral Scheer
|
| Morska Wola (1924)
|
 Poland
|
3,208
|
|
| Oilreliance (1929)
|
United Kingdom
|
5,666
|
Joined ex-BHX 84
|
| Pacific Enterprise (1927)
|
United Kingdom
|
6,736
|
Jx BHX 84
|
| Persier (1918)
|
Belgium
|
5,382
|
|
| Puck (1935)
|
Poland
|
1,065
|
|
| Rangitiki (1929)
|
United Kingdom
|
16,698
|
|
| Saint Gobain (1936)
|
Sweden
|
9,959
|
Joined ex-BHX 84
|
| San Demetrio (1938)
|
United Kingdom
|
8,073
|
afloat but ablaze, later recovered
|
| Solfonn (1939)
|
Norway
|
9,925
|
Joined ex-BHX 84
|
| Sovac (1938)
|
United Kingdom
|
6,724
|
|
| Stureholm (1919)
|
Sweden
|
4,575
|
Returned to Halifax post-dispersal
|
| Trefusis (1918)
|
United Kingdom
|
5,299
|
|
| Trewellard (1936)
|
United Kingdom
|
5,201
|
Sunk by Admiral Scheer
|
| Varoy (1892)
|
Norway
|
1,531
|
|
| Vingaland (1935)
|
Sweden
|
2,734
|
Sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft post-dispersal west of County Donegal
|
Convoy escorts
A series of armed military ships escorted the convoy at various times during its journey, with only one present when the Germans attacked.[8]
Germany
United Kingdom
Theodor Krancke
E.S.F. Fegen †