Convoy HX 84
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Convoy HX 84 was the 84th of the numbered series of Allied North Atlantic HX convoys of merchant ships from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Liverpool, England during the battle of the Atlantic. Thirty-eight ships escorted by the armed merchant cruiser HMS Jervis Bay departed Halifax on 28 October 1940, eastbound to Liverpool.[1]
On 5 November 1940, the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer found the convoy at Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. and attacked immediately. Captain E.S.F. Fegen of Jervis Bay attacked the raider so as to delay Admiral Scheer and to allow the convoy to escape. 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 scatter. The merchant ship Beavorford, armed with only two guns, engaged Admiral Scheer in a cat and mouse gunnery duel that lasted for five hours before Beaverford was sunk with all hands. This allowed most of the convoy to complete their escape.[2] Admiral Scheer was only able to sink six of the 38 ships in the convoy.
Maiden, Trewellard, Kenbame Head, Beaverford 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.
Ships in the convoy[3]
| 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 | |
| HMCS Columbia (I49) |  Royal Canadian Navy |
Escort 28-29 Oct | |
| 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 | |
| HMS Jervis Bay | Royal Navy |
Escort 28 Oct - 5 Nov Sunk by Admiral Scheer |
|
| 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 |
| MS 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 | |
| Solfonn (1939) | Norway |
9,925 | Joined ex-BHX 84 |
| Sovac (1938) | United Kingdom |
6,724 | |
| HMCS St Francis | Royal Canadian Navy |
Escort 28-29 Oct | |
| Stureholm (1919) | Sweden |
4,575 | Returned 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 W of County Donegal |
References
- Dan van der Vat : The Atlantic Campaign (1988).ISBN 0-340-37751-8
- Arnold Hague : The Allied Convoy System 1939-1945 (2000). ISBN (Canada) 1 55125 033 0 . ISBN (UK) 1 86176 147 3
- Theodor Krancke, Hans Brennecke : The Battleship ‘Scheer’ (1956). ISBN
- Calum MacNeil : San Demetrio (1957). ISBN
