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From the lens The Jervis Bay and convoy HX84.

There is a lot to say about the Jervis Bay and convoy HX84, so this lens is simply an introduction.

If you have any comments, memories or further resources that you think should be included , please share them here.

  • Richard3331 Feb 12, 2012 @ 12:33 pm | delete
    Good Navy Lens Thank you
  • Peter Graves Dec 22, 2011 @ 12:57 am | delete
    Thanks for your excellent article. "If the Gods be Good" is another excellent account of the battle and the survivors' accounts much later.

    My mother emigrated from Ireland in 1930 aboard the civilian liner SS Jervis Bay and always remembered the later actions of Captain Fegan.

    Appropriately, in 1928-29, Captain Fegan had been the Commandant of Australia's Naval College at Jervis Bay, New South Wales. My father had finished his naval service there in 1922.

    Australia has just now taken delivery of HMAS Choules, which was formerly the RN's RFA Largs Bay. In the 1920s, the "SS Largs Bay" was one of the 5 "Bay" class liners bringing migrants to Australia.

    One of the others was the SS Jervis Bay.

    Good to see that one of the "Bay" vessels has returned to Australia.

    Peter Graves, Canberra.
  • Iain84 Nov 11, 2011 @ 4:29 am | delete
    A* lens! Lots and lots of information and pictures. Well done
  • Leslie Cavanagh Apr 13, 2011 @ 6:38 pm | delete
    My Uncle,was Petty Officer on 'The Jervis Bay'his name is William Margetts he alas died when his ship was confronted by the mighty pocket battle ship 'Admiral Scheer'.It was such a blow for my parents who thought the world of him.I went to see the memorial to the 'Jervis Bay' and the sailors who served on her, last year on 5thNovember 2010 at Chatham in Kent.It was the 70th anniversary of it's sinking.I never knew my uncle personally as i was born 5years after his death but i was so pleased to have seen the memorial and i think my parents would have approved.God bless all who sailed in her.
  • ChrisDay Dec 6, 2010 @ 4:01 am | delete
    Great tale of heroism and comradeship. Pity we rarely show these qualities outside war . . . Lensrolled to my 'Unsung Heroes' lens.
  • Michael Matthews Nov 4, 2010 @ 11:18 am | delete
    My father Fred Matthews was on the SS Castilian in convoy HX84, he said the attack started just as some of the crew were having tea, dad was a fireman and went back to the engine room to get as much steam out of the Castilian as possible when the order was given to scatter.

    Obviously beeing below he could not see what was happening but I have read that the Scheers floodlights fell on the Castilian but before she could open fire a better target came into view, the San Demetrio. So fate saved her as she was carrying amunition.
    An interesting fact was alongside my dad was another fireman called Jack Coffey who had jumped ship from the Titanic in Queenstown in 1912 just days before she sank. One very lucky man.
    Many lives are owed to the brave crew of the Jervis Bay.
  • Michael O'Reilly Oct 3, 2010 @ 2:22 am | delete
    My father,Michael Douglas O'Reilly, was sunk in the Jervis Bay convoy. He was on a ship named "Fresno City". He was in a lifeboat for several days and then picked up by a freighter heading to Halifax. He later joined the RCAF and won the Distinguished Flying Cross. He has since passed away but I tried to get a merchant marine gratuity for his widow (still alive) but was denied! His son....Michael O'Reilly.
  • Ken Harley Jul 25, 2010 @ 11:12 am | delete
    My father (Jack Harley) was a signalman on board the Cornish City which was the commodore's ship and responsible for the movements of convoy HX84. He recalls that the Mopan had caught up to the convey and had been asked if it wanted to join the convey. The Mopan had declined as it was carrying perishables and continued to sail away into the distance. My father kept an eye on it from time to time as it disappeared towards the horizon. Later that day at about 4:30pm, he came back on watch to find that the Mopan was still visible on the horizon. Puzzled, he thought it may have broken down. Very shortly after came the realisation that this was not the Mopan at all as the Von Scheer opened fire. One might think that if the Mopan had decided to join the convoy, then the Von Scheer would have reached the convoy much earlier in the day and many more ships and lives would have been lost including my father's, but against this there is also the thought that if the Mopan had radioed a warning to the convoy, then perhaps the Jervis Bay and the other ships sunk would have escaped into the darkness.
  • dave king Apr 10, 2010 @ 12:38 pm | delete
    My Uncle , Clifford cottis was on the San Demetrio, and was one of the 14 men who boarded the stricken vessel and helped get them back to the UK, love hearing him tell the story, he is still alive and living in Essex......
  • Chris Percival Nov 5, 2010 @ 8:27 pm | delete
    Hi Dave
    My father Eric Percival was a DEMS gunner on the San Demetrio when it was sunk by Uboat U404 in March 1942. He survived in an open life boat but 19 of the crew perished.
  • Paul Meadows Jan 11, 2011 @ 10:28 am | delete
    Hello Dave, I am researching HX 84 for a potential TV documentary. I would be very interested in contacting your uncle and any other survivors from that night. I wonder if you would be kind enough to contact me at peter@pwtv.co.uk. Many thanks
  • Jim Beaman Nov 11, 2009 @ 11:45 am | delete
    My father served on the Jervis Bay and was a survivor of that horrific night. He did not like to talk about it much so I dont have a lot of information. I found this site during a search. Thanks for sharing.
  • ronald mcminn Sep 18, 2009 @ 4:40 am | delete
    my grancfather served on the jervisbay his name was robert mcminn
  • stargazer00 May 31, 2009 @ 10:09 pm | delete
    Congrats on the purple star and welcome to the Anchors Aweigh Navy Lenses Group.
  • mukunda22 May 25, 2009 @ 10:45 pm | delete
    Great history with awesome pictures!! A well deserved purple star!!
  • tirial May 23, 2009 @ 1:47 pm | in reply to Pastiche | delete
    Thanks for your comment, and yes it is my third purple star. I just thought that this event, and these men, should not be forgotten.
  • Pastiche May 23, 2009 @ 12:13 pm | delete
    Excellent lens, congrats for the well-earned purple star - your third, correct?
  • poddys May 22, 2009 @ 8:57 pm | delete
    What a great lens, 5***** well deserved and congratulations on your Purple Star.
    My grandfather was on a Q-Ship during WWI, an armed trawler that lured U-Boats into a trap.
  • awelldressedbullet May 22, 2009 @ 8:54 pm | delete
    Congratulations on your Purple Star Award - Kathy
  • Evelyn_Saenz May 22, 2009 @ 7:32 pm | delete
    Congratulations on your well deserved Purple Star!
  • spirituality May 15, 2009 @ 2:32 am | delete
    Great lens - you've been blessed by a squidoo angel :)

by

tirial

Aviation, IT, History, Gaming, I'm interested in just about anything! I made the Squidoo Top 100 Club in June 2009. I have three fiction books in print... more »

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