Convoy HX 84
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 from Halifax on 28 October 1940, eastbound to Liverpool.[1]
| Convoy HX 84 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of World War II | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Nazi Germany |
 United Kingdom | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Theodor Krancke |
 E.S.F. Fegen † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1 heavy cruiser |
38 merchant ships 3 escorts (1 during attack) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| None |
5 merchants sunk 1 merchant damaged 1 escort sunk (1 merchant sunk post-dispersal) | ||||||
On 5 November 1940, the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer found the convoy at 50°30′N 32°00′W 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 scatter. 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. 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.[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
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).[3] 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) | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} 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.[3]
| Name | Flag | Type | Joined | Left |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HMCS Columbia | Royal Canadian Navy |
Town-class destroyer | 28 Oct 1940 | 29 Oct 1940 |
| HMS Jervis Bay | Royal Navy |
Armed merchant cruiser | 28 Oct 1940 | 05 Nov 1940 Sunk by Admiral Scheer |
| HMCS St. Francis | Royal Canadian Navy |
Town-class destroyer | 28 Oct 1940 | 29 Oct 1940 |
References
- Hague, Arnold (2000). The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945. Naval Institute Press. p. 127. ISBN 1-55750-019-3.
- Duncan Haws, Merchant Fleets in Profile Vol. 3, Cambridge: Patrick Stevens Co(1979), p. 167
- "Convoy HX.84". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
- 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