HMS Jervis Bay - Guide 312

The Jervis Bay, an armed merchant cruiser of the British Royal Navy, is today's subject.

Read more about the the ship here:

[scott]

“Death is lighter than a feather, but duty is heavier than a mountain”. This was popularized by Robert Jordan in The Wheel of Time book series, but came originally from an 1882 Imperial rescript given to Japanese soldiers and sailors. Though they were of a different nation, the Captain and crew of the Jervis Bay understood this and shouldered it willingly.

Thank you, Drach, for remembering them.

[py]

As a boy, my dad read the story of HX 84 to me from the book Pocket Battleship. Krancke's recollections of the battle and attestation to the bravery of the Jervis Bay's captain and crew have stuck with me all these years.

[edmondbarrett]

It's one thing to go into a fight against a peer or near peer opponent, it's another thing entirely to go into one where you know you don't stand even the faintest chance.

It's also worth remembering the Swedish ship that was part of the convoy and risked going back into the killing zone to look for Jervis Bay's survivors.

[joelrodriguez]

I am in awe of the bravery of the men of Jervis Bay. An old liner with outdated guns capable of roughly half the top speed of its opponent and hopelessly outmatched. They still charged headlong towards that enemy in order to give the other vessels a chance to escape. They knew the odds were not in their favor and yet they proceeded anyway.

[walterblock]

There is a memorial to HMS Jervis Bay in Bermuda. I used to live there and my Father and I would always go to the memorial service held on the day she was destroyed, strong attendance from the Bermuda Sailor's Home; a charity for the benefit of seamen and also the local bar.

[malkymac]

I was told about the Jervis Bay as a child in the 70's. 14 of the crew were from my home town of Wick, Scotland. Half of them survived.

[msytdc]

'Tis but a scratch! - Captain Edward 'One Arm' Fegen

[davidatkinson]

I worked for Shaw Saville and Albion in Leadenhall Street. In one of the office corridors there was a very large oil painting of SS Jervis Bay's action with the Admiral Scheer.
Captain Fogarty Fegen certainly earned his VC that day, and also the rest of his crew that failed to survive the very one sided battle.
It must be a different sort of bravery that caused men to go to what was virtually certain death against an enemy.

[The_Modeling_Underdog]

Fegen: "Get me closer, I want to hit them with my six-incher."

A well deserved VC for a most corageous man. Fegen had been involved in a rescue operation during WWI. He was awarded the Sea Gallantry Medal for it. He was the XO of the Royal Australian Naval College at one time. It was located in... Jervis Bay. Talk about foreshadowing.

Thanks for reminding us about the AMCs and their crews, Drach.

[karlsilcock]

My grandfather traveled to Australia on the jervis bay on the 1932 British Lions Rugby League tour, I've watched these vids for year's and it's the first one I've had a direct link to for certain.

[larsnewbould]

The self-sacrifice of HMS Jervis Bay has haunted me since adolescence. I do believe it is pronounced "Jarvis Bay", BTW. This was the first thing I asked my Australian father-in-law. Nice work 👊

[CalasTyphon]

Heroic actions of a brave crew, the admiral scheer also damaged it's one radio I believe while it was attacking Jervis bay which no doubt also helped the convoy in the longer term.

[joeesposito]

While visiting Bermuda in '03, there was a museum there with a lifeboat from the Jervis Bay. It had been dropped off for repair when the ship stopped there. Alas, the ship never returned to collect the boat, and in the museum it sits until this day, a reminder of the sacrifice. Having known of this fight beforehand, it was a chilling sight.

[tangonf]

At Tower Hill in London there is a memorial to over 29, 000 men of the Merchant navy who were lost during the Second World War. Whilst remembering those who fought in the Royal Navy let us not forget those incredibly courageous men who went to sea over and again in order to bring essential supplies to Britain so that the fight could go on and eventual victory won.

[theblackbear]

As a Chief Engineer I have told the story of HX-84 for decades.
The selfless courage of the Jervis Bay, placing their duty to the convoy above their own likely survival.
The resourcefulness, skill and courage of the crew of the San Demetrio, reboarding their burning vessel
and managing to bring her into port.
The forethought, courage and humanity of the Stureholm, to get an accurate bearing and fix on the Jervis Bay,
then, manage to avoid the enemy, and allowing for all the vagaries of drift, to locate the Jervis Bay's
survivors in the dark.
There were many examples set for seamen that day.
Thanks for sharing.

[digitaleopardd]

I've been waiting for this one. This is the essence of bravery in the face of impossible odds, and doing one's duty for the sake of your fellow man. Thanks, Drach.

[ricardobufo]

of all poetry I read in school, this moved me the most

THE JERVIS BAY by MICHAEL THWAITES, Lieutenant, R.N.V.R.

This is the plain imperious story
Of an old ship that plied her trade
Obscure, and came to Hell Mouth unafraid,
And fought, and perished in a burning glory.

... 7 pages later

And it is cold and it is night
Before the finish of the fight
When the panting wolf shakes free
From the bloody corpse, and he
Lies like a sack, defaced and dead,
And the sheep into the hills are fled
And the wolf slinks to his bed.
....

But now thick night was over the sea, and a wind from the west blew keen,

And the hopeless waters tossed their heads where the Jervis Bay had been,
And the raider was lost in the rain and the night, and low clouds hid the seas,
But high above sea and storm and cloud appeared the galaxies,
And the big stars called the little stars that had not dared to peep,
And all the stars of heaven came out across the heaving deep,
And they shone bright over the good shepherd of sheep.

[rolandvachon]

The first local casualty from the City of Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada in WWII was stoker Alexander Milton "Jimmie" Johnston who was killed in that action. A small parkette exists in the city named after that ship and a brass plaque commemorates that action and his loss.

[Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

Sacrificed themselves to buy the ships they were escorting time to get away... RIP to these brave men

[buonafortuna]

Always find this account and that of Rawalpindi quite chilling. Brave men.