RMS Carmania.


HMS Carmania.


* * *

RMS / HMS Jervis Bay.


On 5 November, 1940, HMS Jervis Bay (Capt ESF Fegen) was shelled and sunk by the German pocket-battleship [i]Admiral Scheer while engaging the superior enemy ship in a heroic, if hopeless, fight to give the 37 merchants in the convoy HX-84 a chance to escape, because it was the sole escort.

Her sacrifice allowed many ships of the convoy to scatter and escape in the night. Capt ESF Fegen (Royal Navy) was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. 190 men were lost, while 65 survivors were picked up by the Swedish merchant Stureholm.

HMS Jervis Bay was a converted Royal Mail Steamship, totally unsuitable for a fight with a genuine panzerschiffe, yet its captain an crew proved what they were worth.