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
Date 5 November 1940 Location North Atlantic Result German tactical victory
Belligerents
Nazi Germany	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
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.