HMS Jervis Bay TAKES ON Admiral Scheer in EPIC Showdown

[@TheNorthernHistorian]

This video came as a result of a suggestion in a comment on a previous video. Please feel free to leave a comment on this video and any other suggestions for future videos. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please leave a Like and consider subscribing to help support and grow my channel. Thanks.

[@superancientmariner1394]

Check out HMS Li Wo.for another bravery story.

[@howardjolley2215]

Very well done. Capt. Fegen and his gallant knew they had no choice but to attack. It's a legacy that will endure. God Bless the Royal Navy, the Merchant Marine and the Royal Canadian Navy. They fought long and hard in the Atlantic to get those ships and their cargos to Britain and back. The sea bed is littered with their sacrifice.

[@fredericksaxton3991]

Excellent video. My father did his WW2 service on board a "Armed Merchant Cruiser", HMS Asturious. He said they took a cargo liner and stuck a 4" gun on the stern and called it a warship. Luckily he did not go into combat, but an Italian sub found them in the South Atlantic and stuck it's last torpedo into them and killed 50 crew, but did not sink her. They bounced about the ocean for several days with no power until an ocean tug came from South Africa and towed them (in reverse) to safety and repairs. RIP Dad.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Usually, AMCs were fitted with 6 inch guns, although generally of pre WW1 manufacture. The ships were intended to be able to challenge auxiliary cruisers, as Carmania had Cap Trafalgar in WW1. They were certainly not capable of engaging a regular warship.

[@fredericksaxton3991]

@@dovetonsturdee7033 I have a photo dated Jan 21st 1941. Gun Crew. There are 9 men in the photo, including my dad who looks a sprog compared to the rest.

[@bloodswettears234]

🙏

[@tonysaunders7521]

Ditto my dad. Served on DEMS in the Med. Didn't tell me much. about his service except he took part in Operation Pedestal. Lest we forget.

[@gordonfrickers5592]

Thank you for this post. I first heard of this story some 65 years astern when I was little more than a nipper. My Father, a sensible man, took me to the Imperial War Museum, London and himself a veteran, together with my Mother, explained to me many of the exhibits. This was one of the stories that stayed with me. It's right up there with the Thermopylae, siege of Masada, Spartacus & others of that caliber. I'm fairly sure it was in the Imperial War Museum I saw the awesome painting of Jervis Bay by Montague Dawson. A painting I've never forgotten despite myself working for 40 plus years as a maritime artist.

[@MichaelCampin]

My great uncle was killed on HMS Rawlpundi, he was a pompom gunner and lost his life on HMS Rawalpindi but another uncle was awarded the CBE for designing the interior of the Royal Yacht Britannia

[@geordiedog1749]

Sounds like the wrong relative got the gong!

[@MichaelCampin]

@geordiedog1749 very probably as I understand HMS Rawalpindi was the first ship sunk by foreign action during WWII, but now I hold my Great Great Uncle John's title as a Lord

[@JohnPerry-h3l]

I honor his heroism ...

[@rob5944]

I hesitated to watch this as the recounting of this story literally brought me to tears, as such things always do.

[@TheNorthernHistorian]

I know what you mean Rob. These stories are harrowing but need to be remembered. Thanks for watching and thanks for your comment.

[@geordiedog1749]

I just can’t imagine what it was like onboard as they were steaming towards the enemy absolutely knowing you were going to get battered. I’d have jumped over the side, I reckon.

[@hazchemel]

That makes me feel a lot less self-conscious about the same thing :)

[@hazchemel]

​@geordiedog1749 Yes, agreed, these guys are on some unimaginable level of heroic valour.

[@russellnixon9981]

Thank you for bringing to our attention this forgotten act of heroic bravery by this captain and his crew, one of so many that has become over looked.

[@TheNorthernHistorian]

You're welcome.

[@mikesummers-smith4091]

I remember an "X Years Ago Today" article in the Guardian. A journalist had interviewed sailors from the first ships of the convoy as it straggled into Liverpool. It was clear that none of them had yet come to grips with what they'd witnessed a few days earlier. Two more for you - Campbell Howard Buchanan of HMNZS Kiwi Teddy Sheean of HMAS Armidale

[@TheNorthernHistorian]

It must have been an horrific experience for them. Thanks for the tips also, I'll take a look into them. Thanks Mike.

[@petergraves2085]

Especially Teddy Sheean - posthumously awarded a VC for continuing to fire his bow gun against Japanese fighters firing on crew members in the water: while the ship was sinking from under water. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Sheean

[@maxsmith4028]

It’s one of the things that happen in war. To me, saving all those sailors was a very special and brave act.

[@MarshFlyFightWin]

Awesome video, my great grandfather was an officer aboard the Admiral Scheer during her first Atlantic sortie. He sadly didn't survive the war but we have a photo album of his time on the Admiral Scheer including a blurry picture of what the album labeled attacking merchant escort which is most likely Jervis Bay, though its hard to tell based on the distance.

[@TimMiddleton]

Excellent video. Thank you.

[@TheNorthernHistorian]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@percyprune7548]

2 things I remember from the accounts. 1) the lack of formal thanks by the British government to the Swedish ships crew who risked their lives to pick up survivors while in range of the German guns 2) differing accounts of the Canadian S.S. Beaverthorn. Some claim the Captain 'took over' when the Jervis Bay was sunk, with her own antiquated guns taking on the German raider to buy time for the convoy; others say it did not happen. Either way, she sank with all hands. It would be nice to have a definitive version of that.

[@parrotraiser6541]

An act of cold-blooded courage that deserves to be better known.

[@karlsilcock8727]

My grandfather traveled to Australia and back with the GB Lions Rugby League touring side, in 1932, on the SS Jervis Bay. I've got a postcard of the ship somewhere and some pictures of players doing some training on the deck.

[@WilliamDoyle-rb6lt]

Excellent video, the photos and paintings match the story. We'll researched and narrated. Perhaps you could tell the Story of the USS Johnston and Samuel B Robert's who sacrificed themselves under similar circumstances off of Samar.

[@TheNorthernHistorian]

Thanks very much William, much appreciate your comment. The USS Johnston is already on my list of possibles to consider, it seems a fascinating story.

[@stephenfarthing3819]

Next to the Jervis Bay, 7 ships out of this convoy were sunk and damaged the San Demetrio, that vessel was one of the 31 vessels that made it back to the British Isles.

[@rolandvachon9848]

The first WWII casualty from the City of Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada was stoker Alexander Milton (Jimmie) Johnson who died on the Jervis Bay. There is a small parkette located in Owen Sound named after that vessel.

[@rileyanoid8444]

I thoroughly believe it was the right decision, giving time for the convoy to scatter. A convoy in formation would be easy pickings compared to having to chase down individual ships. Yet, I have reservations over the award given. Not because it was undeserved but because I believe the ship and its crew should have been honoured. The gun crews, desperately hoping for a chance to come into action. Those encased below, coaxing every last ounce of power from the engines in order to close on the enemy. Do they not deserve the same laudits for doing their duty? With the exception of family and friends, and possibly, their name carved on a memorial, can anyone name a single crewman from this ship? Yet they all played their part. Honour them all.

[@MarkPayne-k7l]

The Royal Navy, in awarding the VC to a captain, purposefully honours the entire crew and the ship itself. Individual further acts of outstanding bravery are, if witnesses survive, also honoured.

[@rolandbevan7088]

Mopan had three boilers - screwed down to increase steam pressure - increase speed - when in danger. A special lubricant was made for this exercise. A Bucket of oil and a bucket of liquid soap was added to a bucket of water to lubricate slides and bearings. This had proved itself to be effective when they out ran at least one Uboat. Their normal run was 14 days out to the West Indies on one boiler and 9 days home using three boilers. They were ahead of the convoy by reason of their speed.

[@keithdrower9120]

I live just near Jervis Bay, in New South Wales, Australia. Some people call it 'Jarvis Bay'. The Australian Navy is much more modern now. The officers College is still here, turning out 1st class Australian Navy Officers. It is called HMAS Creswell. HMAS Albatross ( Navy Air Wing), is also nearby. It is mainly a Navy helicopter base now.

[@petergraves2085]

Jervis Bay is a wonderful part of the world - and part of the Australian Capital Territory (where I live). Please my extended comments above, especially that the Royal Australian Naval College at Jervis Bay has an annual dinner to honour the memory of their former Commandant Captain Fegen VC.

[@Lord.Kiltridge]

*Who are these men?* Who are these men who march so proud Who quietly weep, eyes closed, head bowed. These are the men who once were boys Who missed out on youth and all it's joys. Who are these men with sorrowful look Who can still remember the lives that were took. These are the men who saw young men die, The price of peace is always high. Who are these men with aged faces Who silently count the empty spaces. These are the men who gave their all Who fought for their country, for freedom for all. These are the men who in the midst of pain Whispered comfort to those who won't see again. These are the men whose hands held tomorrow, Who brought back our future through blood, tears and sorrow. Who are all these men who promise to keep Alive in their hearts the ones God holds asleep? These are the men to whom I promise again Veterans, my friends, I WILL REMEMBER THEM. This poem was written in 1996 by eleven year old Jodie Johnson after seeing a service of Remembrance in Aldershot and was published by the Kensington Regimental Association.

[@TheNorthernHistorian]

That's a beautiful poem. Thanks for sharing.

[@howardjolley2215]

Absolutely spot on. Well done!

[@geordiedog1749]

It’s perhaps not just the fact that this happened that is notable but the fact that it kept happening. The Royal Navy managed to instil its enemies with a belief that they were always going to get a fight to the death and even if you had all the advantages it was still going to be kicked back as hard as was possible. It rammed home the message (often literally) that if you took on the RN you were going to get beat or, at the very least, suffer losses. It’s what ABC was on about when he said during the Crete debacle “It takes the Navy three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to build a new tradition. The evacuation will continue.” The result of this was to grind down the moral of its opponents who settled for passive fleet on being strategies or commerce raiding. This was apparent in both the first and the second world wars. Same suggestions as always - North east coast convoy war and/or MV Brisbane Star. Nice work as always btw (maybe a wee bit syrupy with the glory rhetoric. Just my opinion:)

[@Shadooe]

"Damme, Mr. Wilson, sir," he shouts, "We're not hearing mandolins today, somewhere south of Singapore!" The Jervis Bay Goes Down - Gene Fowler, 1941.

[@timokuusela5794]

And, at the Pearly Gates, he was saluted by Lord Nelson. "You kept the tradition alive, son"

[@paulsandford3345]

My father was a cadet officer on board an oil tanker heading from Fremantle Australia to Cape Town South Africa, when they came into contact with the pocket Battle ship Admiral Sheer, they flooded the tanker to sink and manned the life boats. But the Captain of the German ship sent divers onto the tanker and reversed the pumps and took the ship! My father was taken prisoner and put on a prison ship which then sailed to France, where he and many other were them taken by train to Germany, where they remained as prisoners of war until the end of the war!

[@kidmohair8151]

we, who survive, salute them.

[@Volcano-Man]

Douglas Reeman wrote a novel loosely based around HMS Jervis Bay and HMS Rawalpindi. 'Rendezvous South Atlantic.'

[@rolandbevan7088]

My farther was on the MOPAN (Elders and Fyfes) 2 and a half days ahead of the Convoy. Before they sank, they were able to get-off in Morse Code "R". to indicate that the Von Sheer was at that location.

[@manonthemoon2912]

The battle for the convoy did not end with the loss of JERVIS BAY. The Canadian Pacific Railways merchant ship SS Beaverford turned and engaged the German goliath single handily, fighting until her ultimate destruction. Sadly the historic legacy of this ship and her gallant sailors has been all but lost to history. RIP Engineering Officer John Ellis SS Beaverford

[@michaelhirst4191]

No. The Beaverford did no such thing. She quite properly fled in accordance with the commodore’s order to scatter. One small burning freighter did fire a shot which landed close enough to the Admiral Scheer to cause some concern, but this ship could not have been the Beaverford, which was neither small nor (at that time) damaged in any way. More likely, this brave ship was the Kenbane Head. The Beaverford was the last but one of the ships caught by the Scheer that night. Illuminated by star shell or similar, she was stopped by gunfire as she attempted to escape, but she did not easily sink because her deck cargo of timber kept the wreck afloat. Rather than waste more shells, the Scheer finished off the wreck with a torpedo. This sinking was witnessed from the Fresno City, ten miles away, and noted in the ship’s log. No return fire was noted. Nor was any noticed by Captain (later Admiral) Krancke of the Admiral Scheer, who later wrote a book about the first war cruise of the Scheer. The English version was titled “Pocket Battleship”. There were no survivors from the Beaverford, and the legendary fight of that ship appears to have been nothing more than a wartime myth, which surfaced only years later, in a Scottish newspaper. It was reproduced rather carelessly by an amateur naval historian who ought to have known better, and gained a lot of undeserved traction, but it is quite clearly a myth, and it detracts from the credit due to the real heroes - the captain and crew of HMS Jervis Bay. To which list of heroes I would add the master and crew of the Swedish freighter, Stureholm, which instead of escaping, returned to rescue the survivors of the Jervis Bay.

[@donbrech7822]

See also Captain Edward Kennedy’s heroic defence of a convoy in HMS Rawalpindi against two German warships.

[@stuartofblyth]

3:43 "The Admiral Scheer was a formidable opponent". You can say that again!

[@carlosalbertolcolombo8711]

Fue coherente con su deber y la tradición naval pero, en términos prácticos, sospecho que su sacrificio no tuvo ninguna incidencia en la suerte del convoy ( dada la diferencia de velocidad entre el atacante y los mercantes)😮

[@MarkPayne-k7l]

That cannot be true, as even with nearly half an hour bought slower moving merchant vessels scattering in all directions meant that the Admiral Scheer was only able to sink seven out of nearly 40 ships that day before darkness fell. The miles of distance between ships soon add up with first half an hour and then another half-hour and so forth.That is one of the basic rationales for the convoy system in the first place if it is not defended by destroyers or corvettes against submarines - when continued concentration was advisable to enable the warships to maintain contact with the undersea attackers. Attack by a surface raider required different tactics and these were admirably demonstrated by the action of Fegen and his crew.

[@dovetonsturdee7033]

Yess it did. It gave the convoy additional time to scatter, which was the procedure what a convoy was attacked by a surface raider.

[@MrBook123456]

good one

[@moosifer3321]

WOT! No mention of San Demetrio, possibly the (2nd) most famous Tanker of WWII? An event that deserves to be remembered, Jervis Bay and her gallant Crew contrast vividly with HMS Rawalpindi`s foolhardy and pointless destruction having dutifully protected Her `Flock`. Kudos to the Neutral (Swedish?) Ship that returned to rescue Survivors - more on that maybe?

[@petergraves2085]

See my comments above, about both the Swedish vessel STUREHOLM and the separate book on the San Demetrio (whose author was one of the crew and later went to work at a Sydney oil refinery).

[@MarkPayne-k7l]

Who else remembers the film San Demetrio, London?

[@moosifer3321]

@@MarkPayne-k7l AND the Book.

[@davelloyd-wide1556]

This action like so may others does not comment on the crew of the vessel. They supported their skipper and manned the guns, the ammunition hoists, the fire pumps, the engine rooms!!! Without these crew members the action could not have taken place. WHERE WAS THEIR REWARD? WHERE IS THEIR HONOUR?? RM 1 to many

[@thomaspearson1919]

Brave men, RIP lads.

[@festinger3]

And now we have Khahn ruining London and Starmer ruining the country! Such wonderful Britains, once ubiquitous, are now rare treasures.

[@methaneman4045]

A waste, given what politicians have done to our country. My dad fought in Burma and lost many colleagues

[@soyboymotivation]

We dont have freedom in the UK in 2024.

[@loritabarber-iw3fy]

This is what happens when politicians get us into wars that we are not fit for.brave men have to sacrifice themselves ,heroes all!😇😇😇😇

[@andrewdavies8954]

It's pronounced J (A) rvis Bay

[@TheNorthernHistorian]

Thanks for the correction.

[@davewolfy2906]

Utter bollocks. A ship is iron and rivets. How many in the engine room of the Glowworm got the VC?

[@davedixon2068]

ALL OF THEM

[@davewolfy2906]

@davedixon2068 the captain got awarded the VC. Nobody else.

[@MarkPayne-k7l]

Please see my posting above on the awards of VCs to captains to honour the entire crew and the ship in such an action as those engaged in by Fegen and Roope.

[@davewolfy2906]

@@MarkPayne-k7l I do not care. A captain of my troop got an OBE - Other Bastards Efforts. I did not get an OBE.

[@edenbreckhouse]

@@MarkPayne-k7l I've just read the citation for his VC. No mention of the crew was made so your point is incorrect.

[@robertcameron2808]

The captain thought he was Nelson why would you take a old hulk up against a capital ship? The result shot to pieces.

[@AlasdairMorrison-z8m]

He was carrying out his duty protecting his convoy as the Royal Navy had done since the Napoleonic Wars.

[@percyprune7548]

If you need to be told why then you should not watch such videos.

[@Rickkennett143]

The result was that he saved the majority of his convoy.

[@martinwest8374]

@@percyprune7548 Well said - someone had to.

[@howardjolley2215]

@@percyprune7548 Actually I think he should watch more videos of this type so he can learn WHY! A good place to start might be the story/video of HMS Glowworm.