Atlantic Convoys and Nazi Raiders

The Deadly Voyage of HMS Jervis Bay

Bruce A. Watson

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 2005
• Print ISBN: 9780275988272
• eBook ISBN: 9780313055645
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World War II
• Index: History

In November of 1940, the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer attacked British Convoy HX-84. The merchant cruiser HMS Jervis Bay, a converted passenger liner that was the convoy's only escort—armed only with antique 6-inch guns—charged the Nazi raider. While the Jervis Bay did not stand a chance of surviving the battle, her crew's fatalistic bravery inspired awe in all who witnessed the fight. Watson recounts how the Scheer's 11-inch guns turned the ship into a burning hulk in twenty-two minutes, but most of the convoy escaped. In November of 1940, the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer attacked British Convoy HX-84. The Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS Jervis Bay, the only escort and mounting antique 6-inch guns, charged the Nazi raider. While the Jervis Bay did not stand a chance of surviving the battle, her crew's fatalistic bravery inspired awe in all who witnessed the fight. Watson describes how the Scheer's 11-inch guns turned the converted passenger liner into a burning hulk in twenty-two minutes, but most of the convoy escaped. How did this confrontation come to pass? Both the necessity of arming a passenger liner and pretending it was a warship, and the building of the Admiral Scheer and her sister ships for the express purpose of commerce raiding, find their roots in the events, political decisions, re-armament polices, war plans, naval traditions, and blunders that arose in pre-war Britain and Germany. But this event holds a significance beyond the battle itself. The sinking of the Jervis Bay symbolizes the end of an era in naval warfare. The Armed Merchant Cruisers of the Second World War inherited a long, sometimes noble and sometimes ignoble history. Long employed in blockade or patrol duty, armed merchant cruisers ventured out for the first time to escort convoys, a defensive duty for which they were eminently unsuited, and for which the Jervis Bay paid a fearful price.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1 Armed Merchant Ships: A Background
• Chapter 2 Rebuilding the German Navy between the Wars
• Chapter 3 The Royal Navy between the Wars
• Chapter 4 War: September 1939 to November 1940
• Chapter 5 The Battle between HMS Jervis Bay and the Admiral Scheer
• Chapter 6 The Continued Voyage of the Admiral Scheer
• Chapter 7 Götterdämmerung: Twilight of the German Surface Raiders
• Chapter 8 The Reasons Why
• Chapter 9 Last Things
• Appendix A: Selected Convoy Code Designations
• Appendix B: List of Merchant Ships in Convoy HX-84
• Appendix C: List of Jervis Bay Crewmen Lost in the Battle
• Appendix D: List of Jervis Bay Survivors
• Notes
• Glossary
• Selected Bibliography
• Index
• Photo sections