1940: The German "pocket battleship" Admiral Scheer attacked convoy HX-84 in the mid-Atlantic. The convoy comprised 37 ships, escorted by the armed merchant cruiser Jervis Bay, commanded by Captain Fegen. Although unarmoured and massively outgunned - seven elderly 6" guns against Scheer's 11" main battery - Fegen attacked the German ship head on, ordering the convoy to scatter. Jervis Bay never once brought Admiral Scheer within the range of her own guns, but fought on with her decks ablaze. 190 of her crew of 255 were killed, including Fegen.

A lesson that should be drummed into the ipod generation:
Cowardly Sailors

Convoy HX 84 also contained the fuel tanker San Demetrio, which was shelled and set on fire. The crew abandoned ship, but on the 7th Nov. saw a ship that turned out to be their own. Re-boarding,the crew managed to patch things sufficiently to get under way and bring their 11,000 tons of fuel to the Clyde, having lost only 200 tons. A magnificent feat of seamanship and courage.
More information from one of the crew is here- http://www.rhiw.com/y_mor/capt_j_l_jones/san_demetrio/san_demetrio.htm

"HX" indicates that the convoy was a fast eastbound from HalifaX to the UK (normally Liverpool). ON/ONF (Outward North Atlantic/ later Outward North Atlantic - Fast)were the corresponding westbound movements. The correspodning sssllooowww convoys were SC (Sydney/Cape Breton to UK) and ONS while "Monsters" were ships such as the Queen Mary capable of operating too fast to be attacked by U-boats(also no escort could keep up with them without running out of fuel or being driven so hard as to be damaged)and sailed independently

http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/os33/index.html?
code.htm~mainframe33

http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/
Col Beausaber (whose dad was a sailor on the carrier USS San Jacinto)