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Convoy during naval battles of the Second World War

Convoy HX 84 was the 84th of the numbered series of Allied North Atlantic HX convoys of merchant ships from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Bermuda to Liverpool, England, during the Battle of the Atlantic. Thirty eight ships escorted by the armed merchant cruiser departed from Halifax on 28 October 1940, eastbound to Liverpool.

On the morning of 5 November, HX 84 had been passed by the cargo liner , which was also bound for Liverpool, enroute from Port Antonio, during which an offer had been made to Mopans Master, Captain Sapsworth, for Mopan to join HX 84. However, the offer had been declined and Mopan continued eastbound alone.

Having been thwarted from using its Arado Ar 196 seaplane the previous day, on 5 November the weather was suitable for German cruiser Admiral Scheer to utilise its air reconnaissance. A seaplane was launched at 09:40hrs having been ordered to make a sweep wide and deep. When the seaplane returned at 12:05 the observer reported having sighted a convoy steaming eastbound at position This meant that the intervening distance between Admiral Scheer and the convoy was approximately No escort had been observed. This confirmed the earlier B Dienst radio intercept by Admiral Scheer which had identified the convoy as being HX 84.

The merchant ship , 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. However, given that the convoy ships were scattering in all directions, it is unlikely that anyone on another ship could have reliably seen all of this. The story is also contradicted by the account Admiral Scheers captain wrote after the war. Krancke paid generous tribute to the courage of Jervis Bay, and of a small burning freighter that fired back just before she sank (this must have been Kenbane Head). He did not mention any battle with Beaverford, which he records only as a ship carrying a deck cargo of timber that Admiral Scheer caught up with as it fled at speed far to the south of the main action. When finally caught, Beaverford proved hard to sink by gunfire, and was therefore torpedoed to save ammunition. There is no mention of any fight or any return fire from Beaverford, and far from being a four or five hour battle, Beaverford was attacked only 50 minutes after Kenbane Head and about an hour before Admiral Scheer caught up with Fresno City. There was no time for any such battle. The sinking of Beaverford was witnessed from Fresno City, also fleeing south. Her captain's log recorded: "The Beaverford, bearing 110 degrees East South East was attacked and set on fire, distant about 10 miles".

Maiden, Trewellard, Kenbane Head, and Fresno were sunk and the tanker 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. Admiral Scheer was only able to sink six of the 38 ships in the convoy.

It is debatable, given the unimportance of intercepting a sole merchantman instead of attacking a 38 ship convoy with negligible protection, that Admiral Scheer should have allowed such operational delay. The time taken to intercept, evacuate and sink Mopan, followed by the actions involving Jervis Bay and Beaverford, undoubtedly enabled HX 84 to escape extensive destruction.</blockquote>

A total of 38 merchant vessels joined the convoy, either in Halifax or later in the voyage (convoys formed at Bermuda, coded BHX merged on the ocean with the convoys from Halifax as it was easier to protect one large convoy than two smaller ones). Five merchant ships were sunk when the unified convoy was attacked, with one more sunk after the convoy dispersed. NameFlagTonnage (GRT)NotesAndalusian (1918)UKGBI3,082Anna Bulgaris (1912)Greece4,603Athelempress (1930)UKGBI8,941Joined ex BHX 84Atheltemplar (1930)UKGBI8,992Joined ex BHX 84 (1928)UKGBI10,042Sunk by German cruiser Admiral ScheerBriarwood (1930)UKGBI4,019Castilian (1919)UKGBI3,067Cetus (1920)Norway2,614Cordelia (1932)UKGBI8,190Joined ex BHX 84. Returned post dispersalCornish City (1936)UKGBI4,952Dan Y Bryn (1940)UKGBI5,117Danae Ii (1936)UKGBI2,660Delhi (1925)Sweden4,571Joined ex BHX 84Delphinula (1939)UKGBI8,120Emile Francqui (1929)Belgium5,859Empire Penguin (1919)UKGBI6,389Erodona (1937)UKGBI6,207Fresno City (1929)UKGBI4,955Sunk by Admiral ScheerHjalmar Wessel (1935)Norway1,742James J Maguire (1939)UKGBI10,525Kenbane Head (1919)UKGBI5,225Sunk by Admiral ScheerLancaster Castle (1937)UKGBI5,172Maidan (1925)UKGBI7,908Sunk by Admiral Scheer (1924)Poland3,208Oilreliance (1929)UKGBI5,666Joined ex BHX 84Pacific Enterprise (1927)UKGBI6,736Jx BHX 84Persier (1918)Belgium5,382Puck (1935)Poland1,065Rangitiki (1929)UKGBI16,698Saint Gobain (1936)Sweden9,959Joined ex BHX 84 (1938)UKGBI8,073afloat but ablaze, later recoveredSolfonn (1939)Norway9,925Joined ex BHX 84Sovac (1938)UKGBI6,724Stureholm (1919)Sweden4,575Returned to Halifax post dispersalTrefusis (1918)UKGBI5,299Trewellard (1936)UKGBI5,201Sunk by Admiral ScheerVaroy (1892)Norway1,531Vingaland (1935)Sweden2,734Sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft post dispersal west of County Donegal