HMS Jervis Bay

In November 1940, in the cold and deadly North Atlantic, a converted passenger liner named HMS Jervis Bay faced an impossible task. She was the only escort for Convoy HX 84 when a German pocket battleship, the Admiral Scheer, appeared on the horizon. Her captain, Edward Fegen, ordered the merchant ships to scatter and turned his under-armed vessel straight toward the enemy. What followed was twenty minutes of pure courage, a hopeless stand that saved thirty-one ships and hundreds of lives. This is the story of a sacrifice so complete it stunned even the enemy. The Jervis Bay went down in flames, her flag still flying, and her captain was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Tonight, we remember one of the most heroic and selfless moments in naval history, when an old liner met a modern warship and proved that bravery can hold the line against overwhelming firepower.