MV ''San Demetrio'' was a British

motor An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gen ...

tanker, notable for her service during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was built in 1938 for the

Eagle Oil and Shipping Company Eagle Oil and Shipping Company was a United Kingdom merchant shipping company that operated oil tankers between the Gulf of Mexico and the UK. Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray founded it as the Eagle Oil Transport Company in 1912 and sold i ...

. In 1940 she was damaged by enemy action in mid-Atlantic, abandoned by her crew but later re-boarded and successfully brought into harbour. She was the subject of a 1943 feature film, ''

San Demetrio London ''San Demetrio London'' is a 1943 British World War II docudrama based on the true story of the 1940 salvage of the tanker MV ''San Demetrio'' by some of her own crew, who reboarded her after she had been set on fire by the German heavy cruiser ...

'', one of the few films that recognised the heroism of the UK Merchant Navy crews during the War. ''San Demetrio'' was one of several motor tankers of about built for Eagle Oil and Shipping in the latter 1930s. She was built by the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company of Glasgow, who had also launched her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s ''San Conrado'' in 1936 and ''San Cipriano'' in 1937.

Convoy HX 84

''San Demetrio'' had loaded 11,200 tons of

aviation fuel Aviation fuels are petroleum-based fuels, or petroleum and synthetic fuel blends, used to power aircraft. They have more stringent requirements than fuels used for ground use, such as heating and road transport, and contain additives to enhanc ...

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of ...

, Dutch West Indies and was bound for

Avonmouth Avonmouth is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, facing two rivers: the reinforced north bank of the final stage of the Avon which rises at sources in Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and Somerset; and the eastern shore of the Severn Estuar ...

, England. She was one of 38 ships that joined

Convoy HX 84 Convoy HX 84 was the 84th of the numbered series of Allied North Atlantic HX convoys of merchant ships from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Liverpool, England, during the Battle of the Atlantic. Thirty-eight ships escorted by the armed merchant cruise ...

for the passage across the North Atlantic and left

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

on 28 October 1940. The s and escorted the convoy out of Canadian home waters but once clear of the coast, the convoy's sole escort was the

armed merchant cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

– a converted

passenger liner A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

that had been armed with seven outdated

BL 6 inch Mk VII naval gun The BL 6-inch gun Mark VII (and the related Mk VIII) was a British naval gun dating from 1899, which was mounted on a heavy travelling carriage in 1915 for British Army service to become one of the main heavy field guns in the First World War, ...

s and a pair of anti-aircraft guns.

Attack by ''Admiral Scheer''

On 5 November 1940, the found the convoy at and attacked immediately. Captain E.S.F. Fegen of HMS ''Jervis Bay'' steamed out towards the raider so as to delay ''Admiral Scheer'' to allow the convoy to scatter and escape. ''Jervis Bay'' was completely outclassed, but she fought for 22 minutes before she was sunk with the loss of 190 of her crew. Their sacrifice, followed by an alleged four-hour cat-and-mouse battle with the convoy freighter enabled most of the merchantmen from Convoy HX 84 to escape. Fegen received a posthumous

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. ''Admiral Scheer'' now tried to sink as many of the convoy as possible before darkness fell. She hit ''San Demetrio'' with several shells that killed look-out Ernest Daines, destroyed the bridge and

poop deck In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the rear, or " aft", part of the superstructure of a ship. The name originates from the French word for stern, ''la poupe'', from Latin ''puppis''. Thus th ...

and left the upper deck in flames. Despite both the exploding shells and the resultant fire, the ship's highly flammable cargo did not explode. Nevertheless, her

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

, Captain Waite, believed that the fire could set off the aviation fuel at any moment so he gave the order to abandon ship. With the ship remaining under fire from ''Admiral Scheer'', the crew escaped in three lifeboats. ''Admiral Scheer'' then turned her attention to other ships of the rapidly scattering convoy.

Re-boarding

The lifeboats separated in the night, and the two lifeboats with the captain and twenty-five crew were picked up and taken to Newfoundland. The sixteen men in the other lifeboat, including Second Officer Arthur G. Hawkins and Chief Engineer Charles Pollard, drifted for 24 hours when they sighted a burning ship. To their surprise, they discovered that it was their own ship, ''San Demetrio''. With few alternatives, the crew had to decide whether to risk death by exposure or to re-board and risk the fire. In the end they chose to remain in the lifeboat because the fire was too great and the weather too hazardous to attempt boarding, but after a second night in the boat and enduring a freezing North Atlantic winter gale, they regretted not re-boarding the tanker. San-demetrio-ship

At dawn the following day, 7 November 1940, the ''San Demetrio'' was about downwind so the crew set sail toward her and re-boarded. They fought the fire, repaired the port auxiliary boiler sufficiently to restart the ship's pumps and dynamos and repaired the auxiliary steering gear. No charts or navigational instruments had survived so the crew estimated a course from occasional glimpses of the sun. Her radio had not survived either. They managed to sail the tanker across the rest of the Atlantic, braving bad weather and U-boats. After seven days the ''San Demetrio'' reached waters off Ireland, from where they were escorted on to the mouth of the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

, docking on 16 November 1940. They declined the offer of a tow from a tug because of the high cost. Despite the damage and fire, only 200 tons of ''San Demetrio''s highly volatile cargo had been lost. There was only one fatality, John Boyle, who had been injured jumping into the lifeboat after the original battle and gradually began to feel unwell. He was propped up in the engine room, to watch the gauges, but died of a

haemorrhage Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vagi ...

after two days. He was posthumously awarded the

King's Commendation for Brave Conduct The Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct, formerly the King's Commendation for Brave Conduct, acknowledged brave acts by both civilians and members of the armed services in both war and peace, for gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. Est ...

. Since the crew had received no assistance from another vessel, in the ensuing case in the Probate, Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court, they were able to claim the salvage money from the insurers for the ship and cargo. The oil and freight cargo were valued at £60,000. The ship herself, almost new, was worth £250,000. The High Court awarded the claimants £14,700 salvage money: £2,000 of it going to Second Officer Hawkins; £1,000 to the estate of John Boyle. Another £1,000 went to 26-year-old Oswald John Edmund Preston, a Canadian seaman and Naturalized American Citizen, because he played a "magnificent" part when the battle started. Hawkins was also given the tattered Red Ensign of the ship. Salvage Payouts: Second Officer Hawkins was awarded the OBE for his gallantry. Chief Engineer Charles Pollard and Deck Apprentice John Lewis Jones each received the Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea. ''San Demetrio'' was repaired and returned to service.

Sinking

On 14 March 1942 ''San Demetrio'' sailed unescorted from

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

bound for the UK ''via'' Halifax, Nova Scotia with a cargo of 4,000 tons of

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

and 7,000 tons of aviation spirit. On 17 March she was northwest of Cape Charles,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

when the

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

ed and sank her. 16 crew and three DEMS gunners were lost, and six crew wounded, but survivors managed to launch two lifeboats. Two days later the US tanker SS ''Beta'' rescued the Master, 26 crew and five DEMS gunners and took them to

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. The Master, Conrad Vidot, was awarded the Lloyd's War Medal.

Film

The ship's part in Convoy HX 84 was made into a film, ''

'' in 1943, starring

Walter Fitzgerald Walter Fitzgerald Bond (18 May 1896 – 20 December 1976) was an English character actor. Early life Born in Stoke, Plymouth, Fitzgerald was a former stockbroker before he began his theatrical training at RADA. He joined the British Army dur ...

Mervyn Johns Mervyn Johns (born David Mervyn John; 18 February 18996 September 1992) was a Welsh stage, film and television character actor who became a star of British films during the Second World War. Johns was known for his "mostly mild-mannered, lugubrio ...

Ralph Michael Ralph Michael (26 September 1907 – 9 November 1994) was an English actor. He was born as Ralph Champion Shotter in London. His film appearances included ''Dead of Night'', ''A Night to Remember (1958 film), A Night to Remember'', ''Children ...

, and

Robert Beatty Robert Rutherford Beatty (19 October 1909 – 3 March 1992) was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK. Early years Beatty was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, O ...

. It was one of the few films to recognise the heroism of British Merchant Navy crews during the war.

Books

An 64-page account of the events surrounding the sinking written by F. Tennyson Jesse, ''The Saga of San Demetrio'', was published by

HMSO The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...

in 1942 as an exercise in helping boost public morale. One of the ship's crew, Able Seaman Calum Macneil, wrote a book called ''San Demetrio'', which was published by Angus and Robertson in 1957. It is a personal account of his leaving his previous ship and joining the crew of the ''San Demetrio''. He was one of the crew who abandoned the ship then re-boarded during the voyage of Convoy HX 84.

Art depictions and museum holdings

A wartime poster entitled "''San Demetrio'' gets home" was issued by the Post Office Savings Bank. It featured a painting of the ship by Charles Pears. She is also depicted in two works by

marine painter Marine art or maritime art is a form of figurative art (that is, painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture) that portrays or draws its main inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea—a genre part ...

Norman Wilkinson. ''The 'San Demetrio' at the Jervis Bay action, 5 November 1940'' is held by the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...

(NMM), while ''The Crew Reboarding the Tanker 'San Demetrio', 7 November 1940'' is held by the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

(IWM). The NMM collection also includes the

ship's bell A ship's bell is a bell on a ship that is used for the indication of time as well as other traditional functions. The bell itself is usually made of brass or bronze, and normally has the ship's name engraved or cast on it. Strikes Timing of s ...

. The IWM collection includes the compass (pictured right), a fragment of her

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

, and two models of the ship. One of these models was made by

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in West London. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on the site ever s ...

for use in the making of the film ''

''. The compass along with two newspaper cuttings (pictured right) were stored in John Jamieson's father's tenement from 1940 until 1972 at 600 Paisley Road West, Glasgow, then in Southampton, before being donated to the Imperial War Museum.

References

Sources and further reading

* * *

External links

Official interview 20 November 1940 with Charles Pollard, Chief Engineer, and Arthur C. Hawkins, 2nd Officer

San Demetrio page at HMSJervisBay.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Demetrio 1938 ships Ships built on the River Clyde North Atlantic convoys of World War II Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean Maritime incidents in November 1940 Maritime incidents in March 1942