Maidan II was built for Thos.& Jno. Brocklebank in 1925 by Charles Connell & Co. of Glasgow as a steam turbine vessel driving through a single propeller. She cost £167,600 and was the first of a class of 5 ships, the other four being Mahronda II, Mahseer I, Mahout I and Matra II.
On 28 October 1940, under the command of Captain C. Lindsay-Miller she left Halifax, Nova Scotia with a full load of explosives bound for the UK. She joined 37 other merchantmen in Convoy HX84 with the sole escort for the convoy being the Jervis Bay. She was built as a passenger liner for the monthly service between Brisbane and London. In 1939 she was requisitioned by the British government and converted to an Armed Merchant Cruiser with armaments of eight six-inch guns of First World War vintage and assigned to convoy duty on the North Atlantic.
At 1700 hrs on 5 November, and about mid-way between Newfoundland and Ireland, the German ‘Pocket Battleship’ Admiral Scheer hove into view and from a range of 10 miles began to attack the convoy. The old guns of Jervis Bay were seriously out-ranged, so her commander, Captain Edward Fogarty Fegan, turned Jervis Bay towards his superior opponent and the convoy was ordered to scatter. The Admiral Scheer directly hit Jervis Bay with her eleven inch main guns setting the bridge on fire and putting out of action her fire control, range finder, steering gear and wireless. Out-gunned and on fire, Jervis Bay continued with her lost cause for at least 2 hours and she was last seen by the convoy at 1900 hrs, burning but still afloat. She was to finally sink around 2000 hrs with the loss of 186 of her 254 crew. Among those to perish was Captain Fogarty Fegan and for his action he was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross which was gazetted on 22nd November 1940.
The Admiral Scheer then set off in pursuit of the scattered convoy and quickly overhauled Canadian Pacific Beaverford which was armed with two 4 inch guns, one forward and one aft. Knowing that she was doomed her skipper turned towards the battleship and prepared to sell herself dearly. Admiral Scheer was taken aback by this action, and thinking that she might be heavily armed, she held off and destroyed Beaverford with her main guns, expending more ammunition than she could afford.
This action and that of Jervis Bay gained more time for the convoy to draw away from the danger resulting in 33 of the 38 ships of HX84 getting away safely.
Unfortunately there were still 4 ships close enough for Admiral Scheer to catch and destroy. Maidan was one of these and she was hit by a full salvo from the German. She blew up in one gigantic flash as her cargo exploded and all 90 aboard, including the naval gunners, died instantly. No trace of ship or crew were ever seen again.
One of the ships hit and set on fire was Eagle Oil’s San Demetrio and the story of her amazing escape and the bravery of her crew was to be told later in a British Wartime Propaganda film entitled ‘San Demetrio, London’ starring Robert Beattie. This escapade is also told in the book “Convoy” and has a photograph of San Demetrio as she came to safe harbour with SOS signs painted all over her superstructure, or what was left of it. For those members who can visit the Imperial War Museum in London there is a 3 metre scale model of the San Demetrio in her ‘SOS’ guise and comparison with the photograph in the book just shows how accurate the model is.
I have had to touch-up this photograph a little as the quality left a lot to be desired.
Photograph belongs to Stuart Smith.
Copyright unknown.
Report