Later the destroyer H.M.S. On the 17th March 1942 when on route from Baltimore for Halifax and Uk with a cargo of 4,000 tons of alcohol and 7,000 tons of motor spirit she was torpedoed by German submarine U-404 and sunk 80 miles E. of Chesapeake Buoy. Adventure. Non-Commercial educational use for the purpose of teaching and instruction, including internal training. The oil and freight cargo were valued at £60,000. The ship, hit by a raider and abandoned, caught fire. 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. To relieve the situation, cargo was gravitated from the forward tank to amid-ship, and this helped. Capt John Lewis Jones. At 16.30 hours on November 5th, 1940, in position 50A?30'N 32A?W the convoy was attacked by a German pocket battleship, which we knew later to be the Admiral Von Scheer. model MV San Demetrio was a British motor tanker,[2] notable for her service during the Second World War. [3][8] Chief Engineer Charles Pollard and Deck Apprentice John Lewis Jones each received the Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea. Sail was set and we were again close alongside at about noon. Three bottles of rum were also found, a most welcome discovery. Choose an adventure below and discover your next favorite movie or TV show. The damage inflicted by Admiral Scheer would have been far greater, had it not been for the sacrifice of courageous … Personal use for non-commercial research and private study and other uses under the UK’s exceptions to copyright and those exceptions to copyright in place where the user is located. He kept alternate watches and was of the utmost help when navigating the vessel without books, instruments, charts or compasses. The San Demetrio of the title is a British merchant ship in an Atlantic convoy in 1940. Another £1,000 went to 26-year-old Oswald Ross Preston, a Canadian seaman, because he played a "magnificent" part when the battle started. My training was intensified, and like most young men of my age at that time, responsibilities had to be accepted earlier than before. 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. In 1942, the first of over 1.5 million American servicemen arrived on British shores in preparation for the Allied offensives against Germany during the Second World War. During that time I had visited Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, transporting oil from the Dutch East Indies. SAN DEMETRIO MV was a British Motor Tanker of 8,073 tons built in 1938. Awarded the Medal of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, for Meritorious Service: John Lewis Jones, Apprentice, " San Demetrio " (Eagle Oil and Shipping Company Ltd, London) The ship was hit by a raider and abandoned, and was seen to burst into flames. The public buildings and places of worship in the cities were particularly impressive. H: 6in Early on the 14th November an aircraft flew overhead, and soon a vessel approached which was a British tug. At the same time, a ship on the starboard bow altered course to port and a collision appeared inevitable, but the seamanship and quick decision of Captain Waite avoided this fate, the ships sailing clear of each other and steamed on their original courses. Also, as I've just discovered in the extract below. Filled with aviation fuel, the crew abandoned ship, expecting the inevitable Do you have 5 minutes to help us improve our website? We had nothing left to navigate with, but if we shaped a course to the west we were bound to make the coast of the United States or Canada and safety. Read an article from The War Illustrated 1940, HMSJervisBay.com | If you are interested in the full range of licenses available for this material, please contact one of our collections sales and licensing teams. San Demetrio was one of several motor tankers of about 8,000 GRT built for Eagle Oil and Shipping in the latter 1930s. We had ample potatoes and onions and a little condensed milk. After seven days the San Demetrio reached waters off Ireland, from where they were escorted on to the mouth of the River Clyde, docking on 16 November 1940.