From "rich r" on a 1998 thread:


The Jervis Bay

It was a bleak November morning/ With a convoy under way/ When they sighted a German raider/ From the tops of the Jervis Bay

'Clear the decks for action'/ Was the order of the day/ And that gallant Captain Fegen/ Then sailed into the fray.

She was only a merchant cruiser/ Against a battleship,/ But she took that noble action/ Just to let the convoy slip.

On her decks lay dead and dying/ For them the day was won/ When they heard the convoy scatteed/ They knew their job was done.

Why do we weep, why do we pray?/ Those sailors sleep so far away/ They gave their lives that November day/ Those heores of the Jervis Bay.

from: The Oxford Book of Sea Songs

The Jervis Bay was a pasenger ship that had been "converted" into an armed merchant cruiser by sticking 7 guns on it. On Nov 5, 1940 the Jervis Bay was escorting a convoy of 37 merchant ships in the north Atlantic when the German battleship 'Admiral Scheer' appeared. The captain of the Jervis Bay ordered the convoy to split up, and then proceeded to attack the German ship in a suicidal encounter. In the half hour or so before the Jervis Bay was sunk, most of the convoy was able to escape. Captain Fegen was awarded the Victoria Cross in death. "The Jervis Bay" was apparently sung to a number of tunes including "Suvla Bay" and "Kevin Barry"

rich r