View source for MV San Demetrio

{{Short description|British ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image   = MT SAN DEMETRIO.jpg
|Ship caption = MV ''San Demetrio''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header        =
|Ship country       = [[United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag          = {{shipboxflag|UK|civil}}
|Ship name          = ''San Demetrio''
|Ship namesake      = Saint [[Demetrius of Thessaloniki]]
|Ship ordered       =  
|Ship owner         = [[Eagle Oil and Shipping Company|Eagle Oil & Shipping Co Ltd]]<ref name=Lloyd>{{cite book 
|title     = Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships 
|year      = 1941 
|publisher = [[Lloyd's Register]] 
|location  = London 
|url       = https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/41/41b0757.pdf
}}</ref>{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1942|p=460}}
|Ship builder       = Blythswood Ship Building Co,<ref name=Lloyd/> [[Scotstoun]]<ref name=ClydeBuilt>{{cite web 
|last1      =Cameron 
|first1     =Stuart 
|last2      = Biddulph 
|first2     = Bruce 
|last3      = Strathdee 
|first3     = Paul 
|title      = San Demetrio 
|work       = Clydebuilt Ships Database 
|publisher  = Shipping Times 
|url        = http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=12841
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050324150730/http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=12841
|url-status = usurped
|archive-date = 24 March 2005
|access-date = 19 November 2011
}}</ref>
|Ship yard number    = 52<ref name=ClydeBuilt/>
|Ship laid down      =
|Ship launched       = 11 October 1938<ref name=ClydeBuilt/>
|Ship acquired       = 
|Ship commissioned   = 
|Ship decommissioned = 
|Ship in service     =
|Ship out of service = 1942
|Ship struck         =  
|Ship reinstated     =
|Ship homeport       = [[London]]
|Ship identification = *UK [[official number]] 156023<ref name=Lloyd/>
*[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] GKKW<ref name=Lloyd/>
*{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Whiskey}}
|Ship nickname       = 
|Ship honours        =
|Ship fate           = Sunk by {{GS|U-404||2}} on 17 March 1942<ref name=ClydeBuilt/>
|Ship notes          =
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header       =
|Header caption    =
|Ship type        = [[Oil tanker]]
|Ship tonnage = {{GRT|8073}}<ref name=Lloyd/>
|Ship length       = {{convert|463.2|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=Lloyd/>/{{convert|479|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=Lloyd/>
|Ship beam         = {{convert|61.2|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=Lloyd/>
|Ship depth        = {{convert|33.1|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name=Lloyd/>
|Ship draught      = {{convert|27|ft|1/2|in|abbr=on|2}}<ref name=Lloyd/>
|Ship capacity     =
|Ship propulsion   = 8-cylinder [[Four-stroke engine#Diesel cycle|4-stroke]] [[Single- and double-acting cylinders|single-acting]] [[Marine propulsion#Reciprocating|marine diesel]] built by [[John G. Kincaid & Company|John G. Kincaid & Co Ltd]], [[Greenock]]<ref name=Lloyd/>{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1942|p=460}}
|Ship power        = 502 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]<ref name=Lloyd/>
|Ship speed        = {{convert|12|kn|km/h}}
|Ship range        = 
|Ship complement   = 45 officers & men; 8 [[Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships#World War II|DEMS]] gunners<ref name=U1452>{{cite web 
|url        = http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1452.html 
|title      = San Demetrio (British motor tanker) 
|last       = Helgason 
|first      = Guðmundur 
|date       = 1995–2010 
|website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net
|access-date = 19 November 2011
}}</ref>
|Ship armament     =*1 × [[QF 4.7 inch Mk V naval gun|4.7 inch gun]]
*1 × [[QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12-pounder gun]]
*1 × [[Hotchkiss machine gun|Hotchkiss gun]]<ref>{{cite web 
|date       = 20 November 1940 
|title      = Convoy HX 84 – Page 2: Report of an Interview with Mr. Charles Pollard, Chief Engineer, and Mr. Arthur C. Hawkins, 2nd Officer of M.V. San Demetrio 
|publisher  = Siri Holm 
|url        = http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/hx84page2.html 
|work       = Warsailors.com 
|access-date = 19 November 2011
}}</ref>
|Ship notes        =
}}
|}

[[Motor ship|MV]] '''''San Demetrio''''' was a British [[Marine propulsion#Reciprocating|motor]] [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]],{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1942|p=460}} notable for her service during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. She was built in 1938 for the [[Eagle Oil and Shipping Company]].{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1942|p=460}} 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]]'', one of the few films that recognised the heroism of the UK [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|Merchant Navy]] crews during the War.

''San Demetrio'' was one of several motor tankers of about {{GRT|8000}} 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]]s ''San Conrado'' in 1936 and ''San Cipriano'' in 1937.<ref name=Lloyd/>

==Convoy HX 84==
''San Demetrio'' had loaded 11,200 tons of [[Avgas|aviation fuel]] in [[Aruba]], Dutch West Indies and was bound for [[Avonmouth]], England. She was one of 38 ships that joined [[Convoy HX 84]] for the passage across the North Atlantic and left [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]] on 28 October 1940.<ref name=RhiwConvoy>{{cite web |title=Convoy HX 84 |work=Rhiw.com |url=http://www.rhiw.com/y_mor/capt_j_l_jones/san_demetrio/convoy_hx84.htm |access-date=19 November 2011 }}</ref> The {{sclass2|Town|destroyer}}s {{HMCS|Columbia|I49|6}} and {{HMCS|St. Francis|I93|6}} escorted the convoy out of Canadian home waters but once clear of the coast, the convoy's sole escort was the [[armed merchant cruiser]] {{HMS|Jervis Bay}}<ref name=RhiwConvoy/> – a converted [[Ocean liner|passenger liner]] that had been armed with seven outdated [[BL 6 inch Mk VII naval gun]]s and a pair of {{convert|3|inch|mm|adj=on}} anti-aircraft guns.

==Attack by ''Admiral Scheer''==
On 5 November 1940, the {{ship|German cruiser|Admiral Scheer}} found the convoy at {{coord|50|30|N|32|00|W|scale:20000000}} and attacked immediately. [[Edward Stephen Fogarty Fegen|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<ref>{{cite web |last=Bews |first=David |year=1998 |work=Caithness Archives |title=HMS "Jervis Bay" Armed Merchant Cruiser. Convoy HX.84. 5th November 1940 |publisher=Highland Archives |url=http://www.internet-promotions.co.uk/archives/caithness/jervisbaydetail.htm }}</ref> 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 {{SS|Beaverford}} enabled most of the merchantmen from Convoy HX 84 to escape. Fegen received a posthumous [[Victoria Cross]].

''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]] 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 mariner|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 mate|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.

At dawn the following day, 7 November 1940, the ''San Demetrio'' was about {{convert|5|nmi|km|0}} 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.<ref name="Rhiw">{{cite web |last=Jones |first=John Lewis |year=1977 |title="John Lewis Jones" 1921–1986 |work=Rhiw.com |url=http://www.rhiw.com/y_mor/capt_j_l_jones/san_demetrio/san_demetrio.htm |access-date=19 November 2011 }}</ref> No charts or navigational instruments had survived<ref name="ClydeBuilt" /> so the crew estimated a course from occasional glimpses of the sun. Her radio had not survived either.<ref name="ClydeBuilt" /> 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]], docking on 16 November 1940. They declined the offer of a tow from a tug<ref name="ClydeBuilt" /> because of the high cost.{{Citation needed|reason=no mention of cost in reference clydebuilt|date=July 2020}}

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]] after two days. He was posthumously awarded the [[King's Commendation for Brave Conduct]].

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 of Justice|High Court]],<ref>''The San Demetrio'' (1941) 69 LLR 5</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=16 January 1941 |title=World War: 16 Men & A Burning Ship |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,801225,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123055455/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,801225,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=23 November 2010 |newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] }}</ref> they were able to claim the [[Marine salvage|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:
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Name !! Position !! Award
|-
| Arthur Godfrey Hawkins || Second Officer || £2000
|-
| Charles Pollard || Chief Engineer || £2000
|-
| George P. Willey || Third Engineer || £1400
|-
| John L. Jones || Apprentice || £1200
|-
| W. E. Fletcher || Boatswain || £1200
|-
| John Boyle || Greaser || £1000
|-
| J. Davies || Storekeeper || £1000
|-
| Oswald Preston || Able Seaman || £1000
|-
| C. McNeil || Able Seaman || £1000
|-
| Roderick McLennan || Able Seaman || £800
|-
| John Halloran || Second Steward || £600
|-
| John Jamieson || Mess Room Steward || £600
|-
| John Porter || Assistant Steward || £300
|-
| Clifford Cottis || Ordinary Seaman || £300
|-
| Roy Housden || Cadet || £200
|-
| G. Mortimer || Able Seaman || £100
|}
Second Officer Hawkins was awarded the [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] for his gallantry.<ref name=ClydeBuilt/><ref name=Rhiw/> Chief Engineer Charles Pollard and Deck Apprentice John Lewis Jones each received the [[Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea]].<ref name=Rhiw/> ''San Demetrio'' was repaired and returned to service.

==Sinking==
On 14 March 1942 ''San Demetrio'' sailed unescorted from [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]] bound for the UK ''via'' Halifax, Nova Scotia with a cargo of 4,000 tons of [[Ethanol|alcohol]] and 7,000 tons of aviation spirit.<ref name=U1452/> On 17 March she was northwest of [[Cape Charles (headland)|Cape Charles]], [[Virginia]] when the {{GS|U-404}}, commanded by [[KptLt]] [[Otto von Bülow]], [[torpedo]]ed and sank her.<ref name=U1452/> 16 crew and three [[Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships#World War II|DEMS]] gunners were lost,<ref name=U1452/> and six crew wounded,<ref name=ClydeBuilt/> but survivors managed to launch two lifeboats.<ref name=U1452/> Two days later the US tanker [[USS Hisko (ID-1953)|SS ''Beta'']] rescued the Master, 26 crew and five DEMS gunners and took them to [[Norfolk, Virginia]].<ref name=U1452/> The Master, Conrad Vidot, was awarded the Lloyd's War Medal.<ref name=U1452/>

==Film==
The ship's part in Convoy HX 84 was made into a film, ''[[San Demetrio London]]'' in 1943, starring [[Walter Fitzgerald]], [[Mervyn Johns]], [[Ralph Michael]], and [[Robert Beatty]].<ref>{{IMDb title|qid=Q151496|id=tt0039797|title= San Demetrio, London}}</ref> 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]] 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==
[[File:Compas-san-d.jpg|alt=compass|thumb|Compass from the San Demetrio, currently held at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford with reference number MAR1274]]
A wartime poster entitled "''San Demetrio'' gets home" was issued by the [[National Savings and Investments|Post Office Savings Bank]]. It featured a painting of the ship by [[Charles Pears]].<ref name="iwmpears">{{cite web |url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/21435 |title=Art.IWM PST 16448 – San Demetrio Gets Home |year=2012 |work=Collections Search |publisher=[[Imperial War Museum]] |access-date=22 June 2012 }}</ref> She is also depicted in two works by [[marine painter]] [[Norman Wilkinson (artist)|Norman Wilkinson]]. ''The 'San Demetrio' at the Jervis Bay action, 5 November 1940'' is held by the [[National Maritime Museum]] (NMM),<ref name="nmmwilkinson">{{cite web |url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/13103.html |title= BHC1615 – The San Demetrio at the Jervis Bay action, 5 November 1940 |year=2012 |work=National Maritime Museum Collection |publisher=[[National Maritime Museum]] |access-date=22 June 2012 }}</ref> while ''The Crew Reboarding the Tanker 'San Demetrio', 7 November 1940'' is held by the [[Imperial War Museum]] (IWM).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-crew-reboarding-the-tanker-san-demetrio-7-november-1940-7551/search/actor:wilkinson-norman-18781971/page/8 |first=Norman |last=Wilkinson |author-link=Norman Wilkinson (artist) |title=The Crew Reboarding the Tanker ''San Demetrio'', 7 November 1940 |publisher=[[Art UK]] |access-date=29 March 2019 }}</ref> The NMM collection also includes the [[ship's bell]].<ref name="nmmbell">{{cite web |url=http://collections.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/18079.html |title=EQA0481 – bell, ship's |year=2012 |work=National Maritime Museum Collection |publisher=National Maritime Museum |access-date=22 June 2012 }}</ref> The IWM collection includes the compass (pictured right), a fragment of her [[ship's wheel|wheel]],<ref name="iwmwheel">{{cite web |url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30089511 |title=EPH 9752 – ship's wheel, tanker MV ''San Demetrio'' |year=2012 |work=Collection Search |publisher=Imperial War Museum |access-date=22 June 2012 }}</ref> and two models of the ship.<ref name="iwmwaterlinemodel">{{cite web |url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30019571 |title=MOD 380 – MV ''San Demetrio'' |year=2012 |work=Collection Search |publisher=Imperial War Museum |access-date = 22 June 2012 }}</ref> One of these models was made by [[Ealing Studios]] for use in the making of the film ''[[San Demetrio London]]''.<ref name="iwmfullhullmodel">{{cite web |url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30019576 |title=MOD 476 – MV ''San Demetrio'' |year=2012 |work=Collection Search |publisher=Imperial War Museum |access-date=22 June 2012 }}</ref> 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.

==See also==
*{{SS|Ohio}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Sources and further reading===
*{{cite book |author=Ministry of Information |author-link=Ministry of Information (United Kingdom) |author2=for [[Department for Transport#History|Ministry of War Transport]] |year=1944 |title=Merchantmen at War: The Official Story of the Merchant Navy, 1939–44 |location=London |publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office |pages=83, 84 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Talbot-Booth |first=E. C. |orig-year=1936 |year=1942 |title=Ships and the Sea |edition=7th |location=London |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & Co. |page=460 }}
*{{cite book |last=Jesse |first=F. Tennyson |url=https://archive.org/details/segaofsandemetri002255mbp |access-date=13 October 2013 |author-link=F. Tennyson Jesse |year=1942 |title=The Saga of "San Demetrio" |location=London |publisher=His Majesty's Stationery Office }}

==External links==
* [http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/hx84page2.html Official interview 20 November 1940 with Charles Pollard, Chief Engineer, and Arthur C. Hawkins, 2nd Officer]
* [http://hmsjervisbay.com/Story.SanDemetrio.php  San Demetrio page at HMSJervisBay.com]

{{Coord|37|3|N|73|50|W|display=title}}
{{November 1940 shipwrecks}}
{{March 1942 shipwrecks}}

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