The armed freighter Beaverford,
originally a Canadian Pacific Railways cargo ship, and the full complement of
Captain Hugh Pettigrew and crew held the attention of German
battleship for a time but at 10:45 sank with all hands. By now it was dark, facilitating
the escape of the rest of the convoy.
Fact or Fiction?
German accounts (including the book co-authored by Captain Krancke himself) make no
mention of any long fight with Beaverford or with any other merchantman.
Krancke does mention a gun being briefly fired at his ship from what must
have been the Kenbane Head, but that ship was sunk an hour before Beaverford
and the Fresno City was set ablaze an hour or so after her, so where is the
time for a four or five hour sea battle? Why didn't Krancke appear even to
notice the incredible fight? And why didn't the story surface until four
years later?
I have seen it argued that Beaverford (target 12 that night) might have
been the same ship as target 9 (unidentified) but Krancke claims that they
left target 9 ablaze, and Beaverford's famous last message ("its our turn
now") does not suggest that this was a renewal of any earlier attack, but
rather that she had just been caught for the first time.
The master of the Fresno City also reported in his log that they saw
Beaverford being attacked, and gave the bearing, but made no mention of any
return fire.
So ... is this story perhaps nothing but a myth? Or perhaps a hugely
exaggerated rendering of what was really a brief and token resistance? I
ask this because I have seen it said that the Beaverford was the real
saviour of the convoy, and not the Jervis Bay. I find that claim impossible
to accept on the evidence I have seen. But someone else should investigate
the story properly.
Prof Michael Hirst LLM, FRSA
Survivors
Only
sixty-five men were picked up by the Swedish freighter Stureholm under
the command of Capt. Sven Olander. But the sacrifice (see Casualty List) had not been in vain, for
the Admiral Scheer only succeeded in destroying five of the freighters
in the short time before nightfall.
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