By Lloyd Skinner
During the Second World War, just 23 Victoria Crosses were awarded to the servicemen of the Royal Navy. One of the courageous few awarded the honour ‘For Valour’ was Captain Edward ‘Fogarty’ Fegen. To Australia and the RAN, Fegen has a special relevance, as he was Executive Officer of the Royal Australian Naval College at HMAS Creswell, located inJervis Bay. Coincidently, Fegen held command of the Armed Merchant Cruiser which held the same name. HMS Jervis Bay in which he lost his life and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross on 22 November 1940.
On 5 November 1940, Jervis Bay had the responsibility of escorting Convoy HX-84 which comprised of 37 cargo ships travelling from Nova Scotia to Britain. The single escort was located by the vastly faster, better armoured and gunned German raider, the 15,000-ton pocket battleship SMS Admiral Scheer. The action was fraught for Fegen from the outset when the raider had detected the convoy.
Heroically, as the Admiral Scheer engaged the convoy, Fegen advanced on the warship and simultaneously ordered the convoy to scatter as well as create a smokescreen for its cover. The Jervis Bay drew heavy fire from the raider, and suffered mounting casualties and damage, yet it continued to mount its attack with its six-inch and three-inch guns.
Fegen, in a completely one-sided battle, distracted the raider for 24 minutes, enabling most of the convoy to scatter and escape with 31 ships and their crews seeking safety. Nevertheless, Jervis Bay, after the raider’s relentless bombardment, sustained decisive damage to its bridge that killed Fegen and eventually neutralised her guns. With the merchant cruiser ablaze, the order to abandon ship was given.
For his sacrifice and courage, Captain Fegen was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, with the citation reading “for valour in challenging hopeless odds and giving his life to save the many ships it was his duty to protect.” Anecdotes tell of Fegen maintaining command of the ship despite losing an arm when the bridge was heavily damaged by Admiral Scheer’s relentless salvos. It is an extraordinary tale of self-sacrifice and courage, in which Jervis Bay fought to its last against despairing odds in effective protection of her convoy.
Notably, Australian Officers Sub-Lieutenant Robert Lindsey Hall and Lieutenant-Commander Morrison were serving under the command of Fegen during the engagement. SBLT Hall, from Brisbane, was a Merchant Navy engineering officer. At the outbreak of World War Two his Royal Navy Reserve Commission was activated. Lieutenant-Commander Morrison, a Royal Navy Reservist on Jervis Bay was also from Australia.
Further Reading
Captain Thomas Minto MN, Recollections of the SS Jervis Bay – a Path to the Sea, Naval Historical Review, June 2002 edition, available at, https://navyhistory.au/recollections-of-the-ss-jervis-bay-a-path-to-the-sea/2/
NHSA, Captain Fogarty Fegen VC RN (1891-1940), Naval Historical Review, June 2001 edition of the, available at, https://navyhistory.au/captain-fogarty-fegen-vc-rn-1891-1940/