Could HX84 have been warned?
|
 |
Kranke (in command of the Scheer) ordered the Mopan's radio not
to be used, and held the Scheer's guns directly aimed at the
Mopan and her radio transmitter stack. James Macintosh, the radio
officer on the Mopan had indeed pleaded with the Mopan's Captain
S.S. Sapsworth, to let him send out a warning message to Convoy HX84, and
Captain Sapsworth did indeed refuse that request on more than one occassion.
Sapsworth envisaged the Scheer blowing the Mopan out of the
water, and so he refused to send a message to Convoy HX84, saving the many men
on the Mopan who would have lost their lives. Sapsworth ordered an
abandonment of his ship, which occurred in both a calm and in an orderly
fashion. Indeed, Sapsworth did not exactly rush in abandoning his ship, which
in hindsight, helped give the convoy darkness, due to the time that Sapworth
and his crew took to abandon his ship. The crew of the Mopan might have
viewed Sapsworth as both a coward and in some ways guilty of neglecting the
ships in convoy HX84, especially during their years in a German prisoner of war
camp. I believe that he did what he thought was best at that particular time,
for his ship and crew.
The Mopan crew were taken prisoner aboard the Admiral Scheer, and
they were forced to watch their own ship being sunk by the Scheer. This
in itself took a great deal of time, causing further annoyance to the Germans.
Indeed, Captain Sapsworth was
summoned to Kranke on the Scheer, who was upset as to how long the
Mopan was taking to sink.
Kranke ordered an increased rate of gunfire from the Scheer's guncrews,
though Sapsworth warned Kranke to avoid the Mopan's stern due to
ammunition being stored there.
The Scheer taking the crew of the Mopan crew as prisoners is
often viewed as a considerate act, and many viewed Kranke as a kind man. It
certainly shows him in a kind light, thought was it just compassion that drove
Kranke to take the Mopan crew as prisoners? He could have blown the
Mopan out of the water of course, and left few survivors. He could have
ordered the ship's abandonment, though left the Mopan's crew adrift in
their lifeboats. Was it all about being compassionate? Kranke was certainly
annoyed by the Mopan encounter holding up his ship from reaching convoy
HX84. What if he had left the men in their lifeboats, and another ship had come
across the crew, or they had some other means to warning the convoy of the
German raiders presence. No, Kranke either had to butcher the crew of the
Mopan in my opinion, or take them prisoner to stop anyone else warning
the convoy of the Admiral Scheer being in the convoy's vicinity.
When the Scheer finally came across the convoy, Kranke was extremely
annoyed by the time taken up with the Mopan. It was getting dusk. The
Germans were mercilous in their shelling of both HMS Jervis Bay, as the
above DEMS report varifies. Many of the 65 Jervis Bay survivors talked
when being debriefed back in Halifax, NS, Canada, of the Scheer firing
at them on the liferafts and the only lifeboat that got away. It was as if the
Germans wanted no survivors from the Jervis Bay at all. The Mopan
prisoners aboard the Scheer (down in the bowels of the Scheer),
had to hear the attack on the convoy, feeling perhaps both powerless to stop
the destruction, and in some ways guilty of not being able to warn the convoy.
The Mopan crew certainly held their Captain (Sapsworth) responsible for
the latter.
In
fairness, Kranke couldn't have taken any more prisoners really anyway. His ship
was full of Mopan prisoners, though I don't think that he would have
taken any prisoners anyway. He was 'mad as hell', and taking prisoners would
have taken room and indeed valuable time, and light was fading fast, and the
Scheer had a convoy to catch and sink. He showed no mercy to ships such
as the Beaverford, sinking her with all hands
lost.
So, Urban Peters does make a valid point as regards, could the Jervis
Bay have been warned?
Yes, she probably could have been warned, though would Urban Peters himself, be
here to tell the tale? Yes, he spent time as a prisoner of war, though he lived
through the experience. No one lost their life on the Mopan, though each
one had to carry the guilt, though not necessarily the blame.
Forced by Germans to Help Aim Guns.
Briton Tells of Role Played In Sinking Of Jervis Bay
By Jack Regan... Newspaper Article 1955.
A brilliant chapter of British Naval History
during the Second World War - the story of the last hours of the armed merchant
cruiser Jervis Bay - was recalled here Wednesday by a British seafarer who was
a prisoner aboard the German battleship which sank the gallant vessel.
In Captured Crew
David A. Braid, 54 year old chief officer of the freighter New York City,
now loading in Halifax, was numbered among a British crew which was forced to
play a role in the Sinking of the Jervis Bay.
The Jervis Bay was sailing in a convoy of 38 ships bound for Britain
when the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer opened fired on the
group. In a daring move, the 14,000 ton Jervis Bay steamed toward the
heavily armed battleship and engaged it in an action which permitted 29 ships
to escape.
Braid, who was aboard the pocket battleship, recalled that the Germans
hitched their prisoners to
gun turrets and
had them pull the turrents around on tackles during the action with the
Jervis Bay.
The electrical equipment which operated the turrets had been knocked out of
commission earlier that day when the Admiral Scheer shelled and
sunk the merchant ship
Mopan on which Braid had been second officer.
Mopan sighted by Admiral Scheer, and sinking.
The 72 crewman on the Mopan were taken prisoner by the Germans.
"It was that same night that the Admiral Scheer attacked the
Jervis Bay convoy", Braid recalled.
That day, November 5, 1940, was the start of a 4 year period of imprisonment
for Braid and the other officers and crew of the Mopan.
He recalled that after the convoy attack, the Admiral Scheer steamed
at full speed (23 knots) for southern waters. The pocket battleship, a sister
ship of the
Admiral
Graf Spee
Later the Admiral Scheer transferred its British prisoners to the
German
raider Nordmark in the South Atlantic.
Chief Officer Braid recalled he and his shipmates spent 5 dreary months
cooped up in the hold of the Nordmark.
During the interval France had capitulated and the Nordmark's
prisoners were transferred to an oil tanker and taken to Bordeaux. "It
took the tanker 5 weeks to make Bordeaux", Braid said.
Men Went Hungry
From Bordeaux the prisoners were taken to a nearby transit camp where the
men went hungry most of the time due to short food supplies. Eventually, the
Mopan's crew was herded into cattle trucks and transferred to a
concentration camp outside of Hamburg.
In this camp, called "Moriag", situated 10 miles outside of
Hamburg, Braid and his companions languished until May 1945, when the camp was
released by the 7th Armoured Division.
Conditions in the camp during the first two years of his stay were poor, the
British officer reported. Food was in short supply and several members of his
crew died of malnutrition.
Braid recalled that a Dartmoth, NS sea captain was held captive in the same
camp. The Dartmouth man was Captain T.V. Ferns, who died a year ago.
During the more than four years of confinement Chief Officer Braid dropped
from a chunky 150 pounds down to a frail 98 pounds. He now weighs 168 and would
just as soon forget his dismal years as a prisoner. "I'd never go through
anything like that again - I'd go over the side first."
Attacked By Sub
The ill-fated Mopan, a
United Fruit
Company ship, was the first merchant ship of the Second World War to be
attacked by the Germans. That was another day David Braid remembers well.
Braid recalls the ship was just off the English Channel when it was attacked
by a sub which peppered the merchant ship with between 60 to 70 shells. The
action occurred during the first few days of the war.
On this occasion the Mopan, although potted with holes, made port
safely without any loss of life.
After his release from the German camp in 1945, Braid was flown back to his
home in Bristol where he met his 4 ½ year old son for the first time.
The boy, David Jr., is now 15.
Chief Officer Braid, a veteran of some 30 years sea experience, joined the
Bristol City Line seven years ago, and is now a frequent caller at Halifax.
Newspaper unknown, circa 1955 |
