MV San Demetrio - Convoy HX-84

Convoy HX-84

San Demetrio had loaded 11,200 tons of aviation fuel in Galveston, Texas 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. The Wickes-class destroyer HMCS Columbia (I49) and Clemson-class destroyer HMCS St. Francis (I93) 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sole escort was the armed merchant cruiser HMS Jervis Bay — a converted passenger liner that had been armed with seven outdated BL 6 inch Mk VII naval guns and a pair of 3-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft guns.