Jervis Bay

Jervis Bay (/ˈdʒɑːrvᵻs/ or local /ˈdʒɜːrvəs/) is a 102-square-kilometre (39 sq mi) oceanic bay on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, said to possess the whitest sand in the world.

A 70-square-kilometre (27 sq mi) area of land around the southern headland of the bay is a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia known as the Jervis Bay Territory. The Australian Navy base, HMAS Creswell, is in the Jervis Bay Territory between Jervis Bay Village and Greenpatch Point.

Geography

In the Jervis Bay Territory on the southern side of the bay are the settlements of Greenpatch, Hyams Beach, and Bowen Island. From north to south on the New South Wales shore of the bay are Callala Beach, Callala Bay, Huskisson and Vincentia. Beecroft Peninsula, on the northern side of the bay, has been used as a bombing range by the Australian Navy.Point Perpendicular forms the southern end of the peninsula.

Geology

Jervis Bay is a drowned river valley and formed 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. The bay took on its present appearance around 4000BCE after the sea levels had risen 120 metres (390 ft), and as sand dune barriers created the southern peninsula. Much of the rock in Jervis Bay is part of the Sydney Basin sandstone formation, which is 280-225 million years old, although lower areas are overlain with Tertiary-era sediments.

Jervis Bay (disambiguation)

Jervis Bay is the body of water in Australia.

Jervis Bay may also refer to:

HMS Jervis Bay

HMS Jervis Bay was a British liner later converted into an armed merchant cruiser, pennant F40. She was launched in 1922, and sunk on 5 November 1940 by the German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer.

Design

The ship was launched as the Aberdeen & Commonwealth Line steamer Jervis Bay, named after the Australian bay of that name (the line named all its ships after bays). She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in August 1939 at the outbreak of the Second World War, and armed with seven 1898-vintage 6 in (150 mm) guns and two 3 in (76 mm) guns of 1894 design.

Service history

After her acquisition and commissioning, Jervis Bay was initially assigned to the South Atlantic station before becoming a convoy escort in May 1940. She was the sole escort for 37 merchant ships in Convoy HX-84 from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Britain, when the convoy encountered Admiral Scheer. The Captain of Jervis Bay, Edward Fegen, ordered the convoy to scatter; and set a course towards the German warship to draw its fire, with guns firing more as a distraction than in the hope of doing damage.Jervis Bay was hopelessly outgunned and outranged by the 28 cm (11 inch) guns of the German ship. Fegen and his crew fought on until their ship was set ablaze and sunk 755 nautical miles (1,398 km) south-southwest of Reykjavík. Captain Fegen went down with his ship. Nevertheless, although Admiral Scheer went on to sink five merchant ships out of the convoy, Jervis Bay's sacrifice bought enough time for the convoy to scatter and the remaining ships escaped. Sixty-eight survivors of Jervis Bay's crew of 254 were picked up by the neutral Swedish ship Stureholm (three later died of their injuries).Guy Byam was one of the survivors of the sinking, he would later be killed while reporting for the BBC during an air raid over Germany.