Edward Stephen Fogarty Fegen Captain Edward Stephen Fogarty Fegen VC , SGM was an Irish Victoria Cross recipient ( born Southsea , Hampshire on 8 October 1891 of Irish parentage , missing ( presumed dead ) Atlantic Ocean on 5 November 1940 ) , by birth an English recipient of the Victoria Cross , the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces . World War I . On 24 March 1918 , while the British ship S . S . " War Knight " was proceeding up the English Channel in convoy , she collided with the United States oil carrier " O . B . Jennings " . It appears that the naphtha , which was on board the latter vessel , ignited , and the two ships and surrounding water were soon enveloped in flames . The Master of the " O . B . Jennings " gave orders that all the ship ' s available boats should be lowered , those on the starboard side were burnt , and the crew abandoned the ship in the port boats , whilst the Master , Chief Engineer , Chief Officer and three others remained on board . H . M . S . " Garland " , under the command of Lieutenant Fegen , with other destroyers , were proceeding to the spot to render assistance , when it was seen that one boat which had been lowered from the " O . B . Jennings " had been swamped . The " Garland " closed the " O . B . Jennings " , rescued the men from the swamped boat , and then proceeded alongside the ship , which was still blazing , and rescued those who were still on board . She afterwards proceeded to pick up the others who had left the ship in boats , rescuing in all four officers and twenty - two men . Lieutenant Fegen handled his ship in a very able manner under difficult conditions during the rescue of the survivors , while Quartermaster Driscoll worked the helm and saw that all orders to the engine - room were correctly carried out , and his actions during this rescue resulted in both being awarded Silver Sea Gallantry Medal s . Interwar service . A little later in his naval career , Fegen was seconded to the newly formed Royal Australian Navy , and during 1928 - 29 , served as executive officer in the Royal Australian Naval College , which was located on Jervis Bay in a coastal enclave of the Australian Capital Territory on the south coast of New South Wales . By coincidence , the vessel on which he later achieved fame ( and death ) was named after this bay . World War II . He was 49 years old , and an acting captain in the Royal Navy during World War II when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC . On 5 November 1940 in the Atlantic , Captain Fegen , commanding the armed merchantman HMS " Jervis Bay " , was escorting 37 ships of Convoy HX - 84 , when they were attacked by the German pocket battleship " Admiral Scheer " . Captain Fegen immediately engaged the enemy head - on , thus giving the ships of the convoy time to scatter . Out - gunned and on fire " Jervis Bay " maintained the unequal fight for three hours , although the captain ' s right arm was shattered and his bridge was shot from under him . He went down with his ship but it was due to him that 31 ships of the convoy escaped including the SS San Demetrio . He was remembered in Winston Churchill ' s famous broadcast speech on 13 May 1945 " Five years of War " , as having defended Ireland ' s honour :