Scrap Iron Flotilla
The Scrap Iron Flotilla was an Australian destroyer group that operated in the Mediterranean and Pacific during World War II. The name was bestowed upon the group by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels.[1]
The flotilla consisted of five Royal Australian Navy (RAN) destroyers. The five ships of the flotilla had been Royal Navy ships that had been built and served during the First World War and transferred to the RAN in the 1930s. HMAS Waterhen was sunk in the Mediterranean in 1941, HMAS Vampire was sunk in the Indian Ocean in 1942, and HMAS Voyager was sunk near Timor in 1942. HMAS Stuart and HMAS Vendetta survived the war.
The story of the ships in the flotilla, up to 1943, was recounted in the book Scrap-Iron Flotilla by John F. Moyes, who served as a Sub-Lieutenant RANVR on HMAS Voyager later in the war, and collected many stories from the crews.[2] Moyes was on HMAS Voyager when she was sunk, but survived.
The flotilla
- HMAS Stuart (D00)
- HMAS Voyager (D31)
- HMAS Vampire (D68)
- HMAS Vendetta (D69)
- HMAS Waterhen (D22)
"Scrap Iron Flotilla" march
The flotilla has been commemorated in a 2010 march, Scrap Iron Flotilla, composed by Leading Seaman Martyn Hancock of the Royal Australian Navy Band. It is available via the Royal Australian Navy's RANMedia YouTube channel, along with notes on the composition, in a posting entitled Scrap Iron Flotilla Theme from 29 March 2010. The opening bars of the march were influenced by the theme music of the 1973 BBC television series Warship.[3]
References
- ^ "The Scrap Iron Flotilla". gunplot.net. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ Moyes, John F. (1943). Scrap-Iron Flotilla. Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co. Pty. Ltd.
- ^ "The Royal Australian Navy Band, The First 100 Years – 1913-2013" (PDF). RAN Band Newsletter, June 2013, Royal Australian Navy. Retrieved 18 August 2021.
External links
- YouTube – Scrap Iron Flotilla Theme
- v
- t
- e
- British capture of Tobruk (January 1941)
- Siege of Tobruk (April-November 1941)
- Twin Pimples raid ((July 1941)
- Axis capture of Tobruk (June 1942)
- Western Desert campaign
- Operation Compass (December 1940-February 1941)
- Operation Brevity (May 1941)
- Operation Battleaxe (June 1941)
- Operation Crusader (November-December 1941)
Original units:
- 9th Division (Australia) (main unit)
- 7th Division (Australia)
- 3rd Indian Motor Brigade
Replacement units:
- Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion
- Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade
- 70th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)
- 16th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)
- 4th Royal Tank Regiment
Artillery: (some original units, some replacements)
- 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
- 4th Anti-Aircraft Brigade (United Kingdom)
- 51st (London) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
- 89th (Cinque Ports) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
- 13th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
Outside units:
- Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
- Tobruk Ferry Service
- Scrap Iron Flotilla
- 132nd Armored Division "Ariete" (Italy)
- 55th Infantry Division "Savona" (Italy)
- 61st Infantry Division "Sirte" (Italy)
- 101st Motorized Division "Trieste" (Italy)
- Afrika Korps (Germany)
- 15th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)
- 21st Panzer Division (Wehrmacht) Originally 5th Light Division
- 90th Light Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)
This naval article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e
This article on military history is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e
This Australian World War II article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e