The Tobruk Ferry Service (also known as the Tobruk Ferry Run) was the name given to the force of

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

and

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

ships involved in the supply of Allied forces during the

Siege of Tobruk The siege of Tobruk lasted for 241 days in 1941, after Axis forces advanced through Cyrenaica from El Agheila in Operation Sonnenblume against Allied forces in Libya, during the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) of the Second World War. ...

History

The aim of the Ferry Service was to keep the besieged Allied forces supplied with ammunition, gun barrels, and medical supplies, while evacuating wounded personnel. The initial supply runs to Tobruk were performed by the ships of the

10th Destroyer Flotilla The British 10th Destroyer Flotilla, or Tenth Destroyer Flotilla, was a military formation of the Royal Navy from March from 1914 to 1919. It was reformed on an ad hoc basis from 1940 to 1941 and finally from 1944 to 1945. History First created ...

(which included the Australian '

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. The flotilla consisted of five Ro ...

') operating independently. A typical run saw a destroyer leave

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

early in the morning, after spending the night loading, then sail for Tobruk, where the ship would arrive around midnight. After supplies were unloaded and wounded loaded, the destroyer would sail for

Mersa Matruh Mersa Matruh ( ar, مرسى مطروح, translit=Marsā Maṭrūḥ, ), also transliterated as ''Marsa Matruh'', is a port in Egypt and the capital of Matrouh Governorate. It is located west of Alexandria and east of Sallum on the main highway ...

, where the wounded were exchanged for more supplies. The destroyer would return to Tobruk for a second evening, then head back to Alexandria. The danger of attack by air and sea prompted the admiral at Alexandria, after advice from one of the destroyer captains, to send ships in pairs: they could help protect each other, and if one were disabled or sunk, the second could provide assistance or recover survivors.

Losses

During the operation of the Ferry Service, two

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

s, three

sloops A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

, and nineteen smaller vessels were lost. The ships lost included: * , destroyer * , destroyer * , sloop * , sloop * , gunboat * , cruiser minelayer

References

{{reflist

External links

Libya- "The Tobruk Ferry Service"
at gunplot.net Libya in World War II Western Desert campaign Military operations of World War II involving Australia Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom

History

Losses

See also

References

External links