HMAS Tobruk (D37)
Template:Short description Template:Other ships Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English
Template:Infobox ship imageTemplate:Infobox ship careerTemplate:Infobox ship characteristicsHMAS Tobruk (D37) was a Template:Sclass2 of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Built at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard, the destroyer was completed in 1950. Tobruk was deployed to the Korean War twice, and served with the Far East Strategic Reserve on three occasions during the late 1950s. In 1960, she was damaged beyond economical repair by sister ship Template:HMAS during a gunnery exercise, which led to the destroyer's decommissioning that year, and sale for scrap in 1971.
Design and construction
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Tobruk was a Battle-class destroyer.<ref name=Cassells134>Cassells, The Destroyers p. 134</ref> The ship had a standard load displacement of 2,436 tons and a full load displacement of 3,400 tons.<ref name=Cassells134/> She was Template:Convert long overall and Template:Convert long between perpendiculars, had a beam of Template:Convert, and a draught of Template:Convert.<ref name=Cassells134/> Propulsion machinery consisted of Admiralty 3-drum boilers connected to Parsons geared turbines, which supplied Template:Convert to the ship's two propeller shafts.<ref name=Cassells134/> Although designed with a maximum speed of Template:Convert, Tobruk achieved Template:Convert during full-power trials.<ref name=Cassells134/> Maximum range was Template:Convert at Template:Convert, or Template:Convert at Template:Convert.<ref name=Cassells134/> The ship's company consisted of 19 officers and 301 sailors.<ref name=Cassells134/>
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TobrukTemplate:'s primary armament consisted of four [[QF 4.5 inch Mk I – V naval gun|Template:Convert Mark III guns]], fitted forward in two twin turrets.<ref name=Cassells134/> For anti-aircraft defence, the ship carried twelve 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns: three twin mountings on the aft half of the ship, and six single mountings.<ref name=Cassells134/> Two five-tube Pentad torpedo tube sets were carried.<ref name=Cassells134/> Tobruk was also fitted with a Squid anti-submarine mortar.<ref name=Cassells134/>
The ship was laid down by the Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company at their shipyard on Cockatoo Island, New South Wales on 5 August 1946.<ref name=Cassells134/> Tobruk was launched on 20 December 1947 by the wife of Bill Riordan, Minister for the Navy.<ref name=Cassells134/> The destroyer was commissioned into the RAN on 8 May 1950, although she was not completed until 17 May.<ref name=Cassells134/> The ship's name comes from the Siege of Tobruk.<ref name=Cassells134/>
Operational history
After completing trials and workups, Tobruk was deployed to the Korean War in August 1951.<ref name=Cassells134/> Between October 1951 and January 1952, the destroyer carried out six patrols, primarily serving as an aircraft carrier escort, or performing shore bombardments.<ref name=Cassells134/> Tobruk returned to Australia in February 1952.<ref name=Cassells134/> In October, she was part of the security patrol around the Montebello Islands during Operation Hurricane, the first British nuclear weapons test.<ref name=Cassells134/> In June 1953, Tobruk returned to Korea for a second deployment.<ref name=Cassells134/> Although a ceasefire was signed in July 1953, Tobruk remained in the area until January 1954, then returned to Australia for a refit.<ref name=Cassells134/> Tobruk received the battle honour "Korea 1951–53" for these deployments.<ref name=newhonours>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=honourslist>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
After completing refit, Tobruk operated in the waters of Australia and New Guinea until mid 1955, when she joined several RAN ships in a deployment to South East Asia.<ref name=Cassells134/> In 1956, she was assigned to the Far East Strategic Reserve.<ref name=Cassells134/> A further deployment was made in 1957,<ref name=Cassells134/> during which Tobruk was involved in the Malayan Emergency; this was later recognised with a second battle honour: "Malaya 1957".<ref name=Cassells134/><ref name=newhonours/><ref name=honourslist/> On 26 April, during night exercises, a star shell fired by Template:HMS landed in one of TobrukTemplate:'s gun bays, killing one sailor and severely wounding another.<ref>Cassells, The Destroyers, pgs. 137, 240</ref> The destroyer's third and final assignment to the Strategic Reserve occurred during 1959.<ref name=Cassells134/> After a refit during early 1960, Tobruk and several other RAN ships made port visits to Nouméa and New Guinea.<ref name=Cassells134/>
Fate
In September 1960, Tobruk was performing gunnery exercises with sister ship Template:HMAS off Jervis Bay.<ref name=FrameWFC>Frame, Where Fate Calls, pp. 36–7</ref> A malfunction in AnzacTemplate:'s gun direction equipment negated the deliberate 6° mis-aiming of her guns, with the resulting shell hitting Tobruk and doing enough damage to the destroyer to require lengthy repairs.<ref name=FrameWFC/> Temporary repairs were made to Tobruk in Jervis Bay before the ship limped back to Sydney, where she was placed into reserve on 29 October 1960.<ref name=Cassells134/><ref name=SPC/> Two of AnzacTemplate:'s crew were charged over the incident.<ref name=FrameWFC/>
Repairing the destroyer was considered uneconomical, and she remained moored until the ship was marked for disposal on 14 May 1971.<ref name=Cassells134/> Tobruk was sold for scrap to Fujita Salvage Company Limited of Osaka, Japan on 15 February 1972, and departed Sydney under tow on 10 April 1972.<ref name=SPC>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>