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The '''Tobruk Ferry Service''' (also known as the '''Tobruk Ferry Run''') was the name given to the force of [[Royal Navy]] and [[Royal Australian Navy]] ships involved in the supply of Allied forces during the [[Siege of Tobruk]].<ref name=AWM>{{cite web |url=http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/tobruk/ |title=Encyclopedia - Siege of Tobruk |accessdate=10 April 2011 |publisher=Australian War Memorial}}</ref>

== 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.<ref name=Rhoades>{{cite web |last=Rhoades |first=Rodney |title=The Tobruk Run |date=31 December 1979 |url=http://www.navyhistory.org.au/the-tobruk-run/ |accessdate=10 April 2011 |publisher=Naval Historical Society of Australia}}</ref>

The initial supply runs to Tobruk were performed by the ships of the [[10th Destroyer Flotilla]] (which included the Australian '[[Scrap Iron Flotilla]]') operating independently.<ref name=Rhoades/> A typical run saw a destroyer leave [[Alexandria]] early in the morning, after spending the night loading, then sail for Tobruk, where the ship would arrive around midnight.<ref name=Rhoades/> After supplies were unloaded and wounded loaded, the destroyer would sail for [[Mersa Matruh]], where the wounded were exchanged for more supplies.<ref name=Rhoades/> The destroyer would return to Tobruk for a second evening, then head back to Alexandria.<ref name=Rhoades/> 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.<ref name=Rhoades/>

== Losses ==
During the operation of the Ferry Service, two [[destroyer]]s, three [[sloop of war|sloops]], and nineteen smaller vessels were lost.<ref name=AWM/> The ships lost included:

* {{HMAS|Waterhen|D22|6}}, destroyer<ref>{{cite book |last=Cassells |first=Vic |title=The Destroyers: their battles and their badges |year=2000 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=East Roseville, NSW |isbn=0731808932 |oclc=46829686 |pages=196–7}}</ref><ref name=Frame>{{cite book |last=Frame |first=Tom |authorlink=Tom Frame (bishop) |title=No Pleasure Cruise: the story of the Royal Australian Navy |url=https://archive.org/details/nopleasurecruise00fram_543 |url-access=limited |year=2004 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |location=Crows Nest, NSW |isbn=1741142334 |oclc=55980812 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nopleasurecruise00fram_543/page/n177 163]–4}}</ref>
* {{HMS|Defender|H07|6}}, destroyer
* {{HMS|Auckland|L61|6}}, sloop
* {{HMAS|Parramatta|U44|6}}, sloop<ref name=Frame/>
* {{HMS|Ladybird|1916|6}}, gunboat
* {{HMS|Latona|M76|6}}, cruiser minelayer

==See also==
* [[Alfred Brian Palmer]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.gunplot.net/matapan/scrapironflott12.html Libya- "The Tobruk Ferry Service"] at gunplot.net

[[Category:Libya in World War II]]
[[Category:Western Desert campaign]]
[[Category:Military operations of World War II involving Australia]]
[[Category:Naval battles and operations of World War II involving the United Kingdom]]

Tobruk Ferry Service - Revision history

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