The Scrap Iron Flotilla
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The Scrap Iron Flotilla
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Narrated by:
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Mike Carlton
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By:
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Mike Carlton
About this listen
The British Admiralty's telegram arrived at Navy Office in Melbourne, the order to go to all-out war. It was coldly succinct: TOTAL GERMANY. The war at sea had begun.
When the Second World War broke out in September 1939, the British asked Australia for help. With some misgivings, the Australian government sent five destroyers to beef up the British Royal Navy in the Mediterranean.
HMAS Vendetta, Vampire, Voyager, Stuart and Waterhen were old ships, small with worn-out engines. Their crews used to joke they were held together by string and chewing gum; when the Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels heard of them, he sneered that they were a load of scrap iron.
Yet by the middle of 1940, these destroyers were valiantly escorting troop and supply convoys, successfully hunting for submarines and indefatigably bombarding enemy coasts. Sometimes the weather could be their worst enemy - from filthy sandstorms blowing off Africa to icy gales from Europe that whipped up mountainous seas and froze the guns. Conditions on board were terrible - no showers or proper washing facilities; cramped and stinking sleeping quarters; unpleasant meals of spam and tinned sausages, often served cold in a howling squall. And always the bombing, the bombing. And the fear of submarines.
When Nazi Germany invaded Greece, the Allied armies - including Australian Divisions - reeled in retreat. The Australian ships were among those who had to rescue thousands of soldiers. Then came the Siege of Tobruk - Australian troops holding out in that small Libyan port city. The Australian destroyers ran 'the Tobruk Ferry' - bringing supplies of food, medicine and ammunition into the shattered port by night, and taking off wounded soldiers.
Eventually, HMAS Waterhen - 'the Chook', they called her - was sunk on the Tobruk run, the first Australian warship to be lost to enemy action in the war. Miraculously, there was only one casualty - a man in the galley who was hit in the head by a can of peaches.
But the four destroyers now left were struggling, suffering from constant engine breakdowns, with crews beleaguered by two years of bombings, wild seas and the endless fear of being sunk. In late 1941 the ships were finally sent home, staggering back to Australia, proudly calling themselves the Scrap Iron Flotilla in defiance of the Goebbels' sneer. That flotilla is now an immortal part of Australian naval legend, and this is its story.
2023, Frank Broeze Memorial Maritime History Book Prize, Short-listed
2022, The Australian Naval Institute Commodore Sam Bateman Book, Winner
2023, NSW Premier's History Awards, Short-listed
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Enter Text Here
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- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 916
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 822
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 824
In May 1941 the German battleship Bismarck, accompanied by heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, broke out into the Atlantic to attack Allied shipping. The Royal Navy's pursuit and subsequent destruction of the Bismarck was an epic of naval warfare. In this new account of those dramatic events at the height of the Second World War, Iain Ballantyne draws extensively on the graphic eyewitness testimony of veterans to construct a thrilling story, mainly from the point of view of the British battleships, cruisers, and destroyers involved.
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5 out of 5 stars
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1960 a young boy became awed
- By torpedo alley on 10-02-19
By: Iain Ballantyne
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At All Costs
- By: Sam Moses
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
In 1942, the island of Malta was the most heavily bombed place on earth. Its submarine and air attacks on Axis supply convoys were all that kept Rommel from marching across North Africa. But Malta was out of fuel. Operation Pedestal was Malta's last hope, a giant convoy with more that 50 warships escorting 13 freighters and one life-or-death oil tanker, the SS Ohio. It was bombed, torpedoed, and abandoned, but two American Merchant Mariners boarded the ship and repaired the guns.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A spellbinding story
- By James F. Geary on 04-08-07
By: Sam Moses
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Neptune's Inferno
- The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 18 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,360
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,035
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Story5 out of 5 stars 2,032
With The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors and Ship of Ghosts, James D. Hornfischer created essential and enduring narratives about America’s World War II Navy, works of unique immediacy distinguished by rich portraits of ordinary men in extremis and exclusive new information. Now he does the same for the deadliest, most pivotal naval campaign of the Pacific war: Guadalcanal. Neptune’s Inferno is at once the most epic and the most intimate account ever written of the contest for control of the seaways of the Solomon Islands.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The WWII Pacific Theater Explodes In My Lazy Chair
- By Rum Runner on 03-01-11
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The War Below
- The Story of Three Submarines That Battled Japan
- By: James Scott
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,546
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,297
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,290
The War Below is a dramatic account of extraordinary heroism, ingenuity, and perseverance—and the vital role American submarines played in winning the Pacific War. Focusing on the unique stories of the submarines Silversides, Drum, and Tang—and the men who skippered and crewed them—James Scott takes readers beneath the waves to experience the thrill of a direct hit on a merchant ship and the terror of depth charge attacks.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Unique. Engaging. Worth your credit.
- By Ryan on 06-21-13
By: James Scott
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The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors
- The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour
- By: James D. Hornfischer
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,018
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,659
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1,656
Told from the point of view of the men who waged this steel-shattering battle, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors captures Navy pilots attacking enemy battleships with makeshift weapons and sacrificial valor, a veteran commander improvising tactics never taught in Annapolis, and young crews from across America rising to an impossible challenge.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding
- By John on 04-17-04
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Grey Wolves
- The U-Boat War 1939–1945
- By: Philip Kaplan
- Narrated by: A. T. Chandler
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 362
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 321
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Story4 out of 5 stars 319
In the early years of the Second World War, the elite force of German submariners known as the Ubootwaffe came perilously close to perfecting underwater battle tactics and successfully cutting Britain's transatlantic lifeline. To the Allies, these enemy sailors were embarking on a mission of unequivocal evil. Each member of the Ubootwaffe understood that he must take pride in being part of a unique brotherhood. He had to do so because he was setting out on a journey that would test his mental and physical endurance to the very limits, and which he had little chance of surviving.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Like a Jr High Book Report, Performance Bad Too
- By Bill Sayer on 12-03-15
By: Philip Kaplan
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Tin Can Titans
- The Heroic Men and Ships of World War II's Most Decorated Navy Destroyer Squadron
- By: John Wukovits
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,429
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,289
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,285
When Admiral William Halsey selected Destroyer Squadron 21 to lead his victorious ships into Tokyo Bay to accept the Japanese surrender, it was the most battle-hardened US naval squadron of the war. But it was not the squadron of ships that had accumulated such an inspiring résumé; it was the people serving aboard them. Through diaries, personal interviews with survivors, and letters written to and by the crews during the war, preeminent historian of the Pacific theater John Wukovits brings to life the human story of the squadron and its men.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Captivating
- By Jean on 09-23-17
By: John Wukovits
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Castles of Steel
- Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea
- By: Robert K. Massie
- Narrated by: Richard Matthews
- Length: 40 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 536
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 478
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Story5 out of 5 stars 473
The predominant image of this first world war is of mud and trenches, barbed wire, machine guns, poison gas, and slaughter. A generation of European manhood was massacred, and a wound was inflicted on European civilization that required the remainder of the twentieth century to heal.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Stick With It!
- By Matt on 09-22-12
By: Robert K. Massie
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The Ship That Wouldn't Die
- The Saga of the USS Neosho - A World War II Story of Courage and Survival at Sea
- By: Don Keith
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
In May 1942, Admiral Jack Fletcher's Task Force 17 closed in for the war's first major clash with the Japanese Navy. The Neosho, a vitally important tanker, was escorted by a destroyer, the Sims. The ships were attacked by Japanese dive bombers, and when the smoke cleared, the Sims had slipped beneath the waves. Scores of sailors were killed or wounded while hundreds bobbed in shark-infested waters.
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4 out of 5 stars
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great story
- By alaina davis on 10-27-24
By: Don Keith
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No Banners, No Bugles
- By: Edward Ellsberg
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 31
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Story5 out of 5 stars 31
The unheralded story of how salvage helped the Allies win back North Africa. By the time America joined World War II, Edward Ellsberg had already earned his place as one of the world’s great marine salvage engineers, and his best-selling accounts of raising doomed submarines and histories of classic diving operations had made him a literary star.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great story, horrible narration.
- By Monk on 02-17-17
By: Edward Ellsberg
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Sea of Thunder
- By: Evan Thomas
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 140
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
The book focuses on four naval commanders, two American, two Japanese, whose lives collided at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 - a clash involving more ships (almost 300), more men (nearly 200,000) and covering a larger area (more than 100 thousand square miles, roughly the size of the British Isles) than any naval battle in recorded history.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good
- By Hika on 12-28-09
By: Evan Thomas
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Hell from the Heavens
- The Epic Story of the USS Laffey and World War II's Greatest Kamikaze Attack
- By: John Wukovits
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 109
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
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Story5 out of 5 stars 98
On the morning of April 16, 1945, the crewmen of the USS Laffey saw what seemed to be the entire Japanese air force assembled directly above. They were about to become the targets of the largest single-ship kamikaze attack of World War II.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Compelling story worth the effort
- By David Traill on 08-10-16
By: John Wukovits
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Halsey's Typhoon
- By: Bob Drury, Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: Eric Conger
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 254
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 164
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Story5 out of 5 stars 162
December 1944, the Pacific Theater. General Douglas MacArthur has vowed to return to the Philippines. He will need the help of Admiral William "Bull" Halsey's Pacific Fleet. But at the height of the invasion, Halsey's ships are blindsided by a typhoon of unprecedented strength and scope. Battleships are tossed like toys, fighter planes are blown off carriers, destroyers are capsized, and hundreds of sailors are swept into the roiling, shark-infested sea.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Weather and Naval History Masterpiece
- By M. Taussig on 02-17-07
By: Bob Drury, and others
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The Bravest Man
- The Story of Richard O'Kane & U.S. Submariners in the Pacific War
- By: William Tuohy
- Narrated by: E.H. Jones
- Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 492
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 307
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Story5 out of 5 stars 307
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist William Tuohy follows Richard O'Kane, America's undersea ace of aces, and a few fearless submariners, during the U.S. submarine war in the Pacific. This grueling battle saw 10 million tons of Japanese shipping sunk by U.S. submarines, but the cost to the U.S. Navy was one in five of its boats, the highest casualty rate of the U.S. armed services.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great details of WWII Submarine Patrols
- By James B. Cookinham on 02-13-05
By: William Tuohy
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Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942
- By: Ian W. Toll
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 3,958
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,532
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Story5 out of 5 stars 3,517
On the first Sunday in December 1941, an armada of Japanese warplanes appeared suddenly over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Six months later, in a sea fight north of the tiny atoll of Midway, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sent into the abyss. Pacific Crucible tells the epic tale of these first searing months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history and seized the strategic initiative.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Astonishingly good.
- By Mike From Mesa on 09-01-12
By: Ian W. Toll
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Tin Can Sailor
- Life Aboard the USS Sterett, 1939-1945
- By: C. Raymond Calhoun
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Story5 out of 5 stars 66
More than 800 sailors served aboard the Sterett during her hazardous and demanding duties in World War II. This is the story of those men and their beloved ship, recorded by a junior officer who served on the famous destroyer from her commissioning in 1939 to April 1943, when he was wounded at the Battle of Tulagi. Peppered with the kind of vivid, authentic details that could only be provided by a participant, the book is the saga of a gallant fighting ship that earned a Presidential Unit Citation for her part in the Third Battle of Savo Island, where she took on a battleship.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A good story about something that really happened
- By TRey on 07-25-18
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The Silent Service in World War II
- The Story of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force in the Words of the Men Who Lived It
- By: Edward Monroe-Jones, Michael Green
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins, Jo Anna Perrin
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 254
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 224
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 222
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the US Navy had a total of 111 submarines. It was mostly a collection of aging boats. Fortunately, with the war in Europe was already two years old and friction with Japan ever increasing, help from what would become known as the Silent Service in the Pacific was on the way: there were 73 of the new fleet submarines under construction. The Silent Service in World War II tells the story of America's intrepid underwater warriors in the words of the men who lived the war in the Pacific against Japan.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing
- By Chris on 09-17-18
By: Edward Monroe-Jones, and others
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Submarine Commander
- A Story of World War II and Korea
- By: Paul R. Schratz
- Narrated by: John N. Gully
- Length: 15 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 147
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 135
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 134
A fascinating personal memoir of underwater combat in World War II, told by a man who played a major role in those dangerous operations. Frank and beautifully written, this book will be of lasting value as a submarine history by an expert and as an enduring military and political analysis.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Engrossing Memoir
- By Jean on 12-24-15
By: Paul R. Schratz
What listeners say about The Scrap Iron Flotilla
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jeff G
- 08-20-22
Very Good Story
I was not well versed on the RAN destroyers that served in the Med during the early years of WW2 and this was an exceptionally good learning experience. The story follows these ships after service in the Mediterranean. The only "quibble" I had was when the narrator tried to imitate Winston Churchill. It was a little annoying. I hope his other books make it on to Audible!
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