The scrap iron flotilla / Mike Carlton.

"HMAS Vendetta, Vampire, Voyager, Stuart and Waterhen were old ships, held together by string and chewing gum, their crews liked to joke. Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels sneered that they were a load of scrap iron. Yet by the middle of 1940 they were valiantly hunting submarines and bombarding enemy coasts. Life on board was hard: a bucket of water to wash; crowded, stinking sleeping quarters; disgusting rations. And always the bombing, and the fear of submarines. When the Nazis invaded Greece, the Australian destroyers joined the rescue of thousands of soldiers. Then came the Siege of Tobruk, and the ships ran the hazardous 'Tobruk Ferry' - bringing supplies of food, medicine and ammunition to the Australian troops holding out in the shattered Libyan port, and taking off wounded soldiers. In late 1941 the ships were finally sent home. They adopted the Nazi insult as a badge of honour, and the Scrap Iron Flotilla is now an immortal part of Australian naval legend. This is its story."--