HMAS Tobruk (L 50)

HMAS Tobruk (L 50) is a Landing Ship Heavy (LSH) of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), based on the design of the Round Table class of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Laid down in February 1979, Tobruk was the first purpose-built amphibious vessel of the RAN, and was intended to provide the Australian Defence Force with a sealift capability. She was commissioned into the RAN in April 1981, but was afflicted by several engine and sewerage treatment plant problems during the early part of her career; the latter causing a death on board in 1981.

While the Government intended to retire her in the early 1990s, this did not go ahead, and Tobruk remains in service with the RAN as of 2013.

Design and construction
In the late 1970s, it was decided that the Australian Army needed to be provided with a long-term sealift capability, preferably through the acquisition of a dedicated cargo ship. The chartering of civilian ships to provide this capability when required—as had been done with the merchant vessels Jeparit and Boonaroo during the Vietnam War—was considered and rejected, because Australian National Line was unable to provide the necessary level of support. It was decided that a purpose-built ship would be constructed for the role, and would be operated by the RAN. While the Army did not require that the ship be capable of beaching, the RAN set this as a requirement, to maximise the ship's flexibility. In 1975, the Navy successfully convinced Australian Military's Force Structure Committee to endorse this requirement over the Army's opposition, and the committee authorised the purchase of a Landing Ship Heavy (LSH) on 19 March 1975.

The ship's name was selected in 1976 and refers to the Siege of Tobruk during World War II, in which the RAN's so-called 'Scrap Iron Flotilla' supplied the besieged 9th Australian Division. She is the second RAN ship of this name; preceded by the Battle class destroyer HMAS Tobruk (D37).

Two designs were considered for Tobruk; a modified Sir or Round Table class landing ship logistics, in use with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary at the time, was selected for construction. Tobruk’s design was based on RFA Sir Bedivere, the second of the class, which had been modified following the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's experience with operating the class' lead ship, RFA Sir Lancelot. The Australian modifications to the design were kept to a minimum to simplify construction; the most significant changes were to improve the ship's ability to operate both large and multiple helicopters, fitting an operations room, and adding a derrick with a lift of 70 tonnes. Most of the other changes related to bringing accommodation conditions into line with Australian requirements. Like the other ships of the Round Table Class, Tobruk was built to commercial rather than military standards, and is unable to sustain as much damage as warships. The ship was fitted with different engines to those used in the British ships, which were proven unreliable early in Tobruk’s career.

Tobruk was built by Carrington Slipways Pty Ltd at Tomago, New South Wales. The company was selected following a competitive tender in May 1977, with contract negotiations completed on 3 November 1977. Construction of Tobruk formally began on 7 February 1979, when the ship's keel was laid. Tobruk was launched on 1 March 1980 and left the dockyard for the first time in December 1980. The ship's construction had been delayed by over four months by industrial disputes and her final price of $59 million was 42 percent more than originally estimated. The ship's sea trials were conducted in early 1981 off Newcastle and Port Stephens by a joint Navy-Army-civilian crew and fitting out was completed on 7 April 1981. Tobruk was handed over to the Navy on 11 April 1981 and was commissioned at Newcastle on 23 April.

Tobruk has received a number of modifications during her service. These include the removal of her two 40/60 Bofors guns in the mid-1990s.

Capabilities
Tobruk was the first purpose-built amphibious vessel in the RAN. She is designed as a multi-purpose, roll-on/roll-off heavy lift and transport vessel - the ship can be loaded via ramps at both the bow and stern, and can be purposely beached. The ship is classified as a Landing Ship Heavy by the RAN.

Tobruk can carry the Army's M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks and 40 M113 or ASLAV armoured personnel carriers. Before they were retired from service, Tobruk was also capable of carrying up to 18 Leopard 1 tanks. A pair of LCM-8 landing craft can be carried in specially designed cradles on the ship's vehicle deck, while a pair of Australian-built LCVPs are mounted either side of the superstructure. The ship also has two landing platforms, one behind the superstructure and one in the well deck, which are rated for helicopters up to and including the size of the Chinook. Tobruk has a standard capacity of 300 troops, with an overload capacity of 520.

1980s
Following her commissioning, Tobruk proceeded to her initial home port of HMAS Moreton in Brisbane, Queensland for the first time, then undertook further sea trials. These trials were conducted during the winter of 1981, and were intended to both test whether the ship met her design specifications and develop procedures for landing helicopters and beaching. The trials were generally successful, although Tobruk’s engines continued to be unreliable and problems were encountered with the sewage system. The ship undertook its first tasking in the spring of 1981 when she transported elements of the 16th Air Defence Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery from Adelaide to Port Alma, Queensland. Following this Tobruk proceeded to Port Phillip Bay and suffered a serious engine malfunction while approaching Station Pier. While the engines were repaired, the main engine control mechanism was later found to be entirely unreliable and had to be redesigned and reconstructed at Brisbane. During trials following this repair the ship's sewerage system seriously malfunctioned, fatally gassing one of the Australian Navy Cadets who had been embarked for seagoing experience. The cadet's death led to an inquiry into the ship by the Commonwealth Government's Auditor General which concluded that she should not have been accepted by the RAN at the time she was commissioned due to the number of defects still present.

Tobruk conducted her first trips outside Australia in the early 1980s. On 15 February 1982, the ship left Brisbane to transport eight Royal Australian Air Force UH-1 Iroquois helicopters and supporting stores to join the Australian contingent to the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai Peninsula. Tobruk arrived in Ashdod, Israel on 19 March, becoming the first Australian warship to visit the country, and arrived back in Brisbane on 30 April. The ship transported cyclone relief stores to Tonga in May and spent the remainder of the year undertaking tasks in Australian waters. These included supporting the 1982 Commonwealth Games, which were held in Brisbane. In early 1983, Tobruk travelled to Malaysia to assist the RAAF in withdrawing units from RAAF Base Butterworth. In February 1984, Tobruk took part in exercises in New Zealand, before travelling to Tuvalu in August, where she provided support and accommodation for delegates to the South Pacific Forum. In late 1985, the naval base HMAS Moreton was decommissioned into reserve, prompting the disbanding of the Amphibious Squadron (which had consisted of Tobruk and the six Balikpapan class landing craft) and the relocation of Tobruk's homeport to Fleet Base East in Sydney.

In May 1987, Tobruk formed part of the Australian military force which deployed to Fiji following the 1987 Fijian coups d'état. The goal of this deployment, which was designated Operation Morris Dance, was to evacuate Australian citizens if necessary. Tobruk left Sydney carrying Army stores and five helicopters on 21 May and embarked 'B' Company of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) at Norfolk Island on 23 May. Tobruk joined HMA Ships Sydney, Parramatta and Success off Suva on 26 May. By this time it had become clear that there would not be a need to evacuate Australians from Fiji and Tobruk proceeded to support the South Pacific Forum meeting at Apia, Samoa after cross-decking the troops and their supplies to the other ships. Operation Morris Dance revealed serious shortcomings in the Australian Defence Force's ability to deploy forces outside of Australia, with the Army unit having no previous experience of amphibious operations and the naval helicopters being unable to carry Army supplies.

After Operation Morris Dance, Tobruk returned to mainly routine duties. She travelled to New Zealand on a training cruise in early 1988 and was placed on alert to carry an Army force to evacuate Australian civilians from Vanuatu in April 1988 following a political crisis there. While Tobruk was loaded with stores and three Sea King helicopters, this deployment did not eventuate and the ship was unloaded on 24 May. The ship transported the 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment's vehicles and supplies to the west coast of the United States in early 1989 and participated in a joint Australian, British, Canadian and United States amphibious warfare exercise at Monterey Bay. The ship then visited Canada before returning to Australia. In December 1989, Tobruk was forced to undergo unscheduled repairs at Newcastle to repair damage caused by excessive vibration, which had possibly been caused by her engines revving at a higher rate than the ship had been designed for.

1990s
Tobruk began the 1990s with another deployment at short notice to the South Pacific. On 26 January 1990, she was tasked to assist with evacuating Australian citizens from Bougainville in Papua New Guinea; this operation was cancelled in early February while the ship was travelling to the island from Sydney. On 5 March, Tobruk left Sydney bound for Gallipoli, Turkey in company with HMAS Sydney to participate in ceremonies marking the 75th anniversary of the landing at Anzac Cove. Tobruk carried vehicles, stores and support personnel for the ceremony on 25 April, with many of the ship's crew also going ashore to visit the battlefields on Anzac Day.

In late December 1992, Tobruk was selected to take part in Operation Solace, Australia's contribution to the international peacekeeping effort in Somalia. The ship left Sydney on 26 December, embarked much of 1RAR's equipment at Townsville and departed for Somalia on 1 January 1993. The loading process had been delayed by another serious toxic gas incident in one of the ship's sewerage plants. She arrived at Mogadishu on 19 January and was ordered to remain in the area after unloading the battalion's equipment on 23 January. The ship remained off East Africa for four and a half months, and transported humanitarian supplies from Kenya as well as providing 1RAR with a communications link to Australia. Tobruk re-embarked 1RAR's equipment at Mogadishu on 14 May and returned to Sydney via Townsville on 21 June. The ship was awarded the Gloucester Cup for 1993 for her service off Somalia and subsequent operations during the year.

In 1993, the Australian Government decided to purchase two ex-United States Navy Newport class tank landing ships to replace Tobruk and the navy's training and sealift ship HMAS Jervis Bay in 1994. Plans were developed to place Tobruk in reserve or lease her to the Royal New Zealand Navy. While the New Zealand government was interested in obtaining a sealift ship, the RNZN did not feel that it could afford to crew and operate Tobruk and the negotiations with New Zealand ended unsuccessfully in September 1994. The unexpected difficulty of upgrading the two LSTs led to the date of Tobruk’s retirement being postponed to mid-1996, with the ship continuing normal operations. After the negotiations with New Zealand ended, the RAN opened negotiations with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, which was considering scrapping one of their LSLs and replacing it with Tobruk. A British team travelled to Australia to inspect the ship in December 1994, but this sale did not eventuate. The Portuguese Navy expressed interest in buying Tobruk in 1995 and sent a team to Sydney in 1996 to inspect the ship. During this period Tobruk remained in active service, and in 1997 the new Liberal Party government decided to retain her until 2010 as the two LSTs could not fully replace her ability to carry heavy equipment. The period of uncertainty about the ship's fate led to a deterioration in her material condition, as she did not receive a major refit during the period she was up for sale.

Tobruk played an important role in efforts to end the civil war in Bougainville during the 1990s. In September 1994, she transported an Australian peacekeeping force to Bougainville to protect peace talks which were attempting to end the civil war on the island. These talks were not successful and during the deployment one of the ship's Sea King helicopters was damaged by small arms fire; the first damage sustained by a RAN unit since the Vietnam War. A peace agreement was signed in October 1997, and Tobruk returned to Bougainville in November of that year to deploy a peace monitoring group. The ship made several voyages to the island during the first four months of 1998 to support the peace process. Further voyages to Bougainville took place in September 1998, February 2000 and August 2003; the last of these was to extract the peace monitoring group following the successful conclusion of this mission. Tobruk also participated in a major international exercise in South East Asia in 1999.

In 1999 and 2000, Tobruk took part in the international peacekeeping effort in East Timor. On 30 August 1999, the day the referendum which led to East Timor's independence was held, she left Sydney for Townsville to load elements of the 3rd Brigade in case there was a need to evacuate Australians and other foreigners from East Timor. The referendum was followed by widespread violence and the Indonesian government agreed to an international peacekeeping force (the International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) being deployed to East Timor in mid-September. Tobruk left Darwin on 18 September under escort by HMS Glasgow, and arrived at Dili on 21 September. The ship made six further voyages between Darwin and East Timor in September and October 1999, and continued to make an important contribution to the peacekeeping operation until November, when she returned to Sydney for maintenance. Tobruk made two further trips to East Timor in March and April 2000. Tobruk was later awarded the battle honour "East Timor 1999" in recognition of her contribution to INTERFET.

2000–present
In mid-2000, a civil war broke out in the Solomon Islands; Tobruk was ordered to the Islands' capital, Honiara, to evacuate Australian citizens. She arrived on 8 June and embarked 486 civilians, who were then transported to Cairns, Queensland. After a brief maintenance period, Tobruk returned to the Solomons in late June, where she served as the venue for peace talks. She spent almost all of July at anchor off Honiara and returned to Australia after a cease-fire agreement was signed on board the ship on 2 August. Tobruk made a further voyage to the Solomons in December 2000 to support the International Peace Monitoring team which had been established there. A peace treaty ending the conflict was signed on board the ship on 7 February 2001 and she returned to Sydney on 15 February. Tobruk took part of Operation Relex in late 2001 and early 2002 where she transported would-be refugees to Nauru and Christmas Island. She also made a further voyage from Darwin to East Timor in April 2002 to deliver supplies to the Australian Defence Force units there.

In April 2005, HMAS Tobruk left Sydney to transport 20 ASLAVs to Kuwait, where they would equip the Australian Army's Al Muthanna Task Group in Iraq. The ASLAVs were embarked at Darwin on 18 April and the ship arrived at Kuwait on 9 May. She returned to Australia via India, arriving back in Sydney on 22 June. Tobruk undertook a second voyage to the Middle East in late 2006 to transport the equipment for the Army forces in the Reconstruction Task Force in Afghanistan and arrived home via the Philippines in April 2007.

Tobruk travelled to Nias Island in Indonesia in March 2006 to support ceremonies commemorating the anniversary of the crash of Sea King helicopter Shark 02 there on 2 April 2005. Following this deployment, she took part in Exercise Croix du Sud off New Caledonia, then proceeded to the Philippines where she was to embark an OV-10 Bronco aircraft for the Australian War Memorial.

In mid-May, Tobruk was recalled from her voyage to the Philippines to embark elements of the 3rd Brigade for an urgent deployment to East Timor following fighting caused by unrest in the country's military. She proceeded to Dili in company with the Navy's two Kanimbla class landing platform amphibious ships. This was the first time that an Australian amphibious readiness group had been formed since World War II. The Group departed from Townsville on 23 May and arrived at Dili a few days later. After unloading her cargo, Tobruk returned to Townsville where she embarked a second load of vehicles and supplies for the Australian forces in East Timor, arriving back at Dili in the first week of June. She returned to Sydney in late June.

In November 2006 it was reported that while the Department of Defence had engaged a specialist to supervise the removal of large quantities of asbestos from Tobruk, her crew were concerned that the ship was continuing operations during the overhaul. The report also stated that removal of the material had been delayed for several years due to the ship's high operational tempo.

In late December 2007, two groups of 60 Australian Navy Cadets and staff were embarked aboard Tobruk for the final part of the ship's deployment with Operation Resolute and the return voyage from Darwin to Sydney. This was the first time cadets had been embarked. The first group remained aboard until Tobruk arrived in Cairns, where they were replaced with the second group for the return to Sydney.

In 2008, Tobruk formed part of the Australia Defence Force's contingent during the annual RIMPAC exercise off Hawaii. She left Sydney on 10 June and returned on 18 August. During the exercise Tobruk embarked and landed United States Marines Amphibious Assault Vehicles. In October, Tobruk and HMAS Brunei supported the Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Program (AACAP) by transporting equipment from Kalumburu, Western Australia at the end of an AACAP project.

On 22 February 2009, Tobruk was used as the venue for a Fall Out Boy concert. From 3 April to 24 June she operated off northern Australia as part of Operation Resolute. On 16 April she was one of the ships which responded to an explosion on board the refugee ship 'Siev 36'. During this operation she provided medical treatment to people wounded in the blast and her embarked Sea King helicopter flew the more badly injured to Mungalalu Truscott Airbase. Tobruk subsequently carried 136 refugees to Christmas Island in early May. During the period 3 April to 24 June she spent 79 days at sea and only four in port, steamed 16867 nmi and embarked more than 250 asylum seekers. In October 2009 she sailed to Samoa to conduct relief operations after the islands were affected by the 2009 Samoa earthquake.

Tobruk completed a period of extended maintenance in April 2010. As of late May that year, she had sailed 823587 nmi during her service with the RAN. During the first week of September 2010, Tobruk and two other RAN amphibious ships participated in the United States-led Pacific Partnership 2010 deployment in Papua New Guinea. In early 2011, Tobruk was at Garden Island Naval Dockyard for heavy repairs to the propeller shaft. As a result, she was not available to participate in Operation Yasi Assist following Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi and, due to both ships of the Kanimbla class being out of service due to mechanical problems, the Navy did not have an amphibious transport capacity at the time. Minister for Defence Stephen Smith stated afterwards that he was misinformed about when Tobruk would be ready to put to sea if required. Temporary repairs were completed by 7 March, and the ship was been returned to "48-hours deployment notice" status, although more permanent repairs will be required in the future. Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011, Tobruk and Sydney were placed on alert to transport supplies and Australian Army engineers to Japan if this was requested by the Japanese Government. In May 2011, the ship began a two-month long maintenance period in Sydney. To provide an amphibious capability during this refit, the civilian icebreaker Aurora Australis was chartered from May until August. Although Tobruk will be active during late August and early September, she will then return to dockyard hands for further maintenance during September and October in prepreation for the 2011-12 tropical cyclone season. The Australian Customs vessel Ocean Protector was used for humanitarian and disaster relief operations during Tobruk's docking.

In October 2013 Tobruk participated in the International Fleet Review 2013.