German propaganda called the Australian destroyers a Scrap Iron Flotilla because many were First World War-era ships. Australian sailors adopted the label and treated each success as another victory for the supposed scrap iron. Their doctrine is characterized as a direct search for the enemy with guns and torpedoes rather than cautious rear-area service. That aggressiveness stands out even beside Canadian and British Tribals, Polish destroyers, and American Fletchers. Training, identity, and command culture could make an old material force behave very differently from what its age suggested.
Chapter · 2:56:43-3:01:42
Australia's Scrap Iron Flotilla made aggression a doctrine
Older Australian destroyers turned an Axis insult into the Scrap Iron Flotilla identity and pursued an exceptionally aggressive Mediterranean combat style.