In 1960, she was damaged beyond economical repair by sister ship HMAS Anzac during a gunnery exercise, which led to the destroyer's decommissioning that year, and sale for scrap in 1971.

[1] Tobruk's primary armament consisted of four 4.5-inch (114 mm) Mark III guns, fitted forward in two twin turrets.

[1] Between October 1951 and January 1952, the destroyer carried out six patrols, primarily serving as an aircraft carrier escort, or performing shore bombardments.

[2][3] After completing refit, Tobruk operated in the waters of Australia and New Guinea until mid 1955, when she joined several RAN ships in a deployment to South East Asia.

[1][2][3] On 26 April, during night exercises, a star shell fired by HMS Cockade landed in one of Tobruk's gun bays, killing one sailor and severely wounding another.

[5] Temporary repairs were made to Tobruk in Jervis Bay before the ship limped back to Sydney, where she was placed into reserve on 29 October 1960.

[1] Tobruk was sold for scrap to Fujita Salvage Company Limited of Osaka, Japan on 15 February 1972, and departed Sydney under tow on 10 April 1972.