HMS Bruiser was built as a Landing Ship, Tank (LST(1)) at Harland and Wolff. Launched in October 1942 and commissioned the following March, she saw service as part of the Allied invasion of Italy.
 HMS Bruiser
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Bruiser |
| Ordered | 6 March 1941[1] |
| Builder | Harland and Wolff |
| Launched | 24 October 1942 |
| Completed | 2 April 1943 |
| Commissioned | 12 March 1943 |
| Out of service | 1946 |
| Identification | Pennant number: F127[1] |
| Fate | Sold for merchant service 1946. Scrapped 1968 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Landing Ship, Tank Mark I |
| Displacement | 3,620 |
| Speed |
|
| Capacity | 13 Churchill infantry tanks, 27 vehicles, 193 men |
| Complement | 169 |
| Service record | |
| Operations: | |
Design and development
editBruiser was the second of the LST Mk.1 class ships which could carry 13 Churchill tanks, 27 other vehicles and 193 men. It had a high speed even when laden for the assault (about 18 knots) but did not have a shallow draught, which meant that a 140 ft (43 m) long bow ramp had to be added and this took up a lot of room inside the ship.
Bruiser had only two sister ships, as plans to build more in the United States led instead to a simpler though slower design capable of similar capacity but with a much shallower draught.
Service
editBruiser took part in the Salerno landing[2] in 1943. In 1944, she was refitted as a fighter direction ship, for use during the Normandy landings in controlling fighter aircraft by ground-controlled interception. Later in 1944 she took British troops back into Athens in Greece.[2] Bruiser was sold into merchant service in 1946.
Merchant service
editBruiser was sold in 1946 for merchant service as Nilla. In 1951 she was converted to a cargo liner and renamed Silverstar. In 1957 she became Ciudad de Santa Fe[3] and was broken up in Argentina in 1968.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "HMS Bruiser (F 127)".
- ^ a b "bbc".
- ^ "Ciudad de Santa Fe – Histarmar" (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 December 2022.
- ^ "Bruiser (5074707)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 31 January 2020.