HMS Bruiser (F127)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Bruiser.

HMS Bruiser was built as a Landing Ship, Tank (LST(1)) at Harland & 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 & 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	18 knots laden to beaching draught 16.5 knots at deep
Capacity	13 Churchill infantry tanks, 27 vehicles, 193 men
Complement	169
Service record
Operations:	Allied invasion of Italy Normandy landings

Design and development

Bruiser 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

Bruiser 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

Bruiser 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

• HMS Boxer
• HMS Thruster