HMS ''Boxer'' was built as a

Landing Ship, Tank A Landing Ship, Tank (LST) is a ship first developed during World War II (1939–1945) to support amphibious operations by carrying tanks, vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto a low-slope beach with no dock (maritime), docks or pier ...

ST(1)at

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

. Launched in December 1942 and commissioned the following April, she saw service as part of the

Allied invasion of Italy The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allies of World War II, Allied Amphibious warfare, amphibious landing on mainland Italy that took place from 3 September 1943, during the Italian campaign (World War II), Italian campaign of World War II. T ...

Design and development

''Boxer'' was the next in development of the tank landing ship following the conversion of the Maracaibo tankers into landing ships capable of carrying vehicles. The requirement was for a ship that could carry 13

Churchill tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill was a British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple Bogie#Tracked vehicles, bogies, its ability to ...

s, 27 other vehicles and 193 men. As it was expected to have a high speed even when laden for the assault (about 18 knots) it could not have a shallow draught. This in turn meant that an extra long bow ramp had to be added. At this took up a lot of room inside the ship. ''Boxer'' was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

shipyard on 31 July 1941. She was launched on 12 December 1942 and was completed on 1 August 1943. ''Boxer'' had only two sister ships, as plans to build more in the United States led instead to the Landing Ship, Tank#LST Mk.2 a simpler though slower design capable of similar capacity but with a much shallower draught.

Service

In 1944, she was refitted as a fighter direction ship, for use during the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

to control fighter aircraft by

ground-controlled interception Ground-controlled interception (GCI) is an air defence tactic whereby one or more radar stations or other observational stations are linked to a command communications centre which guides interceptor aircraft to an airborne target. This tactic wa ...

, then as an "action information organisation" tender (a

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

training ship) in 1946. In 1953 she took part in the fleet review to celebrate the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, was placed in reserve in 1956 and scrapped at

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

in 1958.Souvenir Programme, ''Coronation Review of the Fleet, Spithead, 15th June 1953'', HMSO, Gale and Polden ''Boxer'' carried the writer, musician and comedian

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

from North Africa to Italy, when he served with the 56th Heavy Regiment Royal Artillery.

References

Bibliography

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Design and development

Service

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading