HMS ''Brazen'' was a

Type 22 frigate The Type 22 frigate also known as the ''Broadsword'' class was a class of frigates built for the British Royal Navy. Fourteen were built in total, with production divided into three batches. Initially intended to be anti-submarine warfare fr ...

of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. She was completed three months ahead of schedule due to the Falklands War.

Royal Navy service

''Brazen'' served on the Armilla Patrol which became a task force during the Gulf War as part of Operation Granby. For this she received the

battle honour A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags ("colours"), uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible. In European military ...

"Kuwait 1991". On 24 January 1991, ''Brazen'' would screen the British Casualty Receiving ship when a pair of Iraqi

Mirage F1 The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was developed as a successor to the popular Mirage III family. During the 1960s, Dassault commenced development of what would be ...

aircraft made a run for the vessel, armed with AM39 Exocet

anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A good nu ...

s. The Iraqi aircraft were shot down by Saudi F-15C fighter aircraft before they could fire their anti-ship missiles. During the war, her

Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, O ...

helicopter attacked fast patrol boats. Following a patrol in the South Atlantic ''Brazen'' ran aground in the

Patagonian Canal The southern coast of Chile presents a large number of fjords and fjord-like channels from the latitudes of Cape Horn (55° S) to Reloncaví Estuary (42° S). Some fjords and channels are important navigable channels providing access to ports like ...

on 11 September 1994. The ship was refloated four days later and taken to Talcahuano for repairs, which lasted a month. She then returned to the UK under her own power for reinstatement of combat system equipment damaged in the incident at Devonport royal dockyard. By late 1995, ''Brazen'' was back in active service, operating in the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...

as part of a Royal Navy task group led by the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for Carrier-based aircraft, carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a ...

for

Operation Sharp Guard Operation Sharp Guard was a multi-year joint naval blockade in the Adriatic Sea by NATO and the Western European Union on shipments to the former Yugoslavia. Warships and maritime patrol aircraft from 14 countries were involved in searching for ...

. In early 1996, ''Brazen'' rescued 30 Albanians from a sinking vessel. In May 1996, she returned to Devonport for the final time before being official handed over to the

Brazilian Navy ) , colors= Blue and white , colors_label= Colors , march= " Cisne Branco" ( en, "White Swan") (same name as training ship '' Cisne Branco'' , mascot= , equipment= 1 multipurpose aircraft carrier7 submarines6 frigates2 corvettes4 amphibious warf ...

in August 1996.

Brazilian service

She was purchased from the United Kingdom by the Brazilian Navy on 18 November 1994, and renamed ''Bosísio''. The ship was commissioned into the Brazilian Navy on 30 August 1996. In June 2009, ''Bosísio'' participated in the recovery mission for the wreckage of

Air France Flight 447 Air France Flight 447 (AF447 or AFR447) was a scheduled international passenger flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris, France. On 1 June 2009, inconsistent airspeed indications led to the pilots inadvertently stalling the Airbus A330 ser ...

. She was decommissioned from Brazilian Navy service on 23 September 2015. The ship was sunk as a target in July 2017 during the Brazilian Navy operation 'MISSILEX 2017'.
Poder Naval OnLine. Retrieved 1 de agosto de 2017.

References

Publications

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brazen (F91) 1980 ships Type 22 frigates of the Royal Navy Type 22 frigates of the Brazilian Navy Gulf War ships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Clyde