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 tanks, 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 at Harland & Wolff's Belfast 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 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 in controlling fighter aircraft by ground-controlled interception, then as an "action information organisation" tender (a radar 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 in 1958. ''Boxer'' carried the writer/comedianSee also
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Publications
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boxer Amphibious warfare vessels of the Royal Navy World War II naval ships of the United Kingdom Ships built in Belfast 1942 ships Ships built by Harland and Wolff