HMS Brazen (F91)

HMS Brazen
History
United Kingdom
NameBrazen
BuilderYarrow Shipbuilders
Laid down18 August 1978
Launched4 March 1980
Commissioned2 July 1982
Decommissioned30 August 1996
IdentificationPennant number: F91
Honours and
awards
"Kuwait 1991"
FateSold to Brazil 18 November 1994
Brazil
NameBosisio
NamesakeAlmirante Paulo Bosísio
Acquired18 November 1994
Commissioned30 August 1996
Decommissioned29 September 2015
HomeportRio de Janeiro
Identification
FateSunk as target, July 2017
General characteristics
Class and typeType 22 frigate
Displacement4,400 tons
Length131.2 m (430 ft 5 in)
Beam14.8 m (48 ft 7 in)
Draught6.1 m (20 ft 0 in)
Propulsion
Speed30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph) max
Complement222
Armament
Aircraft carried2 × Lynx MK 8 helicopters
Aviation facilitiesHelipad and hangar

HMS Brazen was a Type 22 frigate of the Royal Navy. She was completed three months ahead of schedule due to the Falklands War.

Royal Navy service

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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 "Kuwait 1991".[1] On 24 January 1991, Brazen would screen the British Casualty Receiving ship RFA Argus when a pair of Iraqi Mirage F1 aircraft made a run for the vessel, armed with AM39 Exocet anti-ship missiles. The Iraqi aircraft were shot down by Saudi F-15C fighter aircraft before they could fire their anti-ship missiles.[2] During the war, her Lynx helicopter attacked fast patrol boats.[3]

Following a patrol in the South Atlantic Brazen ran aground in the Patagonian Canal 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 as part of a Royal Navy task group led by the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal for Operation Sharp Guard.[4] In early 1996, Brazen rescued 30 Albanians from a sinking vessel.[5] In May 1996, she returned to Devonport for the final time before being officially handed over to the Brazilian Navy in August 1996.[6][7]

Brazilian service

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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.[8]

In June 2009, Bosísio participated in the recovery mission for the wreckage of Air France Flight 447.

She was decommissioned from Brazilian Navy service on 23 September 2015.[9] The ship was sunk as a target in July 2017 during the Brazilian Navy operation 'MISSILEX 2017'.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "Written answers 1993 Gulf War". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 24 February 1993.
  2. ^ renowned youtuber Mighty Jingles's (https://www.youtube.com/@BohemianEagle) first hand account as Brazen's radio operator on duty at the time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDfDnZ7FiZg&t=232s
  3. ^ "The Royal Navy and the Gulf War". Archived from the original on 18 November 2006.
  4. ^ "Defence". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 17 October 1995.
  5. ^ "Brazen saves 30 boat people" (PDF). Navy News. March 1996. p. 1. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  6. ^ "199605". 28 April 2016.
  7. ^ "199606". 3 May 2016.
  8. ^ F Bosísio - F 48 Archived 22 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine Navios de Guerra Brasileiros. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  9. ^ [1] Poder Naval OnLine. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  10. ^ [2] Poder Naval OnLine. Retrieved 1 de agosto de 2017.

Publications

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