HMS Thruster (F131)

Thruster was the third 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.

Thruster took part in the Salerno landing 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.^[1] Later in 1944 she took British troops back into Athens in Greece.^[2] Thruster was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1947.

She was acquired by the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1947 and renamed HNLMS Pelikaan with the hull number A 830.

• HMS Boxer
• HMS Bruiser