Performance for the vessel came by way of 2 x Rolls-Royce Olympus TM3B boost gas turbines (54,600 shaft horsepower) coupled with 2 x Rolls-Royce Tyne RM1C cruise gas turbines (9,700 shaft horsepower) in a COGOG arrangement driving 2 x shafts. COGOG (COmbined Gas and Gas) supplied the vessel with two modes of gas-fueled turbine operation depending on whether cruising speeds or a short boost of speed was in order. This allowed speeds of 30 knots to be reached while cruising was closer to the 18-knot range.
Despite her merchant-like appearance, HMS Brilliant was a fighting frigate and outfitted for the dangers of Cold War sea warfare. This included 2 x 6 GWS25 series "Seawolf" Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) launchers, 4 x French "Exocet" Surface-to-Surface Anti-Ship (AS) launchers, and 2 x 40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft (AA) cannons. Additional support came in the form of the 2 x Westland Lynx Mk.8 series naval helicopters carried and these birds were utilized primarily in submarine hunting and anti-ship operations.
A year after her introduction, HMS Brilliant was ordered to the South Atlantic as part of the large British Task Force responding to the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands. Once on station, she became the first Royal Navy vessel to fire the BAC/BAe "Sea Wolf" surface-to-air missile and successfully downed three marauding Argentine Douglas A-4 Skyhawk multi-role fighters. She also used her two-strong fleet of Lynx naval helicopters in a failed attempt to engage ARA Santa Fe (S-21), an attack submarine of the Argentine Navy (Santa Fe vessel was eventually overtaken in shallow waters during April 1982 and scuttled by the British). On May 25th, she helped save members of the British merchant navy ship Atlantic Conveyor after it fell victim to Argentine Exocet anti-ship missiles. The war ended on June 14th, 1982 with a British victory and continued control of the Falklands. Her only scars of the war were in a May 23 attack by Argentine aircraft who strafed her with guns resulting in only minor damage.
HMS Brilliant lived out her days in British Royal Navy service into the mid-1990s when, in 1996, she was decommissioned and sold off to the Brazilian Navy. Her sea tenure continued for a time under the Brazilian naval flag as "Dodsworth" (F47) until her stripped hulk was formally retired and sold off to Turkey for scrapping.
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