HMS Boxer was the first of the Batch 2 Type 22 frigates and was launched on 17 June 1981. She commissioned on 22 December 1983.

She was one of only two Batch 2s (the other being Beaver) fitted with the lower-height hangar of the Batch 1s, so she could only accommodate Lynx helicopters.

During 1996 and 1997 she was leader of the 1^st Frigate Squadron.

She was decommissioned on 4 August 1999 and sunk as a target in August 2004.