October. Shropshire was reassigned to Task Force 77, and participated in the Battle of Surigao Strait on 25 October. The cruiser was involved in the Battle of Luzon during January 1945, during which she was attacked by two kamikaze aircraft: one narrowly missed, while the second was shot down by close enough for debris to hit Shropshire. Shropshire fired in anger for the last time during the Corregidor landings, then briefly returned to Australia. Shropshire returned to the Philippines in time for the Japanese surrender of the islands, then proceeded to Japan, and was present at Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945 for the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. The cruiser's wartime service with the RAN was recognised with five battle honours: "New Guinea 1943–44", "Leyte Gulf 1944", Lingayen Gulf 1945", "Borneo 1945", and "Pacific 1945". Only five personnel died during the ship's RAN service, but although all five occurred during World War II, none were the result of enemy action; one drowned, and the other four were the result of accidents. The cruiser remained in Japanese waters until 17 November, when she sailed for Sydney. In May 1946, Shropshire transported the Australian contingent to England for the British Empire victory celebrations. The ship returned home in August. From January until March 1947, Shropshire was in Japanese waters. Decommissioning and fate After returning to Sydney in March 1947, Shropshire was prepared for decommissioning, although she was not paid off into reserve until 10 November 1949. The ship was sold to Thos. W. Ward of Sheffield, England, acting on behalf of the British Iron & Steel Corporation, on 16 July 1954, for 82,500 pounds sterling. On 9 October 1954, the Dutch tug Oostzee began the voyage from Sydney to Dalmuir, Scotland. Breaking commenced in Dalmuir on 20 January 1955, with the ship's hull then transported to Troon, where scrapping resumed on 19 September. A silver bugle presented to the ship by the King's Shropshire Light Infantry was kept by the RAN after Shropshires decommissioning, and was later placed on display at the Russell Offices (which houses the Department of Defence) until at least the mid-1980s. Citations References External links RAN Sea Power Centre page for HMAS Shropshire History of the ship as written by Stan Nicholls, who served aboard as a sailor HMS Shropshire at U-boat.net HMAS Shropshire at U-boat.net London-class cruisers County-class cruisers of the Royal Navy Ships