For hundreds of years the Ryal Navy has used specialist ships to support land battles. During the battleship era these were called monitors. A monitor was a medium size ship - about the size of a cruiser, HMS Roberts displaced 8.000 tons - which carried a few battleship-calibre guns, had a shallow draft, and was designed specifically to defeat shore batteries and engage other land targets. Some people argued that the monitor concept was outdated at the time of the second world war. During the D-Day campaign, as the allies started the liberation of Europe. HMS Roberts proved them wrong. This is her story.