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HMS Belfast (C35)
Encyclopedia
HMS Belfast is a museum ship
, originally a Royal Navy
light cruiser
, permanently moored in London
on the River Thames
and operated by the Imperial War Museum
.
Construction of Belfast, the first Royal Navy ship to be named after the capital city of Northern Ireland
and one of ten Town-class
cruisers, began in December 1936. She was launched on St Patrick's Day, 17 March 1938. Commissioned in early August 1939 shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War
, Belfast was initially part of the British naval blockade against Germany. In November 1939 Belfast struck a German mine
and spent more than two years undergoing extensive repairs. Returning to action in November 1942 with improved firepower, radar equipment and armour, Belfast was the largest and arguably most powerful cruiser in the Royal Navy at the time. Belfast saw action escorting Arctic convoys
to the Soviet Union
during 1943, and in December 1943 played an important role in the Battle of North Cape
, assisting in the destruction of the German warship Scharnhorst
. In June 1944 Belfast took part in Operation Overlord
supporting the Normandy landings. In June 1945 Belfast was redeployed to the Far East to join the British Pacific Fleet
, arriving shortly before the end of the Second World War. Belfast saw further combat action in 1950–52 during the Korean War
and underwent an extensive modernisation between 1956 and 1959. A number of further overseas commissions followed before Belfast entered reserve in 1963.
In 1967, efforts were initiated to avert Belfast expected scrapping and preserve her as a museum ship. A joint committee of the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum
and the Ministry of Defence was established, and reported in June 1968 that preservation was practical. In 1971 the government decided against preservation, prompting the formation of the private HMS Belfast Trust to campaign for her preservation. The efforts of the Trust were successful, and the government transferred the ship to the Trust in July 1971. Brought to London, she was moored on the River Thames
near Tower Bridge
in the Pool of London
. Opened to the public in October 1971, Belfast became a branch of the Imperial War Museum in 1978. A popular tourist attraction, Belfast receives around a quarter of a million visitors per year. As a branch of a national museum and part of the National Historic Fleet, Core Collection
, Belfast is supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
, by admissions income, and by the museum's commercial activities.
. The Town class had originated in 1933 as the Admiralty
's response to the Imperial Japanese Navy
's , an 11,200-ton cruiser mounting fifteen 6-inch guns with a top speed exceeding 35 knots. The Admiralty's requirement
called for a 9,000 ton cruiser, sufficiently armoured to withstand a direct hit from an 8-inch shell, capable of 32 knots and mounting twelve 6-inch guns. Seaplanes carried aboard would enable shipping lanes to be patrolled over a wide area, and the class was also to be capable of its own anti-aircraft defence. Under the Director of Naval Construction
the new design evolved during 1933. The lead ship of the new class, the 9,100-ton HMS Southampton, and her sister HMS Newcastle
, were ordered under the 1933 estimates. Three more cruisers were built to this design, with a further three ships built to a slightly larger 9,400-ton design in 1935–36. By 1935, however, the Admiralty was keen to improve the firepower of these cruisers to match the firepower of the Japanese Mogami- and American Brooklyn-class
cruisers; both were armed with fifteen 6-inch guns. The Admiralty rejected a design featuring five triple turrets as impractical, while an alternative design fitting four quadruple turrets was rejected as an effective quadruple turret could not be developed. In May 1936 the Admiralty decided to fit triple turrets, whose improved design would permit an increase in deck armour. This modified design became the 10,000-ton Edinburgh subclass, named after Belfasts sister ship HMS Edinburgh. Belfast was ordered from Harland and Wolff
on 21 September 1936, and her keel laid on 10 December 1936. Her expected cost was £2,141,514; of which the guns cost £75,000 and the aircraft (two Supermarine Walrus
es) £66,500. She was launched on Saint Patrick's Day
, 17 March 1938, by Anne Chamberlain
, the wife of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
. From March to August 1939 Belfast was fitted out and underwent sea trials.
When completed, Belfast had an overall length
of 613 in 6 in (186.99 m), a beam
of 63 in 4 in (19.3 m) and a draught
of 17 in 3 in (5.26 m). Her standard displacement
during her sea trials was 10420 long tons (10,587.2 t). She was propelled by four three-drum oil-fired Admiralty water-tube boiler
s, turning Parsons
geared steam turbine
s, driving four propeller shafts. She was capable of 32.5 knots (17.7 m/s) and carried 2400 long tons (2,438.5 t) of fuel oil. This gave her a maximum range of 8664 nautical miles (16,045.7 km) at 13 knots (7.1 m/s).
Belfasts main armament comprised twelve Mk XXIII six-inch guns
in four triple turrets. With a rate of fire of up to eight rounds per gun per minute, her main battery was capable of a maximum rate of fire of 96 rounds per minute. Her secondary armament comprised twelve 4-inch guns
in six twin turrets. Her initial close-range anti-aircraft armament was sixteen 2-pounder "pom-pom"
guns in two eight-barrel mountings, and two quadruple Vickers .50 machine gun
s. She also mounted six Mk IV 21-inch torpedo
tubes in two triple mounts, and fifteen Mk VII depth charge
s.
Belfast was protected by a 4.5 inches (114.3 mm) main armour belt
, with deck armour of 3 inches (76.2 mm) over her magazines, and 2 inches (50.8 mm) over her machinery spaces. Her six-inch turrets were protected by up to 4 inches (101.6 mm) of armour.
Belfasts aviation capability was provided by two catapult-launched Supermarine Walrus
amphibious biplanes. These could be launched from a D1H catapult
mounted aft of the forward superstructure, and recovered from the water by two cranes mounted on either side of the forward funnel. The aircraft, operated by the Fleet Air Arm
's HMS Belfast Flight of 700 Naval Air Squadron, were stowed in two hangars in the forward superstructure.
on 3 August 1939, and was commissioned on 5 August 1939, less than a month before the outbreak of the Second World War
. Her first captain was Captain
G A Scott with a crew of 761, and her first assignment was to the Home Fleet's 2nd Cruiser Squadron. On 14 August Belfast took part in her first exercise, Operation Hipper
, in which she played the role of a German commerce raider attempting to escape into the Atlantic. By navigating the hazardous Pentland Firth
, Belfast successfully evaded the Home Fleet.
On 31 August 1939 Belfast was transferred to the 18th Cruiser Squadron. Germany invaded Poland
the following day, and Britain and France declared war on 3 September. Based at Scapa Flow
in the Orkney islands, 18th Cruiser Squadron was part of the British effort to impose a naval blockade
on Germany. On 1 October 1939 Belfast left Scapa Flow for a patrol in the North Sea, and on 9 October intercepted a German liner, the 13,615-ton Cap Norte, 50 miles (80.5 km) north-west of the Faroe Islands
. Disguised as a neutral Swedish vessel, the SS Ancona, Cap Norte was attempting to return to Germany from Brazil; her passengers included German reservists. Two other vessels were captured that day, and all were steamed back to Scapa by prize crews from Belfast. Under the Admiralty's prize rules, Belfasts crew later received prize money.
On 10 November Belfast was taken off the northern patrol and reassigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron. This squadron was to form an independent striking force based at Rosyth
. On 21 November, Belfast was to take part in the force's first sortie, a gunnery exercise. At 10:58 a.m. she struck a magnetic mine
while leaving the Firth of Forth
. The mine broke Belfasts keel, wrecked one of her engine and boiler rooms and injured twenty-one of her crew. The tugboat
Krooman, towing gunnery targets for the exercise, released her targets and instead towed Belfast to Rosyth for initial repairs.
Initial assessments of Belfasts damage showed that, while the mine had done little physical damage to the outer hull, causing only a small hole directly below one of the boiler rooms, the shock of the explosion had caused severe warping, breaking machinery, deforming the decks and causing the keel to hog (bend upwards) by three inches. On 4 January 1940 Belfast was decommissioned to Care and Maintenance status, becoming the responsibility of Rosyth Dockyard
, and her crew dispersed to other vessels. By 28 June she had been repaired sufficiently to sail to Devonport
, arriving on 30 June.
During her repairs, work was carried out to straighten, reconstruct and strengthen her hull. Her armoured belt
was also extended and thickened. Her armament was updated with newer 2-pounder "pom-pom"
mountings, and her anti-aircraft armament improved with eighteen 20 mm Oerlikon
guns in five twin and eight single mountings, replacing two quadruple 0.5-inch Vickers
guns. Belfast also received new fire control radar
s for her main, secondary and anti-aircraft guns. Her November 1942 radar fit included one Type 284 set and four Type 283 sets to direct the main armament, three Type 285 sets for the secondary guns, and two Type 285 sets for the 2-pounder anti-aircraft guns. She also received a Type 273 general surface warning radar, Type 251 and 252 sets for identification friend or foe
(IFF) purposes, and a Type 281 and Type 242 for air warning. Her 1942 electronics suite also included a Type 270 echosounder
. Due to her increased topweight, a bulge was introduced into her hull amidships to improve stability and provide extra longitudinal strength. Belfast was recommissioned at Devonport on 3 November 1942, under the command of Captain Frederick Parham
. Her beam had increased to 69 ft (21 m) and her draught to 19 ft (5.8 m) forward and 20 in 2 in (6.15 m) aft. Her displacement had risen to 11,550 tons, making her the largest and arguably most powerful cruiser in the Royal Navy.
of the 10th Cruiser Squadron, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral
Robert Burnett
, who had previously commanded the Home Fleet's destroyer flotillas. The squadron was responsible for the hazardous task of escorting Arctic convoys
to the Soviet Union
, operating from Scapa Flow and bases in Iceland
. Her radar suite reduced Belfast need for aerial surveillance, and her aircraft were disembarked in June 1943. Belfast spent 1943 engaged on convoy escort and blockade patrol duties, and on 5–6 October formed part of the covering force during Operation Leader
, an airstrike against German shipping in northern Norway
near Bodø
by the aircraft carrier USS Ranger
.
On 26 December 1943, Belfast participated in the Battle of North Cape
. This battle involved two strong Royal Navy formations; the first, Force One, comprised the cruisers HMS Norfolk
, HMS Sheffield
and Belfast (the 10th Cruiser Squadron) with three destroyers, and the second, Force Two, comprised the battleship HMS Duke of York
and the cruiser HMS Jamaica with four destroyers. On 25 December 1943, Christmas Day, the German Navy
's Scharnhorst
left port in northern Norway to attack Convoy JW55B, which was bound for Russia. The next day Force One encountered Scharnhorst, prevented her from attacking the convoy, and forced her to turn for home after being damaged by the British cruisers. As Scharnhorst did so, she was intercepted by Force Two and sunk by the combined formations. Belfast played an important role in the battle; as flagship of the 10th Cruiser Squadron she was among the first to encounter Scharnhorst, and coordinated the squadron's defence of the convoy. After Scharnhorst turned away from the convoy, Admiral Burnett in Belfast shadowed her by radar from outside visual range, enabling her interception by Duke of York.
, a large carrier-launched Fleet Air Arm
airstrike against the German battleship Tirpitz
. Moored in Altafjord
in northern Norway, Tirpitz was the German Navy's last surviving capital ship
. Forty two Fairey Barracuda
dive-bombers from HMS Victorious
and Furious
made up the strike force, escorted by eighty fighters. Launched on 3 April, the bombers scored fourteen hits, immobilising Tirpitz for two months, with one Barracuda shot down. Belfast underwent minor repairs at Rosyth from 23 April to 8 May, while her crew received a period of leave. On 8 May Belfast returned to Scapa and carried the King
during his pre-invasion visit to the Home Fleet.
For the invasion of Normandy Belfast was made headquarters ship of Bombardment Force E flying the flag of Rear-Admiral Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton
, and was to support landings by British and Canadian forces in the Gold
and Juno Beach
sectors. On 2 June Belfast left the River Clyde for her bombardment areas. That morning Prime Minister Winston Churchill
had announced his intention to go to sea with the fleet and witness the invasion from HMS Belfast. This was opposed by the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower
, and the First Sea Lord
, Sir Andrew Cunningham
. An intervention by the King eventually prevented Churchill from going.
The invasion was to begin on 5 June but bad weather forced a 24-hour delay. At 5:30 a.m. on 6 June Belfast opened fire on a German artillery battery at Ver-sur-Mer, suppressing the guns until the site was overrun by British infantry of 7th Battalion, Green Howards. On 12 June Belfast supported Canadian troops moving inland from Juno Beach and returned to Portsmouth on 16 June to replenish her ammunition. She returned two days later for further bombardments. On the night of 6 July Belfast was threatened at anchor by German motor torpedo boat
s ("E-boats"). She evaded them by weighing anchor
and moving to the concealment of a smokescreen. Belfast fired her last round in anger
in European waters on 8 July, in company with the monitor
HMS Roberts
and the battleship HMS Rodney, as part of Operation Charnwood
. On 10 July she sailed for Scapa, the fighting in France having moved beyond the range of her guns. During her five weeks off Normandy Belfast had fired 1,996 rounds from her six-inch guns.
attacks by Japanese aircraft. By May 1945 Belfast mounted thirty-six 2-pounder guns
in two eight-gun mounts, four quadruple mounts, and four single mounts. She also mounted fourteen 20mm Oerlikons. Her two aftmost 4-inch mountings were removed, and the remainder fitted with Remote Power Control. Her empty hangars were converted to crew accommodation, and her aircraft catapult removed.
Her radar fit now included a Type 277 radar set to replace her Type 273 for surface warning. Her Type 281 air warning set was replaced by a single-antenna Type 281B set, while a Type 293Q was fitted for close-range height-finding and surface warning. A Type 274 set was fitted for main armament fire direction. On 17 June 1945, with the war in Europe at an end, Belfast sailed for the Far East via Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria, Port Said, Aden, Colombo and Sydney. By the time she arrived in Sydney on 7 August Belfast had been made flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the British Pacific Fleet
. While in Sydney Belfast underwent another short refit, supplementing her close-range armament with five 40mm Bofors guns. Belfast had been expected to join in Operation Downfall
, but this was forestalled by the Japanese surrender
on 15 August 1945.
with a march through the city. The next day Belfast took charge of a silver ship's bell, a gift of the people of Belfast. She sailed for Hong Kong
on 23 October to join the Royal Navy's Far East Station, arriving in late December. By 1949, the political situation in China was precarious, with the Chinese Civil War
moving towards its conclusion. As flagship of the 5th Cruiser Squadron, Belfast was the Far Eastern Station's headquarters ship during the April 1949 Amethyst Incident, in which a British sloop, HMS Amethyst was trapped in the Yangtze River
by the communist People's Liberation Army
. Belfast remained in Hong Kong during 1949, sailing for Singapore
on 18 January 1950. There she underwent a minor refit between January and March 1950 and in June she joined the Far East Fleet's summer cruise. On 25 June 1950, while Belfast was visiting Hakodate
in Japan, North Korean forces crossed the 38th Parallel
, starting the Korean War
.
With the outbreak of the Korean War, Belfast became part of the United Nations
naval forces. Originally part of the US Navy's Task Force 77, Belfast was detached in order to operate independently on 5 July 1950. During July and early August Belfast undertook coastal patrols and was based at Sasebo
in Japan's Nagasaki Prefecture
. From 19 July Belfast supported troops fighting around Yongdok, accompanied by the USS Juneau
. That day Belfast fired an accurate 350-round bombardment from her 6-inch guns, and was praised by an American admiral as a "straight-shooting ship".The admiral is not identified in Wingate (2004), but may have been Rear Admiral John Higgins
, for whom Juneau was flagship. On 6 August she sailed for the UK to pay off and recommission, and arrived back at Sasebo on 31 January 1951.
During 1951 Belfast mounted a number of coastal patrols and bombarded a variety of targets. On 1 June she arrived at Singapore for refitting, arriving back on patrol on 31 August. In September 1951 Belfast provided anti-aircraft cover for a salvage operation to recover a crashed enemy MiG-15
jet fighter. She conducted further bombardments and patrols before receiving a month's leave from operations, returning to action on 23 December.
In 1952 Belfast continued her coastal patrol duties. On 29 July 1952 Belfast was hit by enemy fire while engaging an artillery battery
on Wolsa-ri island. A 75 mm shell struck a forward compartment, killing a British sailor of Chinese origin in his hammock and wounding four other Chinese ratings. This was the only time Belfast was hit by enemy fire during her Korean service. On 27 September 1952 Belfast was relieved by two other Town-class cruisers, HMS Birmingham
and HMS Newcastle
. She had steamed over 80000 miles (128,747.2 km) in the combat zone and fired more than 8,000 rounds from her 6-inch guns during the Korean War. She paid off in Chatham
on 4 November 1952 and entered reserve at Devonport on 1 December.
Belfast arrived in Singapore on 16 December 1959, and spent most of 1960 at sea on exercise, calling at ports in Hong Kong, Borneo, India, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka
), Australia, the Philippines and Japan. On 31 January 1961 Belfast recommissioned, under the command of Captain Morgan Morgan-Giles
. On her final foreign commission Belfast joined a number of exercises in the Far East, and in December 1961 she provided the British guard of honour at Tanganyika
's independence ceremony in Dar-es-Salaam.
The ship left Singapore on 26 March 1962 for the UK, sailing east via Guam and Pearl Harbor
, San Francisco, Seattle, British Columbia, Panama and Trinidad. She arrived at Portsmouth on 19 June 1962. Recommissioned in July, she made a final visit to Belfast from 23–29 November, before paying off into reserve on 25 February 1963. In July 1963 Belfast was recommissioned for the last time, with a crew of the Royal Naval Reserve
(RNR) and a number of Sea Cadets
flying the flag of the Admiral Commanding Reserves, Rear Admiral Hugh Martell. Belfast sailed for Gibraltar in company with sixteen RNR minesweepers
for a two-week exercise in the Mediterranean on 10 August. Martell's obituarist
considered this commission a well-judged contrivance which 'did much to restore the confidence and image of the new RNR' which had undergone an acrimonious amalgamation with the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1958.
Creek, for the Reserve Division at Portsmouth. While HMS Belfast lay at Fareham Creek the Imperial War Museum
, Britain's national museum of twentieth century conflict, became interested in preserving a 6-inch turret. The turret would represent a number of classes of cruiser (then disappearing from service) and would complement the museum's pair of British 15-inch naval guns. On 14 April 1967 museum staff visited HMS Gambia
, a also moored in Fareham Creek at the time. Following the visit the possibility was raised of preserving an entire ship. Gambia had already severely deteriorated, so attention turned to the possibility of saving Belfast. A joint committee was established by the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum
and the Ministry of Defence
, which reported in June 1968 that the scheme was practical and economic. However, in early 1971 the government's Paymaster General decided against preservation. On 4 May 1971 Belfast was 'reduced to disposal' to await scrapping.
, captain of Belfast from January 1961 to July 1962. As Member of Parliament (MP) for Winchester, Morgan-Giles addressed the House of Commons on 8 March 1971. He described Belfast as being in "a really wonderful state of preservation" and that saving her for the nation represented a "case of grasping the last opportunity". Among the MPs who spoke in support of Morgan-Giles was Gordon Bagier
, MP for Sunderland South
, who served as a Royal Marine gunner aboard Belfast and was present at both the sinking of the Scharnhorst and the Normandy landings. Speaking for the government, the Under-secretary for the Navy, Peter Michael Kirk
, said that Belfast was "one of the most historic ships which the Navy has had in the last 20 years", but that he could not prevent the stripping of the ship's removable equipment, as this was already too far advanced to be halted. He did, however, agree to postpone any decision on Belfasts scrapping to allow the Trust to put together a formal proposal.
Following the Trust's efforts, the government agreed to hand over Belfast to the Trustees in July 1971, with Vice Admiral
Sir Donald Gibson as her first director. At a press conference in August the Trust announced "Operation Seahorse", the plan to bring Belfast to London. She was towed from Portsmouth to London via Tilbury, where she was fitted out as a museum. She was opened to the public on Trafalgar Day
, 21 October 1971. The date was significant, as Belfast was the first naval vessel to be saved for the nation since HMS Victory
, Lord Nelson
's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar
. Though no longer part of the Royal Navy, HMS Belfast was granted a special dispensation to allow her to continue to fly the White Ensign
.
Now a museum, the ship's opening was well received: in 1972 the HMS Belfast Trust won the British Tourist Authority's "Come to Britain" trophy. Support for the ship's restoration was received from individuals, from the Royal Navy, and from commercial businesses; in 1973, for example, the Worshipful Company of Bakers
provided dummy bread for display in the ship's NAAFI
and bakery. By 1974 areas including the Admiral's bridge and forward boiler and engine rooms had been restored and fitted out. That year also saw the refurbishment of the ship's Operations Room by a team from HMS Vernon
, and the return of Belfasts six twin Bofors mounts, along with their fire directors. By December 1975 Belfast had received 1,500,000 visitors. In 1976 Belfast was reaffiliated with the successors to the British Army's Royal Ulster Rifles
, the Royal Irish Rangers
, and in the same year the Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society
restored the ship's Bridge Wireless Office to working order.
, accepted the proposal stating that HMS Belfast "is a unique demonstration of an important phase of our history and technology". The ship was transferred to the museum on 1 March 1978, and became the Imperial War Museum's third branch, Duxford aerodrome
having been acquired in 1976. In October 1998, the HMS Belfast Association was formed to reunite former members of the ship’s company. The Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive also seeks to record oral history
interviews with former crewmen.
, and in June 1999 Belfast was towed to Portsmouth
. This was the first time she had been to sea in 28 years and required a Certificate of Seaworthiness from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency
. While in dock, her entire hull was cleaned, blasted, and repainted, her hull blanking plates inspected and an ultrasonic survey carried out. She is not expected to require further drydocking until 2020. While under tow to Portsmouth she was delayed by bad weather and arrived a day late: it had been intended that she would arrive on 6 June 1999, the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Normandy landings. Following the maintenance work, Belfast was repainted in a dazzle camouflage
scheme officially known as Admiralty Disruptive Camouflage Type 25, which she had worn from November 1942 to July 1944. This was objected to by some, due to the anachronistic
conflict between her camouflage, which reflects the majority of her active Second World War service, and her present configuration, which was the result of Belfast's extended refit from January 1956 to May 1959. With the establishment of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
's (DCMS) Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships in 2006, Belfast was listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Core Collection
.
On 9 May 2010 a ceremony was held aboard Belfast to mark the 65th anniversary of end of the war in Europe. Veterans of the Arctic convoys
were in attendance to receive medals from the Russian Ambassador Yuri Fedotov
. During the ceremony it was announced that, as part of the restoration of the ship, two new masts had been manufactured at the Severnaya Verf
shipyard near Saint Petersburg
. The production of the masts, to replace corroded originals, had been supported by a number of Russian businesses at a reported cost of £500,000. The restoration of the masts involved removing the fittings from both masts, allowing them to be individually restored. The old masts were then cut down in sections, the new masts erected, and the original fittings replaced. On 19 October 2010, the new masts were dedicated at a ceremony attended by HMS Belfast veterans, by Prince Philip
and officials from the Russian embassy and government.
with the pedestrianised footpath on the south bank of the River Thames
. The Imperial War Museum's guidebook to HMS Belfast divides the ship into three broad sections. The first of these, 'Life on board the ship', focuses on the experience of serving at sea. Restored compartments, some populated with dressed figures, illustrate the crew's living conditions and the ship's various facilities such as the sick bay, galley, laundry, chapel, mess decks and NAAFI. Since 2002 school and youth groups have been able to stay onboard Belfast overnight, sleeping in bunks on a restored 1950s mess deck. The second section, 'The inner workings', below the waterline and protected by the ship's armoured belt, contains core mechanical, electrical and communication systems. As well as the engine and boiler rooms, other compartments include the transmitting station (housing the ship's Admiralty Fire Control Table
, a mechanical computer), the forward steering position and one of Belfasts six-inch shell rooms and magazines. The third section, 'Action stations', includes the upper deck and forward superstructure with the ship's armament, fire control, and command facilities. Areas open to the public include the operations room, Admiral's bridge and gun direction platform. During 2011 two of these areas were reinterpreted
. The operations room was restored to its appearance during Exercise Pony Express, a large British-Australian-American joint exercise held off North Borneo
in 1961. The reinterpretation included an interactive audio-visual plotting table
. In July 2011 the interior of Y Turret, the aftmost 6-inch turret, was redisplayed using audio-visual and atmospheric effects, seeking to evoke the experience of a gunner at the Battle of North Cape. To emphasise the range of the ship's armament, the forward six-inch guns of A and B Turrets are aimed at the London Gateway service area
on the M1 motorway
, some 12½ miles away on the outskirts of London. A 4-inch gun mount and a shell hoist are kept in working order and used during blank-firing demonstrations by the Wavy Navy re-enactment group
. In addition to the various areas of the ship open to visitors, some compartments have been fitted out as dedicated exhibition space. Permanent exhibitions include 'HMS Belfast in War and Peace' and 'Life at Sea'. The cost of admission to HMS Belfast includes a multilingual audio guide, and the museum also hosts an online virtual tour
.
HMS Belfast is also the headquarters of the City of London Sea Cadet Corps
, and her prestigious central London location means she frequently has other vessels berth alongside; in October 2007 Belfast hosted the naming ceremony of the lighthouse tender
THV Galatea
with the Queen
and Prince Philip in attendance.
Museum ship
A museum ship, or sometimes memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public, for educational or memorial purposes...
, originally a Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
, permanently moored in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
and operated by the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
.
Construction of Belfast, the first Royal Navy ship to be named after the capital city of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
and one of ten Town-class
Town class cruiser (1936)
The Town-class was a 10-ship class of light cruisers of the Royal Navy. The Towns were designed to the constraints imposed by the London Naval Treaty of 1930....
cruisers, began in December 1936. She was launched on St Patrick's Day, 17 March 1938. Commissioned in early August 1939 shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Belfast was initially part of the British naval blockade against Germany. In November 1939 Belfast struck a German mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
and spent more than two years undergoing extensive repairs. Returning to action in November 1942 with improved firepower, radar equipment and armour, Belfast was the largest and arguably most powerful cruiser in the Royal Navy at the time. Belfast saw action escorting Arctic convoys
Arctic convoys of World War II
The Arctic convoys of World War II travelled from the United Kingdom and North America to the northern ports of the Soviet Union—Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945...
to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
during 1943, and in December 1943 played an important role in the Battle of North Cape
Battle of North Cape
The Battle of the North Cape was a Second World War naval battle which occurred on 26 December 1943, as part of the Arctic Campaign. The German battlecruiser , on an operation to attack Arctic Convoys of war materiel from the Western Allies to the USSR, was brought to battle and sunk by superior...
, assisting in the destruction of the German warship Scharnhorst
German battleship Scharnhorst
Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. The ship was built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down on 15...
. In June 1944 Belfast took part in Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
supporting the Normandy landings. In June 1945 Belfast was redeployed to the Far East to join the British Pacific Fleet
British Pacific Fleet
The British Pacific Fleet was a British Commonwealth naval force which saw action against Japan during World War II. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944...
, arriving shortly before the end of the Second World War. Belfast saw further combat action in 1950–52 during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and underwent an extensive modernisation between 1956 and 1959. A number of further overseas commissions followed before Belfast entered reserve in 1963.
In 1967, efforts were initiated to avert Belfast expected scrapping and preserve her as a museum ship. A joint committee of the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
and the Ministry of Defence was established, and reported in June 1968 that preservation was practical. In 1971 the government decided against preservation, prompting the formation of the private HMS Belfast Trust to campaign for her preservation. The efforts of the Trust were successful, and the government transferred the ship to the Trust in July 1971. Brought to London, she was moored on the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
near Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, England, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name...
in the Pool of London
Pool of London
The Pool of London is a part of the Tideway of the River Thames from London Bridge to below Tower Bridge. It was the original part of the Port of London. The Pool of London is divided into two parts, the Upper Pool and Lower Pool...
. Opened to the public in October 1971, Belfast became a branch of the Imperial War Museum in 1978. A popular tourist attraction, Belfast receives around a quarter of a million visitors per year. As a branch of a national museum and part of the National Historic Fleet, Core Collection
National Historic Fleet, Core Collection
The National Historic Fleet, Core Collection is a list of museum ships located in the United Kingdom, under the National Historic Ships register.The vessels on the National Historic Fleet are distinguished by:...
, Belfast is supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet....
, by admissions income, and by the museum's commercial activities.
Design
Belfast is a cruiser of the second Town classTown class cruiser (1936)
The Town-class was a 10-ship class of light cruisers of the Royal Navy. The Towns were designed to the constraints imposed by the London Naval Treaty of 1930....
. The Town class had originated in 1933 as the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
's response to the Imperial Japanese Navy
Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...
's , an 11,200-ton cruiser mounting fifteen 6-inch guns with a top speed exceeding 35 knots. The Admiralty's requirement
Requirement
In engineering, a requirement is a singular documented physical and functional need that a particular product or service must be or perform. It is most commonly used in a formal sense in systems engineering, software engineering, or enterprise engineering...
called for a 9,000 ton cruiser, sufficiently armoured to withstand a direct hit from an 8-inch shell, capable of 32 knots and mounting twelve 6-inch guns. Seaplanes carried aboard would enable shipping lanes to be patrolled over a wide area, and the class was also to be capable of its own anti-aircraft defence. Under the Director of Naval Construction
Director of Naval Construction
The Director of Naval Construction was a senior British civil servant post in the Admiralty, that part of the British Civil Service that oversaw the Royal Navy. The post existed from 1860 to 1966....
the new design evolved during 1933. The lead ship of the new class, the 9,100-ton HMS Southampton, and her sister HMS Newcastle
HMS Newcastle (C76)
The seventh HMS Newcastle was a Town-class light cruiser of the British Royal Navy. She belonged to the Southampton subclass. In the Second World War following extensive battle damage sustained in the Mediterranean, she spent some time being repaired in New York.She also saw action in the Korean...
, were ordered under the 1933 estimates. Three more cruisers were built to this design, with a further three ships built to a slightly larger 9,400-ton design in 1935–36. By 1935, however, the Admiralty was keen to improve the firepower of these cruisers to match the firepower of the Japanese Mogami- and American Brooklyn-class
Brooklyn class cruiser
The Brooklyn-class cruisers were seven light cruisers of the United States Navy which served during World War II. Armed with 5 triple turrets mounting 6-inch guns, they and their near sisters of the St. Louis class mounted more heavy-caliber guns than any other US cruisers...
cruisers; both were armed with fifteen 6-inch guns. The Admiralty rejected a design featuring five triple turrets as impractical, while an alternative design fitting four quadruple turrets was rejected as an effective quadruple turret could not be developed. In May 1936 the Admiralty decided to fit triple turrets, whose improved design would permit an increase in deck armour. This modified design became the 10,000-ton Edinburgh subclass, named after Belfasts sister ship HMS Edinburgh. Belfast was ordered from Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland....
on 21 September 1936, and her keel laid on 10 December 1936. Her expected cost was £2,141,514; of which the guns cost £75,000 and the aircraft (two Supermarine Walrus
Supermarine Walrus
The Supermarine Walrus was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and operated by the Fleet Air Arm . It also served with the Royal Air Force , Royal Australian Air Force , Royal Canadian Air Force , Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal New...
es) £66,500. She was launched on Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day is a religious holiday celebrated internationally on 17 March. It commemorates Saint Patrick , the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of :Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion , the Eastern...
, 17 March 1938, by Anne Chamberlain
Anne Chamberlain
Anne Vere Chamberlain, née Anne de Vere Cole was the wife of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.Chamberlain was born to Major William Utting Cole, of West Woodhay House; he died in India of cholera while she was young...
, the wife of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
. From March to August 1939 Belfast was fitted out and underwent sea trials.
When completed, Belfast had an overall length
Overall length
The overall length of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing....
of 613 in 6 in (186.99 m), a beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 63 in 4 in (19.3 m) and a draught
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
of 17 in 3 in (5.26 m). Her standard displacement
Displacement (ship)
A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...
during her sea trials was 10420 long tons (10,587.2 t). She was propelled by four three-drum oil-fired Admiralty water-tube boiler
Water-tube boiler
A water tube boiler is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which heats water in the steam-generating tubes...
s, turning Parsons
Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company
Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company was a British engineering company based in Wallsend, North England, on the River Tyne.-History:The company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1897 with £500,000 of capital, and specialised in building the steam turbine engines that he had invented for...
geared steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s, driving four propeller shafts. She was capable of 32.5 knots (17.7 m/s) and carried 2400 long tons (2,438.5 t) of fuel oil. This gave her a maximum range of 8664 nautical miles (16,045.7 km) at 13 knots (7.1 m/s).
Belfasts main armament comprised twelve Mk XXIII six-inch guns
BL 6 inch Mk XXIII naval gun
The 50 calibre BL 6 inch gun Mark XXIII was the main battery gun used on the Royal Navy's conventional light cruisers built from 1930 through the Second World War.-Description:...
in four triple turrets. With a rate of fire of up to eight rounds per gun per minute, her main battery was capable of a maximum rate of fire of 96 rounds per minute. Her secondary armament comprised twelve 4-inch guns
QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun
The QF 4 inch Mk XVI gun was the standard British Commonwealth naval anti-aircraft and dual-purpose gun of World War II.-Service:The Mk XVI superseded the earlier QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun on many Royal Naval ships during the late 1930s and early 1940s...
in six twin turrets. Her initial close-range anti-aircraft armament was sixteen 2-pounder "pom-pom"
QF 2 pounder naval gun
The 2-pounder gun, officially designated the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 1.575 inch British autocannon, used famously as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing...
guns in two eight-barrel mountings, and two quadruple Vickers .50 machine gun
Vickers .50 machine gun
The Vickers .50 machine gun, also known as the 'Vickers .50' was basically the same as the Vickers machine gun but scaled up to use a larger calibre round.-Mark II, IV and V:...
s. She also mounted six Mk IV 21-inch torpedo
British 21 inch torpedo
There have been several British 21-inch diameter torpedoes used by the Royal Navy since their first development just before the First World War.They were the largest size of torpedo in common use in the RN...
tubes in two triple mounts, and fifteen Mk VII depth charge
Depth charge
A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...
s.
Belfast was protected by a 4.5 inches (114.3 mm) main armour belt
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
, with deck armour of 3 inches (76.2 mm) over her magazines, and 2 inches (50.8 mm) over her machinery spaces. Her six-inch turrets were protected by up to 4 inches (101.6 mm) of armour.
Belfasts aviation capability was provided by two catapult-launched Supermarine Walrus
Supermarine Walrus
The Supermarine Walrus was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and operated by the Fleet Air Arm . It also served with the Royal Air Force , Royal Australian Air Force , Royal Canadian Air Force , Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal New...
amphibious biplanes. These could be launched from a D1H catapult
Aircraft catapult
An aircraft catapult is a device used to launch aircraft from ships—in particular aircraft carriers—as a form of assisted take off. It consists of a track built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in...
mounted aft of the forward superstructure, and recovered from the water by two cranes mounted on either side of the forward funnel. The aircraft, operated by the Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
's HMS Belfast Flight of 700 Naval Air Squadron, were stowed in two hangars in the forward superstructure.
1939–1942: Commissioning, prize capture, mining, and repairs
Belfast sailed for PortsmouthPortsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
on 3 August 1939, and was commissioned on 5 August 1939, less than a month before the outbreak of the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Her first captain was Captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
G A Scott with a crew of 761, and her first assignment was to the Home Fleet's 2nd Cruiser Squadron. On 14 August Belfast took part in her first exercise, Operation Hipper
German cruiser Admiral Hipper
Admiral Hipper, the first of five ships of her class, was the lead ship of the Admiral Hipper–class of heavy cruisers which served with the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1935 and launched February 1937; Admiral Hipper...
, in which she played the role of a German commerce raider attempting to escape into the Atlantic. By navigating the hazardous Pentland Firth
Pentland Firth
The Pentland Firth , which is actually more of a strait than a firth, separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland.-Etymology:...
, Belfast successfully evaded the Home Fleet.
On 31 August 1939 Belfast was transferred to the 18th Cruiser Squadron. Germany invaded Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
the following day, and Britain and France declared war on 3 September. Based at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
in the Orkney islands, 18th Cruiser Squadron was part of the British effort to impose a naval blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
on Germany. On 1 October 1939 Belfast left Scapa Flow for a patrol in the North Sea, and on 9 October intercepted a German liner, the 13,615-ton Cap Norte, 50 miles (80.5 km) north-west of the Faroe Islands
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands are an island group situated between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, approximately halfway between Scotland and Iceland. The Faroe Islands are a self-governing territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, along with Denmark proper and Greenland...
. Disguised as a neutral Swedish vessel, the SS Ancona, Cap Norte was attempting to return to Germany from Brazil; her passengers included German reservists. Two other vessels were captured that day, and all were steamed back to Scapa by prize crews from Belfast. Under the Admiralty's prize rules, Belfasts crew later received prize money.
On 10 November Belfast was taken off the northern patrol and reassigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron. This squadron was to form an independent striking force based at Rosyth
Rosyth
Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790....
. On 21 November, Belfast was to take part in the force's first sortie, a gunnery exercise. At 10:58 a.m. she struck a magnetic mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
while leaving the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
. The mine broke Belfasts keel, wrecked one of her engine and boiler rooms and injured twenty-one of her crew. The tugboat
Tugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
Krooman, towing gunnery targets for the exercise, released her targets and instead towed Belfast to Rosyth for initial repairs.
Initial assessments of Belfasts damage showed that, while the mine had done little physical damage to the outer hull, causing only a small hole directly below one of the boiler rooms, the shock of the explosion had caused severe warping, breaking machinery, deforming the decks and causing the keel to hog (bend upwards) by three inches. On 4 January 1940 Belfast was decommissioned to Care and Maintenance status, becoming the responsibility of Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard
Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which primarily undertakes refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels.-History:...
, and her crew dispersed to other vessels. By 28 June she had been repaired sufficiently to sail to Devonport
HMNB Devonport
Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
, arriving on 30 June.
During her repairs, work was carried out to straighten, reconstruct and strengthen her hull. Her armoured belt
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
was also extended and thickened. Her armament was updated with newer 2-pounder "pom-pom"
QF 2 pounder naval gun
The 2-pounder gun, officially designated the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 1.575 inch British autocannon, used famously as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing...
mountings, and her anti-aircraft armament improved with eighteen 20 mm Oerlikon
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...
guns in five twin and eight single mountings, replacing two quadruple 0.5-inch Vickers
Vickers .50 machine gun
The Vickers .50 machine gun, also known as the 'Vickers .50' was basically the same as the Vickers machine gun but scaled up to use a larger calibre round.-Mark II, IV and V:...
guns. Belfast also received new fire control radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
s for her main, secondary and anti-aircraft guns. Her November 1942 radar fit included one Type 284 set and four Type 283 sets to direct the main armament, three Type 285 sets for the secondary guns, and two Type 285 sets for the 2-pounder anti-aircraft guns. She also received a Type 273 general surface warning radar, Type 251 and 252 sets for identification friend or foe
Identification friend or foe
In telecommunications, identification, friend or foe is an identification system designed for command and control. It is a system that enables military and national interrogation systems to identify aircraft, vehicles, or forces as friendly and to determine their bearing and range from the...
(IFF) purposes, and a Type 281 and Type 242 for air warning. Her 1942 electronics suite also included a Type 270 echosounder
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
. Due to her increased topweight, a bulge was introduced into her hull amidships to improve stability and provide extra longitudinal strength. Belfast was recommissioned at Devonport on 3 November 1942, under the command of Captain Frederick Parham
Frederick Parham
Admiral Sir Frederick Robertson Parham GBE KCB DSO was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Commander-in-Chief, The Nore.-Naval career:...
. Her beam had increased to 69 ft (21 m) and her draught to 19 ft (5.8 m) forward and 20 in 2 in (6.15 m) aft. Her displacement had risen to 11,550 tons, making her the largest and arguably most powerful cruiser in the Royal Navy.
1942–1943: Recommissioning, Arctic convoys and Battle of North Cape
On her return to the Home Fleet Belfast was made flagshipFlagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the 10th Cruiser Squadron, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral
Rear Admiral (Royal Navy)
Rear Admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It is immediately superior to Commodore and is subordinate to Vice Admiral. It is a two-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-7....
Robert Burnett
Robert Burnett
Admiral Sir Robert Lindsay Burnett, GBE, KCB, CStJ, DSO was an officer in the Royal Navy.-Naval career:Educated at Bedford School, Burnett joined the Royal Navy in 1902. He served on the China Station from 1904 and then with the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets from 1908...
, who had previously commanded the Home Fleet's destroyer flotillas. The squadron was responsible for the hazardous task of escorting Arctic convoys
Arctic convoys of World War II
The Arctic convoys of World War II travelled from the United Kingdom and North America to the northern ports of the Soviet Union—Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945...
to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, operating from Scapa Flow and bases in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
. Her radar suite reduced Belfast need for aerial surveillance, and her aircraft were disembarked in June 1943. Belfast spent 1943 engaged on convoy escort and blockade patrol duties, and on 5–6 October formed part of the covering force during Operation Leader
Operation Leader
Operation Leader was the code name for an attack undertaken by aircraft from the carrier on 4 October 1943 on German shipping along the coast of Norway in the Bodø area...
, an airstrike against German shipping in northern Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
near Bodø
Bodø
is a city and a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten region.The city of Bodø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Bodin was merged with Bodø on 1 January 1968. Skjerstad was merged with Bodø on 1 January 2005...
by the aircraft carrier USS Ranger
USS Ranger (CV-4)
USS Ranger was the first ship of the United States Navy to be designed and built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier. Ranger was a relatively small ship, closer in size and displacement to the first U.S. carrier——than later ships. An island superstructure was not included in the original...
.
Battle of North Cape
The Battle of the North Cape was a Second World War naval battle which occurred on 26 December 1943, as part of the Arctic Campaign. The German battlecruiser , on an operation to attack Arctic Convoys of war materiel from the Western Allies to the USSR, was brought to battle and sunk by superior...
. This battle involved two strong Royal Navy formations; the first, Force One, comprised the cruisers HMS Norfolk
HMS Norfolk (78)
HMS Norfolk was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy; along with her sister ship , she was part of a planned four-ship subclass.She served throughout the Second World War....
, HMS Sheffield
HMS Sheffield (C24)
HMS Sheffield was one of the Southampton sub class of the Town-class cruisers of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She took part in actions against several major German warships. Unlike most Royal Navy ships of her time, her fittings were constructed from stainless steel instead of the...
and Belfast (the 10th Cruiser Squadron) with three destroyers, and the second, Force Two, comprised the battleship HMS Duke of York
HMS Duke of York (17)
HMS Duke of York was a King George V-class battleship of the Royal Navy. Laid down in May 1937, the ship was constructed by John Brown and Company at Clydebank, Scotland, and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 4 November 1941, subsequently seeing service during the Second World War.In...
and the cruiser HMS Jamaica with four destroyers. On 25 December 1943, Christmas Day, the German Navy
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
's Scharnhorst
German battleship Scharnhorst
Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. The ship was built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down on 15...
left port in northern Norway to attack Convoy JW55B, which was bound for Russia. The next day Force One encountered Scharnhorst, prevented her from attacking the convoy, and forced her to turn for home after being damaged by the British cruisers. As Scharnhorst did so, she was intercepted by Force Two and sunk by the combined formations. Belfast played an important role in the battle; as flagship of the 10th Cruiser Squadron she was among the first to encounter Scharnhorst, and coordinated the squadron's defence of the convoy. After Scharnhorst turned away from the convoy, Admiral Burnett in Belfast shadowed her by radar from outside visual range, enabling her interception by Duke of York.
1944: Tirpitz and D-Day
After North Cape, Belfast refuelled at Kola Inlet before sailing for the United Kingdom, arriving at Scapa to replenish her fuel, ammunition and stores on New Year's Day 1944. Belfast sailed to Rosyth on 10 January, where her crew received a period of leave. February 1944 saw Belfast resume her Arctic convoy duties, and on 30 March 1944 Belfast sailed with the covering force of Operation TungstenOperation Tungsten
Operation Tungsten was a British naval operation during World War II. it was one of a number of aerial attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz while she was in Norwegian waters...
, a large carrier-launched Fleet Air Arm
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...
airstrike against the German battleship Tirpitz
German battleship Tirpitz
Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...
. Moored in Altafjord
Altafjord
Altafjord is a fjord in the municipality Alta in Finnmark county, Norway, and is about 38 kilometres long. In the inner southern part of the fjord, near the town of Alta, is the outlet of the 200 kilometre long river Altaelva...
in northern Norway, Tirpitz was the German Navy's last surviving capital ship
Capital ship
The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...
. Forty two Fairey Barracuda
Fairey Barracuda
The Fairey Barracuda was a British carrier-borne torpedo- and dive bomber used during the Second World War, the first of its type used by the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm to be fabricated entirely from metal. It was introduced as a replacement for the Fairey Swordfish and Fairey Albacore biplanes...
dive-bombers from HMS Victorious
HMS Victorious (R38)
HMS Victorious was the second Illustrious-class aircraft carrier ordered under the 1936 Naval Programme. She was laid down at the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 1937 and launched two years later in 1939...
and Furious
HMS Furious (47)
HMS Furious was a modified cruiser built for the Royal Navy during the First World War. Designed to support the Baltic Project championed by the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Lord John Fisher, they were very lightly armoured and armed with only a few heavy guns. Furious was modified while...
made up the strike force, escorted by eighty fighters. Launched on 3 April, the bombers scored fourteen hits, immobilising Tirpitz for two months, with one Barracuda shot down. Belfast underwent minor repairs at Rosyth from 23 April to 8 May, while her crew received a period of leave. On 8 May Belfast returned to Scapa and carried the King
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
during his pre-invasion visit to the Home Fleet.
Frederick Dalrymple-Hamilton
Admiral Sir Frederick Hew George Dalrymple-Hamilton KCB was a British naval officer who served in World War I and World War II.-Naval career:...
, and was to support landings by British and Canadian forces in the Gold
Gold Beach
Gold Beach was the code name of one of the D-Day landing beaches that Allied forces used to invade German-occupied France on 6 June 1944, during World War II....
and Juno Beach
Juno Beach
Juno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector...
sectors. On 2 June Belfast left the River Clyde for her bombardment areas. That morning Prime Minister Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
had announced his intention to go to sea with the fleet and witness the invasion from HMS Belfast. This was opposed by the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
, and the First Sea Lord
First Sea Lord
The First Sea Lord is the professional head of the Royal Navy and the whole Naval Service; it was formerly known as First Naval Lord. He also holds the title of Chief of Naval Staff, and is known by the abbreviations 1SL/CNS...
, Sir Andrew Cunningham
Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope
Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope KT, GCB, OM, DSO and two Bars , was a British admiral of the Second World War. Cunningham was widely known by his nickname, "ABC"....
. An intervention by the King eventually prevented Churchill from going.
The invasion was to begin on 5 June but bad weather forced a 24-hour delay. At 5:30 a.m. on 6 June Belfast opened fire on a German artillery battery at Ver-sur-Mer, suppressing the guns until the site was overrun by British infantry of 7th Battalion, Green Howards. On 12 June Belfast supported Canadian troops moving inland from Juno Beach and returned to Portsmouth on 16 June to replenish her ammunition. She returned two days later for further bombardments. On the night of 6 July Belfast was threatened at anchor by German motor torpedo boat
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
s ("E-boats"). She evaded them by weighing anchor
Weigh anchor
Weigh anchor is a nautical term indicating the final preparation of a sea vessel for getting underway.Weighing anchor literally means raising the anchor of the vessel from the sea floor and pulling it up to the side of the vessel after the engines have been brought up to operating power.-Example of...
and moving to the concealment of a smokescreen. Belfast fired her last round in anger
Fire in anger
"Fire in anger" is a phrase used in military contexts to describe the use of a projectile weapon to deliberately cause damage or harm to an opponent, as opposed to training exercises or warning shots. For example, Napier of Magdala Battery "never fired a shot in anger"; the battery never engaged in...
in European waters on 8 July, in company with the monitor
Monitor (warship)
A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...
HMS Roberts
HMS Roberts (F40)
HMS Roberts was a Royal Navy Roberts class monitor of the Second World War. She was the second monitor to be named after Field Marshal Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts....
and the battleship HMS Rodney, as part of Operation Charnwood
Operation Charnwood
Operation Charnwood was a Second World War Anglo-Canadian offensive that took place from 8–9 July 1944, during the Battle of Normandy. The operation was intended to at least partially capture the German-occupied French city of Caen , which was an important Allied objective during the opening stages...
. On 10 July she sailed for Scapa, the fighting in France having moved beyond the range of her guns. During her five weeks off Normandy Belfast had fired 1,996 rounds from her six-inch guns.
1945: Service in the Far East
On 29 July 1944 Captain Parham handed over command of HMS Belfast to Captain R M Dick, and until April 1945 Belfast underwent a refit to prepare for service against Japan in the Far East which improved her accommodation for tropical conditions, and updated her anti-aircraft armament and fire control in order to counter expected kamikazeKamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
attacks by Japanese aircraft. By May 1945 Belfast mounted thirty-six 2-pounder guns
QF 2 pounder naval gun
The 2-pounder gun, officially designated the QF 2-pounder and universally known as the pom-pom, was a 1.575 inch British autocannon, used famously as an anti-aircraft gun by the Royal Navy. The name came from the sound that the original models make when firing...
in two eight-gun mounts, four quadruple mounts, and four single mounts. She also mounted fourteen 20mm Oerlikons. Her two aftmost 4-inch mountings were removed, and the remainder fitted with Remote Power Control. Her empty hangars were converted to crew accommodation, and her aircraft catapult removed.
Her radar fit now included a Type 277 radar set to replace her Type 273 for surface warning. Her Type 281 air warning set was replaced by a single-antenna Type 281B set, while a Type 293Q was fitted for close-range height-finding and surface warning. A Type 274 set was fitted for main armament fire direction. On 17 June 1945, with the war in Europe at an end, Belfast sailed for the Far East via Gibraltar, Malta, Alexandria, Port Said, Aden, Colombo and Sydney. By the time she arrived in Sydney on 7 August Belfast had been made flagship of the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the British Pacific Fleet
British Pacific Fleet
The British Pacific Fleet was a British Commonwealth naval force which saw action against Japan during World War II. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944...
. While in Sydney Belfast underwent another short refit, supplementing her close-range armament with five 40mm Bofors guns. Belfast had been expected to join in Operation Downfall
Operation Downfall
Operation Downfall was the Allied plan for the invasion of Japan near the end of World War II. The operation was cancelled when Japan surrendered after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan. The operation had two parts: Operation...
, but this was forestalled by the Japanese surrender
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
on 15 August 1945.
Post-war service 1945–50
With the end of the war, Belfast remained in the Far East, conducting a number of cruises to ports in Japan, China and Malaya and sailing for Portsmouth on 20 August 1947. There she paid off into reserve, and underwent a refit during which her turbines were opened for maintenance. She also received two more single Bofors guns, in place of two of her single 2-pounder mountings. She was recommissioned on 22 September 1948 and before returning to the Far East visited her home city of Belfast arriving on 20 October. The following day, 21 October 1948, the ship's company marked Trafalgar DayTrafalgar Day
Trafalgar Day is the celebration of the victory won by the Royal Navy, commanded by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson over the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. The formation of the Navy League in 1894 gave added impetus to the movement to recognise...
with a march through the city. The next day Belfast took charge of a silver ship's bell, a gift of the people of Belfast. She sailed for Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
on 23 October to join the Royal Navy's Far East Station, arriving in late December. By 1949, the political situation in China was precarious, with the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
moving towards its conclusion. As flagship of the 5th Cruiser Squadron, Belfast was the Far Eastern Station's headquarters ship during the April 1949 Amethyst Incident, in which a British sloop, HMS Amethyst was trapped in the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
by the communist People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
. Belfast remained in Hong Kong during 1949, sailing for Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
on 18 January 1950. There she underwent a minor refit between January and March 1950 and in June she joined the Far East Fleet's summer cruise. On 25 June 1950, while Belfast was visiting Hakodate
Hakodate, Hokkaido
is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture.Hakodate was Japan's first city whose port was opened to foreign trade in 1854 as a result of Convention of Kanagawa, and used to be the most important port in northern Japan...
in Japan, North Korean forces crossed the 38th Parallel
38th parallel north
The 38th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 38 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean...
, starting the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
Korean War 1950–52
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
naval forces. Originally part of the US Navy's Task Force 77, Belfast was detached in order to operate independently on 5 July 1950. During July and early August Belfast undertook coastal patrols and was based at Sasebo
Sasebo, Nagasaki
is a city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. As of 2011, the city has an estimated population of 259,800 and the density of 609 persons per km². The total area is 426.47 km². The locality is famed for its scenic beauty. The city includes a part of Saikai National Park...
in Japan's Nagasaki Prefecture
Nagasaki Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. The capital is the city of Nagasaki.- History :Nagasaki Prefecture was created by merging of the western half of the former province of Hizen with the island provinces of Tsushima and Iki...
. From 19 July Belfast supported troops fighting around Yongdok, accompanied by the USS Juneau
USS Juneau (CL-119)
The second USS Juneau was the lead ship of the United States Navy Juneau-class light cruiser laid down by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny, New Jersey on 15 September 1944; launched on 15 July 1945; sponsored by Mrs. B. L. Bartlett; and commissioned 15 February 1946, Captain...
. That day Belfast fired an accurate 350-round bombardment from her 6-inch guns, and was praised by an American admiral as a "straight-shooting ship".The admiral is not identified in Wingate (2004), but may have been Rear Admiral John Higgins
John Higgins (admiral)
John Martin Higgins was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy.-Biography:Higgins was born in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1899. Graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1922, he served prior to World War II in battleships, destroyers and other surface ships, as well as on periodic shore duty...
, for whom Juneau was flagship. On 6 August she sailed for the UK to pay off and recommission, and arrived back at Sasebo on 31 January 1951.
During 1951 Belfast mounted a number of coastal patrols and bombarded a variety of targets. On 1 June she arrived at Singapore for refitting, arriving back on patrol on 31 August. In September 1951 Belfast provided anti-aircraft cover for a salvage operation to recover a crashed enemy MiG-15
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 was a jet fighter developed for the USSR by Artem Mikoyan and Mikhail Gurevich. The MiG-15 was one of the first successful swept-wing jet fighters, and it achieved fame in the skies over Korea, where early in the war, it outclassed all straight-winged enemy fighters in...
jet fighter. She conducted further bombardments and patrols before receiving a month's leave from operations, returning to action on 23 December.
In 1952 Belfast continued her coastal patrol duties. On 29 July 1952 Belfast was hit by enemy fire while engaging an artillery battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
on Wolsa-ri island. A 75 mm shell struck a forward compartment, killing a British sailor of Chinese origin in his hammock and wounding four other Chinese ratings. This was the only time Belfast was hit by enemy fire during her Korean service. On 27 September 1952 Belfast was relieved by two other Town-class cruisers, HMS Birmingham
HMS Birmingham (C19)
HMS Birmingham was a member of the first group of five ships of the "Town" class of light cruisers. She was built at Devonport Dockyard , and launched on 1 September 1936.-Early career:...
and HMS Newcastle
HMS Newcastle (C76)
The seventh HMS Newcastle was a Town-class light cruiser of the British Royal Navy. She belonged to the Southampton subclass. In the Second World War following extensive battle damage sustained in the Mediterranean, she spent some time being repaired in New York.She also saw action in the Korean...
. She had steamed over 80000 miles (128,747.2 km) in the combat zone and fired more than 8,000 rounds from her 6-inch guns during the Korean War. She paid off in Chatham
Chatham Dockyard
Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...
on 4 November 1952 and entered reserve at Devonport on 1 December.
Modernisation and final commissions 1955–1963
In reserve, Belfasts future was uncertain: post-war defence cuts made manpower-intensive cruisers excessively costly to operate, and it was not until March 1955 that the decision was taken to modernise Belfast. Work began on 6 January 1956. Changes included replacing her 4-inch guns with more modern weapons, and protecting key parts of the ship against nuclear, biological or chemical attack. This last consideration meant enclosing her bridge, creating a two-tiered, five-sided superstructure which radically altered her appearance. Her crew accommodation was also improved, her tripod masts replaced with lattice masts, and timber decking replaced with steel everywhere except the quarterdeck. Belfast recommissioned at Devonport on 12 May 1959. Her close-range armament was standardised to six twin Bofors gun, and her close-range fire direction similarly standardised to eight close-range blind fire directors fitted with Type 262 radar. Her 1959 radar fit also included Type 274, retained for main armament direction, Type 277Q and 293Q for height-finding and surface warning, Type 960M for air warning, and 974 for surface warning. In order to save weight, her torpedo armament was removed.Belfast arrived in Singapore on 16 December 1959, and spent most of 1960 at sea on exercise, calling at ports in Hong Kong, Borneo, India, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
), Australia, the Philippines and Japan. On 31 January 1961 Belfast recommissioned, under the command of Captain Morgan Morgan-Giles
Morgan Morgan-Giles
Rear-Admiral Sir Morgan Charles Morgan-Giles, DSO, OBE, GM was a British Admiral and Conservative Party politician.Morgan-Giles was educated at Clifton College and joined the Royal Navy. He commanded HMS Vigilant, Vernon 1959-60 and HMS Belfast 1961-62. He was President of the Royal Naval College,...
. On her final foreign commission Belfast joined a number of exercises in the Far East, and in December 1961 she provided the British guard of honour at Tanganyika
Tanganyika
Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
's independence ceremony in Dar-es-Salaam.
The ship left Singapore on 26 March 1962 for the UK, sailing east via Guam and Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, San Francisco, Seattle, British Columbia, Panama and Trinidad. She arrived at Portsmouth on 19 June 1962. Recommissioned in July, she made a final visit to Belfast from 23–29 November, before paying off into reserve on 25 February 1963. In July 1963 Belfast was recommissioned for the last time, with a crew of the Royal Naval Reserve
Royal Naval Reserve
The Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
(RNR) and a number of Sea Cadets
Sea Cadet Corps (United Kingdom)
The Sea Cadet Corps is a UK national youth organisation sponsored by the Royal Navy and open to young people between the ages of 10-18 years old. The SCC is the UK's largest Naval Cadet Force with over 30,000 cadets and adult volunteers...
flying the flag of the Admiral Commanding Reserves, Rear Admiral Hugh Martell. Belfast sailed for Gibraltar in company with sixteen RNR minesweepers
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
for a two-week exercise in the Mediterranean on 10 August. Martell's obituarist
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
considered this commission a well-judged contrivance which 'did much to restore the confidence and image of the new RNR' which had undergone an acrimonious amalgamation with the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve in 1958.
Reserve, decommissioning, and preservation efforts 1963–1971
Belfast returned to Devonport on 24 August 1963 and paid off into reserve. From May 1966 to 1970 she was an accommodation ship, moored in FarehamFareham
The market town of Fareham lies in the south east of Hampshire, England, between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, roughly in the centre of the South Hampshire conurbation.It gives its name to the borough comprising the town and the surrounding area...
Creek, for the Reserve Division at Portsmouth. While HMS Belfast lay at Fareham Creek the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
, Britain's national museum of twentieth century conflict, became interested in preserving a 6-inch turret. The turret would represent a number of classes of cruiser (then disappearing from service) and would complement the museum's pair of British 15-inch naval guns. On 14 April 1967 museum staff visited HMS Gambia
HMS Gambia (C48)
HMS Gambia was a Crown Colony-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was in the service of the Royal New Zealand Navy as HMNZS Gambia from 1943 to 1946...
, a also moored in Fareham Creek at the time. Following the visit the possibility was raised of preserving an entire ship. Gambia had already severely deteriorated, so attention turned to the possibility of saving Belfast. A joint committee was established by the Imperial War Museum, the National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
and the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
, which reported in June 1968 that the scheme was practical and economic. However, in early 1971 the government's Paymaster General decided against preservation. On 4 May 1971 Belfast was 'reduced to disposal' to await scrapping.
HMS
Belfast Trust 1971–1977 Following the government's refusal, a private trust was formed to campaign for the ship's preservation. The HMS Belfast Trust was established; its chairman was Rear-Admiral Sir Morgan Morgan-GilesMorgan Morgan-Giles
Rear-Admiral Sir Morgan Charles Morgan-Giles, DSO, OBE, GM was a British Admiral and Conservative Party politician.Morgan-Giles was educated at Clifton College and joined the Royal Navy. He commanded HMS Vigilant, Vernon 1959-60 and HMS Belfast 1961-62. He was President of the Royal Naval College,...
, captain of Belfast from January 1961 to July 1962. As Member of Parliament (MP) for Winchester, Morgan-Giles addressed the House of Commons on 8 March 1971. He described Belfast as being in "a really wonderful state of preservation" and that saving her for the nation represented a "case of grasping the last opportunity". Among the MPs who spoke in support of Morgan-Giles was Gordon Bagier
Gordon Bagier
Gordon Alexander Thomas Bagier is a retired British Labour Party politician.-Early life:Bagier was educated at Pendower Secondary Technical School on Fox and Hounds Lane in Benwell, Newcastle upon Tyne...
, MP for Sunderland South
Sunderland South (UK Parliament constituency)
Sunderland South was, from 1950 until 2010, a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-History:...
, who served as a Royal Marine gunner aboard Belfast and was present at both the sinking of the Scharnhorst and the Normandy landings. Speaking for the government, the Under-secretary for the Navy, Peter Michael Kirk
Peter Michael Kirk
Sir Peter Michael Kirk, was a British Conservative politician and a junior minister in the governments of Alec Douglas-Home and Edward Heath....
, said that Belfast was "one of the most historic ships which the Navy has had in the last 20 years", but that he could not prevent the stripping of the ship's removable equipment, as this was already too far advanced to be halted. He did, however, agree to postpone any decision on Belfasts scrapping to allow the Trust to put together a formal proposal.
Following the Trust's efforts, the government agreed to hand over Belfast to the Trustees in July 1971, with Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral (Royal Navy)
Vice admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It equates to the NATO rank code OF-8 and is immediately superior to rear admiral and is subordinate to the full admiral rank.The Royal Navy has had vice admirals since at least the 16th century...
Sir Donald Gibson as her first director. At a press conference in August the Trust announced "Operation Seahorse", the plan to bring Belfast to London. She was towed from Portsmouth to London via Tilbury, where she was fitted out as a museum. She was opened to the public on Trafalgar Day
Trafalgar Day
Trafalgar Day is the celebration of the victory won by the Royal Navy, commanded by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson over the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. The formation of the Navy League in 1894 gave added impetus to the movement to recognise...
, 21 October 1971. The date was significant, as Belfast was the first naval vessel to be saved for the nation since HMS Victory
HMS Victory
HMS Victory is a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1759 and launched in 1765. She is most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805....
, Lord Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
. Though no longer part of the Royal Navy, HMS Belfast was granted a special dispensation to allow her to continue to fly the White Ensign
White Ensign
The White Ensign or St George's Ensign is an ensign flown on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross on a white field with the Union Flag in the upper canton....
.
Now a museum, the ship's opening was well received: in 1972 the HMS Belfast Trust won the British Tourist Authority's "Come to Britain" trophy. Support for the ship's restoration was received from individuals, from the Royal Navy, and from commercial businesses; in 1973, for example, the Worshipful Company of Bakers
Worshipful Company of Bakers
The Worshipful Company of Bakers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Bakers' Guild is known to have existed in the twelfth century. From the Corporation of London, the Guild received the power to enforce regulations for baking, known as the Assize of Bread and Ale. The...
provided dummy bread for display in the ship's NAAFI
Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes
The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes is an organisation created by the British government in 1921 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their families...
and bakery. By 1974 areas including the Admiral's bridge and forward boiler and engine rooms had been restored and fitted out. That year also saw the refurbishment of the ship's Operations Room by a team from HMS Vernon
HMS Vernon (shore establishment)
HMS Vernon was a shore establishment or 'stone frigate' of the Royal Navy. Vernon was established on 26 April 1876 as the Royal Navy's Torpedo Branch and operated until 1 April 1996, when the various elements comprising the establishment were split up and moved to different commands.-Foundation...
, and the return of Belfasts six twin Bofors mounts, along with their fire directors. By December 1975 Belfast had received 1,500,000 visitors. In 1976 Belfast was reaffiliated with the successors to the British Army's Royal Ulster Rifles
Royal Ulster Rifles
The Royal Ulster Rifles was a British Army infantry regiment. It saw service in the Second Boer War, Great War, the Second World War and the Korean War, before being amalgamated into the Royal Irish Rangers in 1968.-History:...
, the Royal Irish Rangers
Royal Irish Rangers
The Royal Irish Rangers was a regular infantry regiment of the British Army.-Creation:...
, and in the same year the Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society
Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society
The Royal Naval Amateur Radio Society is a specialised group or club for amateur radio operators who have a link with maritime employment, such as members of a navy, merchant marine, or similar employment. As such, RNARS has become a de facto international group for such people.RNARS is well known...
restored the ship's Bridge Wireless Office to working order.
Imperial War Museum 1978-present
By 1977 the financial position of the HMS Belfast Trust had become marginal, and the Imperial War Museum sought permission to merge the Trust into the museum. On 19 January 1978 the Secretary of State for Education and Science, Shirley WilliamsShirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby
Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby PC is a British politician and academic. Originally a Labour Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister, she was one of the "Gang of Four" rebels who founded the Social Democratic Party in 1981...
, accepted the proposal stating that HMS Belfast "is a unique demonstration of an important phase of our history and technology". The ship was transferred to the museum on 1 March 1978, and became the Imperial War Museum's third branch, Duxford aerodrome
Imperial War Museum Duxford
Imperial War Museum Duxford is a branch of the Imperial War Museum near the village of Duxford in Cambridgeshire, England. Britain's largest aviation museum, Duxford houses the museum's large exhibits, including nearly 200 aircraft, military vehicles, artillery and minor naval vessels in seven...
having been acquired in 1976. In October 1998, the HMS Belfast Association was formed to reunite former members of the ship’s company. The Imperial War Museum's Sound Archive also seeks to record oral history
Oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
interviews with former crewmen.
Preservation
Since being brought to London Belfast has twice been drydocked as part of the ship’s long-term preservation. In 1982 she was docked at TilburyTilbury
Tilbury is a town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. As a settlement it is of relatively recent existence, although it has important historical connections, being the location of a 16th century fort and an ancient cross-river ferry...
, and in June 1999 Belfast was towed to Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
. This was the first time she had been to sea in 28 years and required a Certificate of Seaworthiness from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is a UK executive agency working to prevent the loss of lives at sea and is responsible for implementing British and International maritime law and safety policy.This involves coordinating search and rescue at sea through Her Majesty's Coastguard , ensuring that...
. While in dock, her entire hull was cleaned, blasted, and repainted, her hull blanking plates inspected and an ultrasonic survey carried out. She is not expected to require further drydocking until 2020. While under tow to Portsmouth she was delayed by bad weather and arrived a day late: it had been intended that she would arrive on 6 June 1999, the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Normandy landings. Following the maintenance work, Belfast was repainted in a dazzle camouflage
Dazzle camouflage
Dazzle camouflage, also known as Razzle Dazzle or Dazzle painting, was a camouflage paint scheme used on ships, extensively during World War I and to a lesser extent in World War II...
scheme officially known as Admiralty Disruptive Camouflage Type 25, which she had worn from November 1942 to July 1944. This was objected to by some, due to the anachronistic
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
conflict between her camouflage, which reflects the majority of her active Second World War service, and her present configuration, which was the result of Belfast's extended refit from January 1956 to May 1959. With the establishment of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet....
's (DCMS) Advisory Committee on National Historic Ships in 2006, Belfast was listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Core Collection
National Historic Fleet, Core Collection
The National Historic Fleet, Core Collection is a list of museum ships located in the United Kingdom, under the National Historic Ships register.The vessels on the National Historic Fleet are distinguished by:...
.
On 9 May 2010 a ceremony was held aboard Belfast to mark the 65th anniversary of end of the war in Europe. Veterans of the Arctic convoys
Arctic convoys of World War II
The Arctic convoys of World War II travelled from the United Kingdom and North America to the northern ports of the Soviet Union—Arkhangelsk and Murmansk. There were 78 convoys between August 1941 and May 1945...
were in attendance to receive medals from the Russian Ambassador Yuri Fedotov
Yuri Fedotov
Yuri Viktorovich Fedotov is a high level diplomat of the Russian Federation. Currently he serves as the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at the rank of Under-Secretary-General after having been the ambassador to the United Kingdom.Fedotov graduated from the...
. During the ceremony it was announced that, as part of the restoration of the ship, two new masts had been manufactured at the Severnaya Verf
Severnaya Verf
Severnaya Verf is a shipyard in Saint Petersburg and major shipyard producing both naval and civilian ships. Originally was founded exclusively for military shipbuilding....
shipyard near Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
. The production of the masts, to replace corroded originals, had been supported by a number of Russian businesses at a reported cost of £500,000. The restoration of the masts involved removing the fittings from both masts, allowing them to be individually restored. The old masts were then cut down in sections, the new masts erected, and the original fittings replaced. On 19 October 2010, the new masts were dedicated at a ceremony attended by HMS Belfast veterans, by Prince Philip
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
and officials from the Russian embassy and government.
Interpretation
When Belfast was first opened to the public, visitors were limited to the upper decks and forward superstructure. As of 2011, nine decks are open to the public. Access to the ship is via a walkway which connects the quarterdeckQuarterdeck
The quarterdeck is that part of a warship designated by the commanding officer for official and ceremonial functions. In port, the quarterdeck is the most important place on the ship, and is the central control point for all its major activities. Underway, its importance diminishes as control of...
with the pedestrianised footpath on the south bank of the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. The Imperial War Museum's guidebook to HMS Belfast divides the ship into three broad sections. The first of these, 'Life on board the ship', focuses on the experience of serving at sea. Restored compartments, some populated with dressed figures, illustrate the crew's living conditions and the ship's various facilities such as the sick bay, galley, laundry, chapel, mess decks and NAAFI. Since 2002 school and youth groups have been able to stay onboard Belfast overnight, sleeping in bunks on a restored 1950s mess deck. The second section, 'The inner workings', below the waterline and protected by the ship's armoured belt, contains core mechanical, electrical and communication systems. As well as the engine and boiler rooms, other compartments include the transmitting station (housing the ship's Admiralty Fire Control Table
Admiralty Fire Control Table
thumb|Admiralty Fire Control Table in the transmitting station of [[HMS Belfast |HMS Belfast]].The Admiralty Fire Control Table was an electromechanical analogue computer fire-control system that calculated the correct elevation and deflection of a Royal Navy cruiser or battleships' main armament,...
, a mechanical computer), the forward steering position and one of Belfasts six-inch shell rooms and magazines. The third section, 'Action stations', includes the upper deck and forward superstructure with the ship's armament, fire control, and command facilities. Areas open to the public include the operations room, Admiral's bridge and gun direction platform. During 2011 two of these areas were reinterpreted
Heritage interpretation
Heritage interpretation is the communication of information about, or the explanation of, the nature, origin, and purpose of historical, natural, or cultural resources, objects, sites and phenomena using personal or non-personal methods....
. The operations room was restored to its appearance during Exercise Pony Express, a large British-Australian-American joint exercise held off North Borneo
North Borneo
North Borneo was a British protectorate under the sovereign North Borneo Chartered Company from 1882 to 1946. After the war it became a crown colony of Great Britain from 1946 to 1963, known in this time as British North Borneo. It is located on the northeastern end of the island of Borneo. It is...
in 1961. The reinterpretation included an interactive audio-visual plotting table
Plot (radar)
In naval terminology a Plot is a graphic display that shows all collated data from a ship's on-board sensors i.e. radar, sonar and EW systems. They also displayed information from external sources ie other vessel or aircraft reports. There are four different types of plot, each with varying...
. In July 2011 the interior of Y Turret, the aftmost 6-inch turret, was redisplayed using audio-visual and atmospheric effects, seeking to evoke the experience of a gunner at the Battle of North Cape. To emphasise the range of the ship's armament, the forward six-inch guns of A and B Turrets are aimed at the London Gateway service area
London Gateway services
London Gateway services is the southern-most motorway service station on the M1 motorway, located between Junctions 2 and 4 north of London, England....
on the M1 motorway
M1 motorway
The M1 is a north–south motorway in England primarily connecting London to Leeds, where it joins the A1 near Aberford. While the M1 is considered to be the first inter-urban motorway to be completed in the United Kingdom, the first road to be built to motorway standard in the country was the...
, some 12½ miles away on the outskirts of London. A 4-inch gun mount and a shell hoist are kept in working order and used during blank-firing demonstrations by the Wavy Navy re-enactment group
Historical reenactment
Historical reenactment is an educational activity in which participants attempt torecreate some aspects of a historical event or period. This may be as narrow as a specific moment from a battle, such as the reenactment of Pickett's Charge at the Great Reunion of 1913, or as broad as an entire...
. In addition to the various areas of the ship open to visitors, some compartments have been fitted out as dedicated exhibition space. Permanent exhibitions include 'HMS Belfast in War and Peace' and 'Life at Sea'. The cost of admission to HMS Belfast includes a multilingual audio guide, and the museum also hosts an online virtual tour
Virtual Tour
A virtual tour is a simulation of an existing location, usually composed of a sequence of video images. They also may use other multimedia elements such as sound effects, music, narration, and text....
.
HMS Belfast is also the headquarters of the City of London Sea Cadet Corps
Sea Cadet Corps (United Kingdom)
The Sea Cadet Corps is a UK national youth organisation sponsored by the Royal Navy and open to young people between the ages of 10-18 years old. The SCC is the UK's largest Naval Cadet Force with over 30,000 cadets and adult volunteers...
, and her prestigious central London location means she frequently has other vessels berth alongside; in October 2007 Belfast hosted the naming ceremony of the lighthouse tender
Lighthouse tender
A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses, or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail and transportation....
THV Galatea
THV Galatea
THV Galatea is a lighthouse tender operated by Trinity House, the body responsible for the operation of lighthouses and marine navigation aids around the coasts of England, Wales and the Channel Islands.-History:...
with the Queen
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
and Prince Philip in attendance.
2011 Accident
On 29 November 2011 two workmen were slightly injured after the section of the gangway connected to the ship collapsed while it was undergoing renovation works.External links
- hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk - Official HMS Belfast site
- iwm.org.uk - Official Imperial War Museum site