The Battle of Britain

HMS Belfast

Belfast’s lies crippled after being struck by a German magnetic mine, 21 November 1940.; The explosion broke Belfast’s keel and injured 21 members of the crew. Laid by a German submarine, U21, this type of mine combined a large explosive charge with a sensor that could detect a ship’s magnetic field. For a time such mines posed a severe threat to British shipping. The photograph shows the crew on deck preparing to launch life rafts.

Belfast’s lies crippled after being struck by a German magnetic mine, 21 November 1940.

photographs

The explosion broke Belfast’s keel and injured 21 members of the crew. Laid by a German submarine, U21, this type of mine combined a large explosive charge with a sensor that could detect a ship’s magnetic field. For a time such mines posed a severe threat to British shipping. The photograph shows the crew on deck preparing to launch life rafts.

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HMS Belfast is a unique ship. She is the Royal Navy’s last surviving cruiser, the largest preserved warship in Europe, and the only surviving cruiser built in the 1930s.

Belfast was launched in March 1938, at a time when...

HMS Belfast is a unique ship. She is the Royal Navy’s last surviving cruiser, the largest preserved warship in Europe, and the only surviving cruiser built in the 1930s.

Belfast was launched in March 1938, at a time when navies were competing to build powerful cruisers to protect shipping routes. Belfast was designed to be fast, well armoured, and able to smother an enemy ship with an overwhelming barrage of 6-inch shells.

On her first wartime patrol Belfast captured a German liner. Soon after, however, she struck a mine that broke her keel; repairs took more than two years. While under repair Belfast was fitted with thicker armour, new anti-aircraft guns, and advanced radars. She returned to the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet in November 1942 a modern and powerful warship.

At North Cape in December 1943 Belfast was escorting a convoy to Russia when it was attacked by German battlecruiser Scharnhorst. Belfast played a key role in sinking Scharnhorst, using her radar to track the enemydespite a snowstorm, and illuminating her at close range with flares.

In 1944 Belfast saw further action on D-Day, where her guns supported the advance of British troops. From 1950 to 1952 Belfast served in the Korean War.

Decommissioned in 1963 Belfast might have ended her days as scrap metal, but for the work of a private trust which succeeded in preserving her for posterity. She opened to the public in 1971 and became a branch of the Imperial War Museum in 1978.

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  • HMS Belfast’s forward gun turrets encased by ice

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    HMS Belfast’s forward gun turrets encased by ice; HMS Belfast’s forward gun turrets encased by ice while escorting an Arctic convoy to Russia, November 1943. In freezing weather, huge accumulations of ice could not only stop a ship’s weapons from working, but also make a ship dangerously top-heavy and unstable. Crewmen would have to spend hours de-icing crucial systems with steam hoses, a task that was both hazardous and repetitive.

  • A still from official propaganda film The True Glory

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    A still from official propaganda film The True Glory; This image is a still from the 1945 official propaganda film The True Glory. Seen by millions of cinemagoers around the world, the film told the story of the Allied invasion of Europe. Included was this brief shot of HMS Belfast, bombarding enemy targets on D-Day. Belfast’s 12 6-inch guns gave her the ability to saturate a target with up to 96 heavy shells every minute.

  • Life on board ship, Christmas Day 1951

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    Life on board ship, Christmas Day 1951; Life on board ship, Christmas Day 1951. Sailors of No. 20 Mess celebrate Christmas during Belfast’s service off Korea. For sailors on long deployments overseas their ships became their homes, and marking celebrations such as Christmas became important parts of life. These men have decorated their quarters with pictures, Christmas cards and paper chains, while the ship’s galley would serve a special dinner.

  • Damage to HMS Belfast from North Korean shell-fire

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    Damage to HMS Belfast from North Korean shell-fire; Damage to HMS Belfast from North Korean shell-fire, July 1952. On 29 July 1952, Belfast was sailing close to the North Korean island of Wolsa-ri in order to bombard an enemy gun battery when she was hit by an enemy shell. The shell killed one of Belfast’s crew, a Chinese steward and laundryman named Lau So, and wounded four others. This photograph shows the damage to Belfast’s hull being repaired; this was the only battle damage sustained during her service in the Korean War.

  • HMS Belfast leaves Singapore, March 1962

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    HMS Belfast leaves Singapore, March 1962; HMS Belfast leaves Singapore at the end of her final foreign service commission with her crew parading on deck, March 1962. Apart from a short exercise in the Mediterranean with a crew of naval reservists and cadets in August 1963, Belfast’s career was at an end. From 1963 to 1971 she would serve as an accommodation ship at Portsmouth.

  • HMS Belfast squeezes underneath Tower Bridge, 1971

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    HMS Belfast squeezes underneath Tower Bridge, 1971; HMS Belfast squeezes underneath Tower Bridge to reach her specially dredged berth in the Pool of London, October 1971. The first ship to be preserved for the nation since Lord Nelson’s HMS Victory, Belfast was immediately popular with the public, attracting one and a half million visitors by the end of 1975. She became a branch of the Imperial War Museum in 1978.

  • Children of British Internees, by James Morris

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    Children of British Internees, by James Morris; Children of British Internees at a Children's Party given by the Crew of HMS Belfast at Shanghai, 28th September 1945, by James Morris. Royal Navy signalman James Morris was appointed as an official war artist to record his experiences with the British Pacific Fleet in 1945. Earlier in the war, he had served on Arctic convoys, drawing and sketching scenes in Russia.