1940s Dance nights 3 June, 5 August, 23 September.
Learn some of the dance steps of the 1940s while listening to tunes from our
live band on the quarterdeck. The event will be lead by the London Swing Dance
Society and 1940's outfits are welcome!
Commonwealth Navies Exhibition opens 28 July 2005
An exhibition celebrating the contribution made by people from the empire and
commonwealth as part of the naval effort during the Second World War.
HMS Belfast is part of the Sea Britain initiative - a national maritime celebration with events throughout 2005 and beyond. At the heart of SeaBritain 2005 is the Trafalgar Festival, with events throughout summer and autumn 2005 to mark the 200th anniversary of Nelson's finest and last hour.
HMS Belfast was at the height of her operational service at the end of the Second World War. Home to over 950 officers and men who, in cramped and dangerous conditions, faced the threat of enemy action, from German surface warships, U-boats, aircraft, mines and torpedoes.
You can learn more about the reality of naval warfare during the Second World War with a visit to HMS Belfast. For more information click through to main HMSB page http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk/server.php?show=nav.00e
HMS Belfast served throughout the Second World War, playing a leading part in
the destruction of the battle cruiser Scharnhorst, and also the Normandy
Landings. As flagship of bombardment Force E, HMS Belfast was part of the
Eastern Naval Task Force, with responsibility for supporting the British and
Canadian assaults on 'Gold' and 'Juno' beaches and, at 5.30 am on 6 June 1944,
was one of the very first ships to open fire on German positions in Normandy.
Over the course of the next five weeks she was almost continuously in action,
firing thousands of rounds from her main 6-inch and secondary 4-inch batteries
in support of Allied troops fighting their way inland against skilful and
determined German opposition. Her last shoot took place in company with the
battleship HMS Rodney and the monitor HMS Roberts on 8 July, during the course
of heavy fighting for the city of Caen.
Two days later, the battle lines having moved beyond the range of her 6-inch guns, HMS Belfast set sail for Plymouth Devonport and a well-earned refit, prior to being despatched to the Far East. She had fired her guns in anger for the last time in European waters.
Although the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 hastened the surrender of Imperial Japan before HMS Belfast's arrival in the Far East, she was still able to perform much useful work in helping to evacuate the emaciated survivors of Japanese prisoner of war and civilian internment camps from China, and until the autumn of 1947 she was fully occupied with peace-keeping duties in the Far East.
To mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 2005 HMS Belfast will be free to those aged 60 and over on VE Day (8 May), VJ Day (15 August), the National Day of Commemoration (11 July) and Armistice Day (11 November).
For more information on HMS Belfast see http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.uk