The Fabulous Five recently visited HMS Belfast. It was a glorious day, London was at its finest and we were lucky enough to see Tower Bridge lift just before we went onboard HMS Belfast.
History
HMS Belfast is now a museum, docked near Tower Bridge in the Pool of London, but she was once a serving warship in the Royal Navy fleet. She was commissioned on 5 August 1939 and is the only remaining Town Class cruiser of the ten built.
Her first role was to be part of the naval blockade against Germany during the Second World War, but she had only been at sea for two months when she hit a mine. Severely damaged, the Admiralty considered scrapping her, but eventually decided against it. She was out of action for three years, and, fortunately, there were only a few casualties.
She re-joined the fleet in 1942 and was sent to protect the Arctic convoys and was involved in the Battle of North Cape in December 1943. She remained in the Arctic until the D-Day landings, when she was deployed in a support role. After the Second World War, she was set to the Korean War between 1950 and 1952. After that, she performed peace-keeping duties until 1963 when she was retired from service.
Visit
HMS Belfast was taken up the Thames and opened to the public as a museum on 21 October 1971 – Trafalgar Day.
It was my first visit for many years, and things have changed a lot in that time. For starters, visitors are offered free audio tours around the ship – I’d wholeheartedly recommend that, it helps to bring the whole tour to life, with some narrations by those who had served on her. Guidebooks are also available.
There are arrows on the deck, to guide visitors around the ship in the right direction – my advice is to follow them, as far as possible, it makes a lot more sense that way. The museum is very lifelike, showing what it would have been like to live and work on a warship.
It’s very lifelike – you can really envisage yourself being in the engine room or the galley. One of the most startling things was the lack of space. Hammocks hanging across the communal areas, which in themselves aren’t big. It wouldn’t have been the job for anyone who suffered from claustrophobia.
The ship itself was pretty much self-sufficient in its day, having its own bakery, workshops, etc. In fact, as far as the bakery was involved, HMS Belfast produced bread and other bakery products for other ships. It must have been incredibly hot in the summer and the opposite in the cold weather. There was no air-con, and not much air circulating at all. When she was deployed to the Arctic, the crew was issued with duffle coats although I have my doubts as to whether they would have been much use above deck. I suppose there weren’t many alternatives back in the 1940s.
There is a cafeteria on board the ship (and a bar shore-side) so we stopped for a well-deserved cuppa towards the end of our visit, feeling a little tired but also a combination of moved and further educated. I would allow a good four or five hours when you visit, there really is a lot to see, which makes it, in my opinion, one of the best value tourist visits in London.
For information and tickets visit https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/hms-belfast
© Susan Shirley 2019
Live Like a Londoner 