HMS Belfast
John Wingate DSC

HMS Belfast in trust for the nation 1939-1972.

Well illustrated study of the largest cruiser ever built for the Royal Navy. She is the last survivor of the big gun ships of WW2 and is now a well known landmark on the Thames near Tower Bridge.

The story of HMS Belfast, a town class cruiser, is a remarkable and vital one. Commissioned at the outbreak of World War 2, she became one of the first victims of the German magnetic mine. After two years of rebuilding she emerged as one of the most modern equipped cruisers of the time and joined the fleet that covered the terrifying convoys to Russia. She was in the only radar controlled ‘big ship’ action when the Scharnhorst was sunk. After World War 2 she spent most of her commissions in the far east as a flagship and part of various ‘peace keeping’ fleets.