Warship Profile 029 - HMS Belfast.pdf - Warship Profile - keziak

FOREWORD bytheChairmanof The HMSBelfastTrust,

Rear-Admiral MorganGiles, DSO. OBE. GM, MP,

who was Captain of HMSBELFASTfrorn 31 .l ,631-2.7.62.

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Inthe thirty-three yearsof her life, HMSBelfast hasoften been inthe news. John Wingate. DSc, has

oroduced a most interestina record of her life in manv Darts of the world.

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bneofthelargest cruisers &er builtforthe Royal Navy, she is nowabsolutely the last survivorof the

bia-aun shios of the World War II era: she was due to be scraooed durina 1971

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it now, thenksto the imaginative intervention of the Navy Minister, M;

MP, she has been

saved and handed overto the HMSBelfastTrust to be put on permanent exhibition in London. The

Government has gifted theship tothischaritabletrust on conditionsthat no publicfundsareinvolved

in the scheme.

~eter~irk,

hMSBelfastoccup'esa splendio berth afloat intne Poo of Lonaon. ntthacress to theshore The cast

of preparing the berth and f tting out thesh p for exh oition has oecn met oy a very q?nrroLs qift from

. .

MrJohnSmith of London, and many other individual subscriptions.

W th theencoJragernent and guidance01the Mar:timeTrust ano the mperial War M~seum

a fascinattng series of exhibitsconnected with the shipand her ties has been arrangen on hoaro

TheTrusteesareconfidentthat very large numoersof Brttsh visitors, as nellas fore gn toJrists, will

wish to vtsit her in her new roleasa mJseum snip The Tr~~tee~aredeternl

ried that snc snall oe

maintained ina condition which befits her proud record of past service.

Just as HMS Victory at Portsmouth is a fitting memorial tothedaysof sail so for f~t~re

generations

HMSBelfast will ne a memorial to thea<leofsteam turb nesand b 11 uLris and also a constarlt

reminder of the never-ending importanceof Sea Power in the fortunisof the British people

TheTrustees of the HMSBELFASTTrust are:

Admiral Sir Deric Holland-Martin, CouncilofMaritime Trust;Peter Masefield Esq. Chairmanof

BritishAirportsAuthority;The Earl of Dalkeith, MP; Sir Alexander Glen, Chairman ofBritish Tourist

Authority; Dr Noble Frankland, Director ofImperialWar Museum; Dr C. H. Roads, ImperialWar

Museum;A. C. Poynter Esq. Ashippingso1icitor;andAubrey Bowden Esq. Maritime Trust.

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cirl. vrr nc.ons

con~lt.. I :n- n.', i p. .;nma n 1". 3~3% A fa. 51 +,.a in€ AAr OA nAlS BELrAST. I539 1971 3. .on" A inya. DSc :~.o rnea c"

Pro1 eP.3 ca:cnr .,,a(

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Off Koma. 13 Aligc,si I95 1. Ti!<! U,i!ot7

fI<?g Is cle~idy vi~!~li,

o/; /:' ruricr. Nolr :Ire wind scoops /n llic scut:/es and the

Bofors on 'B'riirier

(MOD)

HMS Belfast

by John Wingate, DSc

Last of the Dreadnought Era

Shewas:

One of the largest cruisers in the Royal Navy

The last big ship to be built of steel to pre-war

specifications

One of the first ships to capture a German prize of

World War 2

The first large warship to be immobilised by Hitler's

secret weapon, the magnetic mine

To act as Flagship longer than most other cruisers

One of the most heavily damaged ships to survive

and fight again

To undergo one of the longest and most comprehen-

sive refitsof any ship

One of the last cruisers in the Royal Navy to retain a

catapult aircraft

TOtake part inthe last capital ship action in history

Engaged in the only radar-controlled gun action

fought bythe Royal Navy between big ships

Pro tanto quidretribuamus is carved into the wooden

scroll beneath the ship's badge of HMS Belfast. In

the language of the sailor, 'We give as good as we

get', was a strangely prophetic motto for the largest

cruiser of the Royal Navy. She suffered grievously

but she contributed through her experiences to far-

reaching improvements in Warship design under

battle conditions. Then, when recovered from her

wounds, she fulfilled her promise with ruthless

efficiency.

'Why,' visitors to this surviving cruiser from Hitler's

War must ask, 'Why have we, an island people,

chosen this particular ship to be preserved as a

memorial of our heritage?.

The answer lies in the list of 'firsts' achieved by

HMS Belfast during her long life of thirty-two years.

The Headquarters ship and Flagship off the Nor-

mandy beaches, spear-heading the attack on D-day

The first Flagship of the Royal Navy to serve in a

World Peace-Keeping Force

To provide the power of a 'fleet-in-being' from Hong

Kong during the Amethyst incident

The first warship since HMS Victory to be preserved

bv the nation

Amphion-class:

boiler room, engine room: boiler room, engine room

2 turretsforward

2 turrets aft

6in DCT (Director Control Tower)-one,

above the

after end of the bridge

catapult and crane-as in Amphion

The air reconnaissance requirement, however, pro-

duced the conception of three Supermarine Walrus

amphibians, two to be housed in hangars built into

each side of the after bridge structure, and one on an

athwartship fixed catapult. It was this innovation

which produced the powerful but revolutionary pro-

file of these beautiful ships.

Cruiser Policy intheThirties:

The com~lexitiesand evasions that evolved from the

various 'naval treaties and conferences resulted

finally in the farce of the Second London Treaty of

1936. By this ultimate absurdity, the Royal Navy

was fettered whilst Japan. on 31 December 1936,

jettisoned all agreements and proceeded to re-arm

her navy under a cloak of secrecy.

The 8in gun cruiser of the twenties, (Kent, London,

Norfolk and York classes) was designed under the

restrictions of the naval treaties but these shi~s

The Three Groups

The Southampton class cruisers were divided into

three groups, the first two ships of the first group

originally being named Polyphemus and Minotaur

after mythological monsters. Happily, these impres-

sive ships finally adopted the names of the nation's

towns and cities thus strengthening the bond

between Nation and Navy.

were

built primarily for the protection of our far-flung sea-

lanes and for troop carrying. Though these Countv-

class cruisers were of high freeboard and constituted

considerable targets, they were armed with the most

efficient gun of the day-the

Southampton Class

1st Group

high muzzle-velocity

1933 Estimates Southampton

8in gun, intwinturrets.

So, when Japan contemptuously turned her back

upon armament limitations, the Royal Navy con-

sidered carefully its probable adversaries of the

future-and, in the cruiser strength, particularly the

most revolutionary and modern of the Japanese

secret building : the 15 X 6in Mogami-class cruiser.

Instead of standing off at extreme range and

deliberately picking off the enemy with the 8in gun.

the proposition was that a faster cruiser, heavily

armoured against 8in hits, should be able rapidly to

close an opponent and smother him with a hurricane

of smaller, but highly penetrative shells.

The original proposal was for sixteen 6in guns infour

quadruple turrets and the politicians, being nudged

by the threat ot Hitler, included the building of 4

Southampton cruisers in the 1933 Estimates. No

longer was the Royal Navy to be hamstrung by

treaty limitations.

(ex Polyphemus)

9100 tons

Newcastle

(ex Minotaur)

1934 Estimates Birmingham

Glasgow

Sheffield

1935 Estimates Liverpool

9400 tons {

Manchester

(1936 Estimates Gloucester

Edinburgh Class

I 1937 Estimates Belfast

3rd Group

10.000 tons l.

Edinburgh

The Southampton Class Cruiser

The Southampton was a natural develo~mentof the

Amphion design (7000 tons) but hav/ng triple in-

stead of twin turrets.

The Staff set out the following basic requirements:

9000 tons;

Armoured to withstand a direct hit bv 8in aunfire :

The common features between all groups were the

main armament of twelve 6in guns in four triple

turrets, the torpedo armament of six 21in torpedoes

in two triple tubes and the four 3pdr saluting guns.

The second arouo was sliahtlv laraer than the first.

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havng a standaro d sp~accmentof 9400 tons.

The th~rdaroLD cons sreo of Edinburoh and BeNarr.

the class Lingnamed afterthe forme;

Their Lordships' opinion of these two ships is best

reflected in a letter from the Naval Constructive

Department of 2 January 1940 to Harland 8 Wolff

who were informed that it was proposed to build

repeat Belfasts with an extra 2ft 6in beam on a

standard displacement of 10,885 tons. The ships

were to be more heavily protected with a deck

armour of 4in. No more was heard of this proposal

and it can be presumed that the disasters of the war

at sea were soon to overtake the warship building

programme.

High speed-32 knots;

Rapid smothering fire with 12-6inguns;

To be able, by intensive air reconnaissance, to cover

wide areas of the world's trade routes:

A realistic close range anti-aircraft defence, made

possible by the success of the 8-barrelled pom-pom

which had been installed in the Nelson and Rodney

since

1927.

(The

4-barrelled

pom-pom

was

developed later for cruisers and destroyers).

TO achieve these requirements, the positions of the

main machinery, boiler rooms, the main and the

secondary armament, were similar to that in the

H:dS Br:lf.irt lcav~ngl~~rbouiafrei~ials

(Courtesy Cdi S. Ferguson RN (Rer'd))

Her four boiieis. standing in rhe workshop of ifailand &

Wolfi.Belfasr Courtesy: (Cdr. S. Ferguson RN (Ref'd))

One of her four HP turbines: nore-half

of rhe fluid fly-

wheeldrivefrom rhe cruising turbine

(Courresy: Cdr. S. Ferguson RN (Ref'd))

During rrials in Belfast Lough. 1939. The corrugared doors ro the hangars can be seen. The RedEnsign issriiiflying.

denoring rhar sheissriilin rhe builder's hands

(/WM)

Warship Profile 029 - HMS Belfast.pdf

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