By kind permission of the Imperial War Museum
The content in this film does not reflect the views and opinions of Imperial War Museums (IWM) Whilst every effort has been made to ensure
the accuracy and completeness of the information in this film, IWM does not endorse or support the aims and ambitions of Wargaming.net’
HMS Belfast is a registered trade mark: UK00002637382 They were designed to be the best… they met enemies face to face, endured tragedies and enjoyed victories… they went down in history due to the bravery of their crews… they are the ships that deserve to be called HMS Belfast
“Naval Legends!” In this episode. Cruiser Belfast. The keeper of the Royal Navy's grandeur. In the beginning of the 1930s, the British Admiralty learned that Japan had begun construction
on the new Mogami-class light cruisers, which surpassed the British ships of the same type. In London it was perceived as a challenge,
and required an appropriate response. However, to create a worthy adversary for Mogami,
the British had to approach the limits imposed by international treaties. Mogami is quite a successful attempt from the Japanese
to create something of their own. And they managed to do it. However, the cruiser Mogami encouraged other naval powers
to break the provisions of the Washington Naval Treaty. In 1934, British shipyards started the construction
of light cruisers, later named the Town-class,
because all the ships were named after British towns. The further improvement of the project led to the appearance
of the two most advanced ships in the class— Belfast and Edinburgh In comparison with other Towns, they had better
armament and a more rational armor layout. By many parameters, the British cruisers were on par
with foreign ships of the same type, despite the fact that they were inferior
to their main rival, Mogami, in the number
of primary armament guns—12 against 15. The British tried to even the score by developing
new artillery systems for main batteries. They tried to install a four-gun turret
on Belfast and Edinburgh. But the early trials showed that it became very tight. What does this mean? The turret was overcrowded, making
the ammunition handling and firing too inconvenient. That's why they gave up on the idea very quickly. As a result, engineers settled for triple turrets
that had a distinctive feature: to prevent the powder gases
from affecting the shells’ trajectory when all barrels fired simultaneously,
the middle gun was moved backwards a little. The Belfast's firepower was reinforced
with six coaxial dual-purpose artillery mounts, with a caliber of 4 inches. In general, the cruiser was well armed and her bountiful
artillery made up a good part of her displacement. Cruiser Belfast was commissioned on the eve of war,
on August 3, 1939, but 4 months later she had to return to dock. With the outbreak of World War II,
Great Britain faced two parallel tasks. One of them was habitual and the British
were prepared for it. The second task was uncharacteristic and unusual.
Let's start with the latter. It was the underwater war.
The British weren't ready for it. At all. German U-boats were causing lots of trouble,
but the British were able to sink them. However, the Royal Navy ships faced another enemy—mines. Belfast fell prey to the most dangerous of them,
a new German bottom mine. In 1939, when a mine exploded
underneath this engine room, it pushed everything up to such an extent
that they had to rebuild almost the entire ship. When Belfast hit the mine
she not only received a hole in the hull, but she also had her keel broken. And that's the place that is almost impossible to repair. It's a miracle that she remained afloat, and it's a miracle
that she could return to her base for repairs. Over the course of the modernization,
Belfast was equipped with modern radar systems, an upgraded gun fire control system,
and became almost a meter wider to increase her stability. The specifications of cruiser Belfast
after the modernization of 1942. Length: 613 ft 6 in Beam: 66 ft 3 in Draft: 23 ft 4 in Total displacement: 14,900 tons The power plant included 4 turbogear Parsons turbines
and 4 Admiralty boilers, and produced 80,000 horsepower. The cruiser's maximum speed reached 31 knots
after the modernization. Armor
Main belt: 4.5 in Decks: from 2 to 3 in Athwartship bulkheads: 2.5 in Primary armament turrets
were protected by armor from 2 to 4 inches thick Armament Primary armament: 12 x 6-inch
Mark 23 guns in four turrets Long-range anti-aircraft artillery:
12 x Mark 16 cannons in coaxial mounts. Caliber: 4 inches Small-caliber anti-aircraft artillery: 2 x Vickers Mark 6A 8-barrel "pom-pom" guns,
caliber: 1.6 inches 4 single-barrel and 5 coaxial Oerlikon mounts. The cruiser carried two triple TR-4 torpedo launchers
with a caliber of 21 inches Three Supermarine Walrus aircraft were on board
to carry out reconnaissance and fire adjustment. Cruising range: 12,200 miles (22,600 km) at 12 knots. During the repairs, the Belfast's damaged power plant
was completely replaced. It was the same as on other Town-class cruisers. The difference was in its location on the ship
and the power produced. According to the project, the nominal output
of the power plant was 82,500 horsepower, but the calculations showed
that the Belfast's machine power should be decreased to 80,000 horsepower
to work more efficiently. These steam turbines are driven by super-heated steam that is generated in the boilers
at 390 degrees centigrade and at 20 atmospheres. This produces enough power to drive a ship
weighing 14,000 tons through the water at 32 knots, which is about 36 miles an hour
or 58 kilometers an hour. Understanding the threat posed by German U-boats,
the British Navy was constantly hunting for them. To oppose enemy submarines,
Belfast was equipped with a hydroacoustic system, a load of depth charges and… aircraft. Three Walrus seaplanes were able to fight submarines,
apart from reconnaissance and fire adjustment tasks. They could carry two normal or anti-submarine
depth charges on each of their wing bomb racks. And it was designed to be catapulted from between
the funnels into the air and then go off and do its tasks. Its tasks were primarily reconnaissance
and anti-submarine warfare, but it was discovered very early on that actually
the aircraft was very useful as a search and rescue aircraft. Now, once the aircraft had actually finished its sortie,
it had to be recovered back on board the ship. And one of the ways in which you could try and ensure
that the water wasn’t too rough for it to land on, was for the ship to do an S-maneuver, which left a sort of hemisphere
of smooth water, onto which the aircraft could land. Once it landed, the aircraft then had to taxi up
alongside the ship and then be recovered. Clearly the pilot could not stop
the engine until the rear gunner had actually hooked the jibber from the crane,
or the hook from the crane, onto the aircraft. So if you could imagine he was sitting
up on top of here with the crane hook coming down
towards him in a very rough see, waiting to hook it on,
with that propeller going round behind him. A very dangerous job. Once it was hooked on, the engine could be switched off
and then the aircraft could be craned on board. They wanted to do it as quickly as possible
before the slick that they had created had actually dissipated
and the water began to get rough again. A warship is a complex system,
where the main function of its elements, even the tiniest one, is a successful
accomplishment of the mission. The British, with their rich naval history,
managed to find a balance for all these elements in this military vehicle. Every detail on a warship, from a gun to a sailor’s mug,
was designed for victory. When this ship was commissioned in August, 1939,
it had a peace-time crew of 761 officers and men. This was not enough to operate all four turrets.
So when the war started, the crew numbers went up to 950, They lived down here
in what looks like crowded accommodations, but this was a standard format
throughout the whole Royal Navy. with the hammocks being hung up where
they are above the tables. This was the tradition that goes back about 300 years
that they ate under where they slept. Obviously the sailors needed feeding
and this galley supplied over two thousand meals a day. It’s part of the original ship
and would provide meals for the sailors: fish, chips, peas, macaroni cheese, jam roly-poly,
all these things would be cooked here. Sometimes during World War II,
if a mine went off, it would cause an explosion underwater, which would
stun the fish and they would float to the surface. If they could, they would gather the fish up, so that they would have fresh fish
instead of the ones from the deep freezers. Since Nelson’s times, the food ration
in the British Royal Navy had not been diverse. The food was substantial,
but if it remained unchanged for weeks, even a small bar of chocolate
or a jar of jam would be precious for any sailor. However, the real emporium of wonders on Belfast
was a ship kiosk, where the sailors could purchase delicacies
and everyday items. We are in the NAAFI canteen. The NAAFI is an organization that was invented
or developed in 1921 by a team of volunteers who wanted to help the Navy, the Army, and the Air Force get things
that they couldn’t normally get on a ship. So things like beer, sweets, chocolates,
medal ribbons, rulers, pencils, and postcards—anything that they weren’t issued with. And as a result it developed into an institution and became known among all the members
of the British armed forces as the NAAFI— the Navy, Army Air Force Institute, which over the years of service on the ship become
a great boost to the morale of the sailors. There is a saying that perfectly describes military life: “An army marches on its stomach.” This rule was implicitly adhered
to in the Royal Navy as well. At action stations, if they knew they were going to fight, some captains would have the cooks prepare sandwiches, so that they could eat w
here they were at their action stations. Whether that’s by the guns or the doctor’s surgery. The sick bay we have here is from the late 1950s early 1960s and would be similar to one from the 1940s,
during World War II. The conditions on the ship in the hospitals
would be as modern as they could make it, and the sailors would be better
off in here normally than in their own hammocks. In times of war, other parts of the ship,
especially the officers’ mess would be cleared of all furniture, and temporary operating tables,
like the one you can see behind me, would have been established around the ship. Luckily, casualties among Belfast’s crew
were minimal during the war. Even after a bottom mine exploded next to her, which could easily sink the ship with all her crew members, only 21 people were injured,
and only one of them died later in a hospital. After repairs and modernization, Belfast became the flagship
of the 10th Cruiser Squadron based at Scapa Flow. The main service areas for the ship were
the waters of the Norwegian and Barents seas. The two best light cruisers of the British Royal Navy
have an interesting history. Belfast comes into commission, hits a mine, and becomes disabled for almost three years. Meanwhile, HMS Edinburgh comes into service
and fulfills the duties of both cruisers. She escorts convoys, supports allied ships,
and fights against enemy submarines and aircraft. Unfortunately,
Edinburgh was sunk with a valuable cargo of gold. However, Belfast returns from the repair docks
and takes up the torch. What hadn’t been accomplished by Edinburgh
was completed by Belfast. They complemented each other.
They were like twin sisters, worthy of each other. When Belfast came into service,
she was assigned the most important task in the Royal Navy, which, by the 20th century,
had been already performed for three hundred years. This task was to defend shipping routes
and manage potential threats for transport ships. As a true defender of commerce, Belfast escorted arctic convoys in the USSR
and supported vessels carrying priceless cargo. I was born in 1940 during the war, and I always… ever since I was a young person,
I always wanted to join the Navy. And I read stories, I used to read the stories about
the heroism of the Russian convoys and other things on ships, yeah. Well, I’m not sure what
they were thinking about on the convoys. “It was rather rough, it was rather cold, and we survived.” But they never said much about it. I always thought I want to be… I’m going to join the Navy
and I’m going to be brave like they are. The rich history of sea battles
and high qualification of British sailors were key factors for the great
performance of the Royal Navy. The British always acted in a reasonable way,
following thorough and elaborate plans. The opportunity to display their courage
and bravery was a great reward for British sailors. The main task in the army
or navy is fulfilling your mission. No matter how many enemies you destroy, sink, or knock out.
You must fulfill your mission. If German ships go peacefully by, nobody will attack them.
But if they threaten the convoy... The British, despite the tremendous superiority
of the Germans, attacked their heavy warships. They did what they had to.
The Germans were astonished and forced to retreat. And the British didn’t think themselves heroes—
they were just doing their duty. A classic example of warring parties carrying out a mission was the sea battle that took place
at North Cape in December 1943. The German battleship Scharnhorst,
accompanied by five destroyers, was tasked with destroying a convoy. That was her mission.
The convoy support ships, including cruiser Belfast, were assigned a mission
to defend the convoy at any cost. The British attack the enemy. They didn’t pause; they didn’t think about how
to show their courage or perform heroic acts. They fulfilled their duty. Of course, they knew that this German heavy
ship would destroy them. But they had a mission: defend the convoy. And they attacked the enemy. And fought. For eight hours, Belfast and two other cruisers were chasing
and attacking Scharnhorst, which was superior in terms of armament and armor, until the main sea fleet with HMS Duke of York
came to their aid. The battle at North Cape, and the war for the entire
Atlantic Ocean, was won by the British. The confrontation between Great Britain
and Germany during World War II was severe. However, the United Kingdom was the victor,
despite the high price they had to pay. The memories of those sailors who endured
the ordeal of the northern convoys are still honored on Belfast today. The chapel on the ship was put here
in the late 50s and 60s and is still in use. The icon of Admiral Ushakov behind me
is the connection between Russia and this ship during World War II in the Arctic Convoys. The families who have veterans from the Navy dying, have their ashes scattered sometimes
from the back of the ship, and they are allowed in the chapel,
so they can sit in peace and remember their loved ones. Well, I joined Belfast just after it came back
from its world cruise. Well, it was going to be, but it came back in 1962… It was going to be put into reserve, but they gave it a reprieve and made it… put it as a flagship of the Home Fleet. By the early 1970s, Belfast was the only
remaining British cruiser that participated in World War II. She was going to be sent to the ship breaking yard,
like her fellow ships. However, thanks to the efforts of British veterans
and those who were concerned about naval history, cruiser Belfast was saved and left as a memorial
to the courage and bravery of British sailors. Today, she holds pride of place at Tower Bridge,
in the heart of London. I’ve had a very enjoyable life, and I still am, I’m still serving this ship as secretary of the Association. I don’t think anybody can ask more than being able to do and achieve what a person wants to do… and that’s what I’m still doing. By kind permission of the Imperial War Museum
The content in this film does not reflect the views and opinions of Imperial War Museums (IWM) Whilst every effort has been made to ensure
the accuracy and completeness of the information in this film, IWM does not endorse or support the aims and ambitions of Wargaming.net’
HMS Belfast is a registered trade mark: UK00002637382
