NAVY NEWS, MAY 1994
Ships of the Royal Navy —Facts^ and figures
No.462
Gun salute to D-Day
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Builder: Harland and Wolff, Belfast. Launched: March 17 1938. Commissioned: August 5 1939. Class: Modified Southampton class. Standard displacement: 11,550 tons. Length overall: 613ft 6in. Beam: 66ft. Draught (aft): 19ft 9in standard; 22ft 6in deep load. Engines: Parsons single reduction geareo turbines driving four shafts. 80,000 shp. Speed: 32 knots. Armament (1939): 12 six-inch guns in four turrets. Twelve fourinch guns on six mountings. Sixteen two-pounder anti-aircraft guns. Eight anti-aircraft half-inch machine guns. Four threepounder saluting guns. Two sets of triple 21-inch torpedo tubes. The sixinch guns fired a shell weighing 105lbs, using a 30lb cordite charge. Extreme range — 24,800 yards (approx. 14 land miles or over 12 nautical miles). Aircraft: Three Walrus amphibian aircraft were carried. Ship's company: 750-850 officers and ratings. Motto: Pro tanto quid retribuamus ("We give as good as we get.")
As Europe's last surviving major warship to have taken part in the Normandy Landings, HMS Belfast will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of D-Day on June 6 with a "firing" of her massive 6-inch guns. Specially prepared pyrotechnics will be used for the firing, which, it is thought, might "outdo" the deafening gun salutes heard on occasion from across the Thames, at the Tower of London. HMS Belfast last fired her 6-inch guns in anger over 40 years ago, during the Korean war, when she earned American praise as "that straight-shooting ship". A party of Royal Naval Reservists have volunteered to re-enact the 6-inch loading drill to mark the anniversary and to "fire" all six guns of both A and B turrets on June 6. Neighbours along the river and the Metropolitan Police have been forewarned! After this spectacular display, a reunion will be held on board of an expected 120 D-Day veterans. Various associations have been contacted to trace as many as possible of those who were on board HMS Belfast or directly involved on the naval side of the Landings. This commemorative lunch is expected to be oversubscribed so a lottery will be held for places. Any D-Day veterans — both men and women — who would like to be in the draw should write to the ship, at Morgans Lane, Tooley Street, London SE1 2JH, or telephone 071 407 6434. Special guided tours will be taking place on board the Belfast daily from June 7 to 10, at 1100, 1200, 1400 and 1500. First come first served. There will also be regular screenings throughout D-Day week of a 30-minute film, with archive footage of the Landings. Finally, from June 15-21, the Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien, a D-Day veteran herself, is expected to moor alongside HMS Belfast and will be open to the public. All are welcome, although an admission charge is anticipated. It is hoped that an American military band will be found to welcome the Jeremiah O'Brien alongside.
March 1961 — HMS Belfast, the Royal Navy's biggest cruiser, as flagship of Flag Officer Secondin-Command Far East Station, Rear Admiral Michael Le Fanu.
GHTY BELFAST A SURVIVOR OF WAR AND PEACE HMS Belfast is a familiar sight to commuters crossing London Bridge. Moored now in the Pool of London, the ship was launched on St Patrick's Day 1938 at Harland and Wolffs yard in the city from which she takes her name. She was launched by Mrs Neville Chamberlain, completed in August 1939 and commissioned two days later, with Capt G. A. Scott as her first commanding officer. War was declared shortly after the Belfast's launch, and in October 1939 she had her first success, capturing a German liner called Cap Norte. The Germans took swift revenge; the following month HMS Belfast was severely damaged by a magnetic mine, but escaped sinking. After lengthy repairs, she re-entered service in November 1942. The Belfast then spent a period escorting convoys carrying supplies to Russia; convoys generally agreed to have operated under the worst conditions of the war at sea, with freezing weather to contend with as well as constant enemy attacks.
Scharnhorst In December 1943 HMS Belfast played a key role in the Battle of North Cape, which ended with the sinking of the German battle-cruiser Scharnhorst. Only 36 of the Scharnhorst's complement of almost 2,000 survived the battle; most perished in the freezing Arctic wa-
ters. Their ship, the pride of Hitler's navy, succumbed to superior British tactics and firepower. But the Scharnhorst's last
lonely fight against the odds won the respect and admiration of all the British and Allied seamen who had taken part. The signatures of her survivors, and of Admiral Sir Bruce Fraser, Allied commander in the action, were collected as a poignant reminder of the last battleship engagement ever to be fought by the Royal Navy. June 1944 saw HMS Belfast as the flagship of the bombardment force supporting the Allied landings at Juno Beach,
Normandy. After a major refit she was sent to the Far East for the war against Japan, but by the time she arrived Japan had surrendered. She remained in the Far East, however, and was flagship at the time of the Yangtze Incident, when HMS Amethyst was trapped in the Yangtze by Chinese Communists. The Belfast last fired her guns in anger during the Korean War. For her action there she won the battle honour Korea 1950-52 to add to her others — Arctic 1943, North Cape 1943 and Normandy 1944. HMS Belfast, Europe's last big gun armoured warship of the Second World War, is now part of the I m p e r i a l War Museum and was the first warship to be preserved for the nation since HMS Victory. POSTCARDS of Ships of the Royal Navy are obtainable at 65p each (minimum order £1.95) from Navy News, HMS Nelson, Portsmouth PO1 3HH. An order for 12 cards is priced at £7 and a standing order for the supply of each of 12 cards on publication can be arranged on receipt of E10.SO/ foreign £12. Prices include postage and packing, and postcards will be despatched on receipt of stamps, postal order or cheque. No postcards are stocked of ships which paid off before 1956.
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