HMS Belfast

HMS BELFAST

HMS Belfast has permanent mooring on the river Thames, in the Pool of London, which is where many of the wharves were situated in the days when the Pool of London was the largest port in the world. The Pool of London is situated between London Bridge and Tower Bridge and the ship is berthed on the south side of the river. HMS Belfast is a decommissioned Royal Navy vessel, which now serves as a floating museum, an extension to The Imperial War Museum in Lambeth in south London. She is a ‘Southampton Class’ cruiser that was commissioned in 1938, launched on St Patrick’s Day from Belfast and finally taken out of service after the Korean War.

HMS Belfast was damaged early during the Second World War and subsequently spent much of the early war years in dry-dock in Scotland, undergoing repair. By 1943 she was back on the seas, supporting Arctic convoys and she supported the D-Day landings. The ship was the largest cruiser in the Royal Navy, with a company of eight hundred. She is now the only surviving example from the great fleets of big gun armoured warships built for the Royal Navy in the first half of the twentieth century.

The ship was only saved from the scrapyard through the hard work of a private trust set up by dedicated supporters and the vessel opened to the public on Trafalgar Day, 21^st October 1971, with special dispensation allowing the White Ensign to be flown. Inevitably, funds diminished and by 1978 The Imperial War Museum had taken control. The ship is notable for both her unusual arrangement of funnels and also the camouflage paint, which was added after she became a museum. Officially the pattern is called, ‘Admiralty Disruptive Camouflage Type 25’ which she wore between 1942 and 1944. In June 1999 HMS Belfast was taken to Portsmouth for a re-fit and a repair, towed by tugs on a rare excursion from The Pool of London.

 The tour of the ship is separated into eight sectors and once on board, one can explore the seven decks, mobility is essential as there is very limited disabled access. The six-inch guns are prominent, pointed up high and directed at the London Gateway Services, eleven and a half miles away on the M1 motorway, the fullest extent of their range. Further up there are four inch guns which one can manoeuvre, often kids get inside and wind them up and down and point them to the four compass points and pretend to mount an offensive against the buildings of the banks of the Thames.

Almost the entire vessel is open to the public with many reconstructions showing the sailors at work. The officers mess, the sick bay, the engine rooms, admiral’s bridge and flag deck can all be seen. Many reconstructions show models of the officers going about their daily routines. The ship’s dentist is shown extracting a sailor’s tooth with plenty of unsettling drilling noises and elsewhere the ship’s surgeon operates on the stomach of an injured sailor. Looking carefully, one may even observe a stuffed ship’s cat eating a stuffed ship’s rat.

Parts of the ship can be hired for private functions. Opening times and prices shown below were correct in late 2009 but confirm with The Imperial War Museum before visiting.

HMS Belfast

Morgan’s Lane

Tooley Street

London SE1 2JH

Open Daily Mar-Oct 10am – 6pm

Open Daily Nov-Feb 10am – 5pm

Adults £10.70

Last entry an hour before closure, leave a full morning or an afternoon for your visit.

Where to view video clips of London

London in motion has some of the best London Stock Footage and London Library Footage with moving clips of many of the above mentioned places to see, are available to browse through by simply visiting the ‘HMS Belfast’ category of this website.  New additions of London video clips are being frequently uploaded and further categories will be appearing over the coming months.


Copyright: London In Motion 2009
Email: tom@londoninmotion.com