HMS Belfast
Town-class cruiser (1936) light cruiser
Service
- as Belfast5 August 1939 — 24 August 19632,193 days of the war
- Name
- HMS Belfast
- Pennant / hull number
- C35
- Namesake
- Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Builder
- Harland and Wolff shipyard, Belfast, Northern Ireland
- Ordered
- 21 September 1936
- Laid down
- 10 December 1936
- Launched
- 17 March 1938
- Commissioned
- 5 August 1939
- Decommissioned
- 24 August 1963
- Fate
- Museum ship since 21 October 1971 (1971)
- Status
- Preserved
Specifications
- Displacement, full load
- 11,550 long tons (11,735 t)
- Length
- 186.84 m (613 ft) OA
- Beam
- 19.2 m (63 ft)
- Draught
- 5.49 m (18 ft)
- Speed
- 32 knots (59.3 km/h, 36.8 mph)
- Complement
- 781
- Main gun
- 152 mm (6 in)
HMS Belfast was a Town-class cruiser (1936) light cruiser, operated by the Royal Navy. She carried the pennant number C35. The ship was named after Belfast. Harland and Wolff shipyard, Belfast, Northern Ireland laid her keel on 10 December 1936. Launched on 17 March 1938, she entered service on 5 August 1939.
Displacement was 11,550 long tons. She measured 186.8 m (613 ft) long with a beam of 19.2 m (63 ft). Her designed speed was 32 knots, and she carried a complement of 781. Her main battery was of 152 mm (6.0 in) calibre.
She carried two aircraft. Her machinery developed 80,000 shp.
She was in commission for 2,193 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned on 24 August 1963.
She has been preserved on 21 October 1971.
Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.
Armament and machinery
Armament and machinery
- Propulsion
- 4 × Admiralty oil-fired 3-drum boilers
- 4 × Parsons single reduction geared steam turbines
- Power
- 80000 shp
- Armament
- 1939:
- 12 × 6 inch Mk XXIII guns (4×3)
- 12 × 4 inch Mk XVI dual purpose guns (6×2)
- 16 × 2-pounder (40 mm) anti-aircraft guns (2×8)
- 8 × 0.5 inch AA machine guns (2×4)
- 6 × 21 inch torpedo tubes (2×3)
- Armour
- Main belt: 4.5 inches (114 mm)
- Main turrets: Up to 4 inches (102 mm)
- Decks over magazines: 3 inches (76 mm)
- Decks over machinery: 2 inches (51 mm)
- Bulkheads: 2.5 inches (63.5 mm)
- Aircraft
- 2 × Supermarine Walrus (disembarked June 1943)
Sister ships
Sources
- Facts harvested from HMS Belfast on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: Alvesgaspar — Own work — CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons