Belfast. British premium cruiser. Legendary British cruiser Belfast Ship Museum in London

" The most advanced light cruisers of the British Navy.

History of creation

It all started with the fact that the fleet of the Land of the Rising Sun ordered four Mogami-class cruisers, which with a standard displacement of 9500 dl. t carried 15 155 mm guns, a 100 mm side belt and protection for artillery magazines 140 mm thick. At the same time, they declared that the standard displacement of cruisers is 8500 dl. tons Formally, these cruisers were considered light, but in strength they turned out to be comparable to heavy ones.

Design

The hull of the cruisers had a classic forecastle design with an inclined stem and a cruising stern. The contours are characteristic of the British school of shipbuilding: round-chine with a characteristic break. The forecastle occupied about 45%. The hull was assembled according to a longitudinal scheme.

The design of the cruisers is essentially the same as that of the Southampton, but the engine and boiler rooms are moved aft and the hull is 7 m longer than the 180-meter (592 ft) hull of the Southampton. The contours of the body are round-cheeked, with a pronounced zygomatic break in the bow. The hull is divided by transverse waterproof bulkheads into 15 compartments; there was no structural anti-torpedo protection. There is a double bottom along the entire length of the hull, and a triple bottom in the cellar area. The freeboard height at normal displacement was 9.45 m at the bow (versus 9.33 m for the cruiser Gloucester) and only 4.95 m amidships and 5.56 m at the stern.

The Belfast type was originally designed to carry sixteen 152 mm guns in four four-gun turrets. This idea was soon abandoned and they returned to four three-gun turrets, albeit of an improved design, which made it possible to reduce the turret crew and increase the speed of supply of ammunition. The saved tons were spent on placing four additional 102-mm anti-aircraft guns, while lightly armored shelters for servants, an eight-barreled Pom-Pom and additional armor protection were placed between them. The decking is made of hardwood brought from the island of Borneo. The standard displacement was 10,069 dl. tons, total - 12,672 dl. tons The rescue equipment consisted of three motor boats 11 m long, one motor boat 8 m long, one motor 11-meter longboat, two sailing-rowing 10-meter boats, two 8-meter whaleboats, one 5-meter motor dinghy and two 4-meter meter dinghies. In addition, the cruisers carried Karlei's life rafts.

The Belfast-class light cruisers were equipped with three rodless anchors of the Byers design weighing 5588 kg (two main and one spare), one Admiralty-type aft stop anchor weighing 711 kg and one Admiralty-type verp weighing 508 kg.

Power plant

The main power plant consisted of four Parsons turbo-gear units and four Admiralty-type three-collector steam boilers. All boilers had steam superheaters, fuel and air heaters. The scheme is echelon; The boilers are located in pairs in two boiler rooms, and the TZA - in two engine rooms. The operating steam pressure in the boilers is 24.61 kg/cm² (24.29 atm), the temperature is 343°C, the normal preparation time for a hike is about 4 hours. The designed range was 10,000 nautical miles at 16 knots and 12,200 miles at twelve knots. Each boiler room was equipped with four turbofans, which created an excess pressure of 241.3 mm of water column. Compared to cruisers of the Linder and Aretyusa types, the Towns had more economical, although heavier, “cruising-type” units. Three turbines (high-pressure, low-pressure with a reverse stage and a cruising turbine) and a gearbox made up the turbo-gear unit. The cruising turbine was located in front of the theater and was connected to its shaft through a gearbox with a hydraulic coupling; it was switched off at full speed. The power and rotation speed were as follows:

• TVD - 9400 l. With. at 3350 rpm.
• TND - 10,600 l. With. at 2400 rpm.
• TKH - 5000 l. With. at 6400 rpm.

The design capacity was 80,000 liters. With. at a propeller speed of 300 rpm, which was supposed to provide a speed (at full load) of 31 knots, the maximum speed with standard displacement was supposed to be 32.25 knots. The turbines were driven by four three-bladed propellers ∅ 3.43 m and a pitch of 4.19 m. The maximum speed with a clean bottom under the cruising turbines alone was 23 knots, with a fuel consumption of 7.5 t/h, which corresponded to a cruising range of 6141 miles. During sea trials in May 1939, Edinburgh with a displacement of 10,550 dl. t (close to standard) reached a speed of 32.73 knots with a power of 81,630 hp. With. "Belfast" with a displacement of 10,420 dl. t showed respectively 32.98 knots and 81,140 hp. With.

The cruisers had two independent electrical systems - AC and DC. The main power system with a voltage of 220 DC was used for lighting, driving fans, power motors, and heating. The AC network powered the gyrocompass, fire control system, radio equipment and ASDIC.

Electricity was generated by two turbogenerators with a capacity of 350 kW and one of 400 kW. The DC network fed two 300 kW diesel generators; the third (50 kW) was used as an emergency. The emergency lighting was battery operated.

Armament

Artillery weapons

The artillery armament of the Belfast-class cruisers included twelve 152 mm and the same number of 102 mm guns.

152-mm Mk-XXIII cannons with a barrel length of 50 calibers were the main caliber guns on all British light cruisers of pre-war construction, starting with Linder. Initially they were installed in two-gun turrets Mk-XXI (Linder, Sydney, Arethusa), then in three-gun turrets Mk-XXII (Southampton type) and Mk-XXIII (Belfast, Fiji), with the minimum distance between the axes of the guns at zero elevation angle is 1.98 m. A feature of the British three-gun turrets was the displacement of the middle barrel back by 0.76 m in order to prevent the dispersion of shells due to the mutual influence of muzzle gases during full salvoes. For 152 mm guns, two types of shells were used - semi-armor-piercing with a ballistic cap and high-explosive. The mass of both was 50.8 kg, the weight of the explosive in the first was 1.7 kg (3.35%), in the second - 3.6 kg (7.1%). There were two types of charges - normal (13.62 kg) and flameless (14.5 kg). When using any, the initial velocity of the projectile was 841 m/s, which provided a maximum firing range of 23,300 m (125 kbt) with a gun elevation angle of 45°. The magazine capacity is 200 shells per gun. The barrel's survivability was 1,100 rounds when fired with a normal charge and 2,200 when fired with a flameless charge. The maximum firing range at an elevation angle of 45° is 23,300 m. The range of angles at which loading was carried out was from −5 to 12.5°. The rate of fire was up to eight rounds per minute, but they depended more on the feed rate, which was higher at Belfast and Fiji than at Southampton and Manchester. As a legacy from the four-gun turret, the Belfast received three lifts, each with a capacity of twelve rounds per minute, and three supply pipes, each with a capacity of twelve rounds per minute, feeding ammunition directly from the magazines directly to the turrets.

Large-caliber anti-aircraft artillery consisted of twelve 102-mm Mk-XVI guns in twin Mk-XIX deck mounts. The length of the gun barrel was 4572 mm (45 klb), the weight including the bolt was 2042 kg. In the Mk-XIX installation, both barrels were in the same cradle, the distance between the axes of the guns was 53.3 cm, and the maximum elevation angle was 85°. Projectile weight - 15.88 kg; the firing range at an elevation angle of 45° was 18,150 m, the height reach was 11,890 m, the technical rate of fire was 20 rounds per minute, although the practical one was lower: about 12-15 rounds. Initially, higher characteristics of the guns than their predecessors reduced the survivability to 600 shots, but after the start of the use of new flameless gunpowder, it increased to 1800 shots.

Anti-aircraft armament consisted of a pair of quad 12.7 mm machine guns, Vickers .50 and two eight-barreled Pom-Poms. The two-pound Vickers Mk.VII assault rifle was a development of the Mk. I, created back in the First World War, both models were called “pom-pom” for the characteristic sound made when fired, had the same 40.5-caliber barrel length and provided the new 764-gram HV projectile with an initial speed of 732 m/s (old "Pom-pom" used 907 gram LV projectiles with a muzzle velocity of 585 m/s). It had an effective altitude reach of 1,700 yards (1,550 m) instead of the not very large 1,200 yards (1,100 m) of the old one, although this was not very much, but was partly compensated by the high rate of fire - 100 rounds / min per barrel, which made it possible to develop high density fire. Fire control was carried out using anti-aircraft directors with 1.22 rangefinders. In addition, there were two 7.69 mm Vickes machine guns.

The landing parties were armed with 16 light machine guns (six Bren and ten Lyus).

And finally, in peacetime, the armament of the cruisers included three-pound (47 mm) Hotchkiss salute guns, created in the 80s of the 19th century in France and installed on large ships exclusively for presentation purposes.

Aviation weapons

In the 1930s, aircraft weapons were considered an important part of the combat power of a large surface ship. The Belfast class, like its predecessors, carried three Supermarine Walrus seaplanes. Two of them were stored with folded wings in separate hangars in the bow superstructure, the third stood on the catapult. The D-1H catapult is a powder catapult, 28 m long. The aircraft were lifted on board by two 7-ton electric cranes installed on the side of the catapult. With the advent of radar on cruisers, the need for on-board reconnaissance personnel disappeared, and since the middle of the war, aviation equipment has been dismantled from cruisers.

Torpedo weapons

The cruisers were armed with two TR-IV three-tube torpedo tubes of 533 mm caliber, installed on the upper deck along the sides, in the middle part of the ship. The ammunition load consisted of 12 533 mm torpedoes. Spare torpedoes (steam-gas Mk-IX) were stored in a room between the devices, protected by 16-mm steel plates. The cruisers used a single speed setting of 9.6 km at 36 knots. Belfast was one of the few large ships of the Second World War that used its torpedo weapons in battle (in December 1943 against the Scharnhorst). The torpedo tubes were dismantled during the major modernization of 1955-1959.

Booking

The weight of the armor, without turret armor, was 18.6% of the standard displacement. Compared to the Southampton, the protection scheme has changed: the 114-mm armor belt has become significantly longer, which made it possible to abandon the box-shaped armor of the cellars. The belt dropped below the waterline by 0.91 m, reaching the main deck in height (in the area of ​​the engine and boiler rooms - to the upper deck). The transverse beams were of the same thickness - 63 mm, the armored deck - 50 mm and 76 mm in the area of ​​the ammunition magazines of the bow and stern turrets. The steering gear was protected from above by a 50 mm main deck, and from the sides by a 25 mm box. The armor of the barbettes was strengthened - now above the deck their thickness on the sides was 102 mm (51+51), and at the bow and stern - 51 mm (25+25), overboard, to the armored deck, their thickness on the sides was 51 mm, and in the bow and stern - 25 mm. The towers had a thickness of 102/51/51 mm - front/side/roof.

Not far from the Tower Bridge on the Thames River is the Belfast Museum Ship, which amazes every traveler with its gigantic size. It is also called a symbol of Great Britain's military power. A few decades ago, it took a direct part in the Second World War, and today it is permanently parked, as if demonstrating all its inexhaustible power to curious tourists.

Construction of Belfast began in December 1936. The ship became one of 10 so-called Town cruisers, each of which was named after a particular English city. In this case, the name was borrowed from an Irish settlement. The ship was launched in 1938 on St. Patrick's Day, and was commissioned a year later, shortly before the outbreak of World War II. In November 1939, the cruiser was damaged as a result of a powerful explosion. Restoration work was carried out over two years.

In 1943, the ship played a significant role in the destruction of the German battleship Scharnhost, in July 1944 it took part in the famous Normandy operation, and in 1950-1952 in the Korean War. Between 1956 and 1959 the ship was significantly modernized. And on August 24, 1963 he was decommissioned from the Navy. In 1967, through the efforts of the active public, the Belfast was saved from the expected disposal, and in July 1971 the cruiser was permanently moored near the Tower Bridge, and 4 months later a museum was organized in it.

The snow-white giant amazes with its enormous size. Its length is more than 190 meters, width - over 19.

The ship has 9 decks. The cruiser's crew at one time consisted of 730 people. By the way, several veterans from his first squad are still alive, who sometimes come to visit Belfast. On a tour of the museum ship, you have a unique opportunity to look into all its cabins, where the life of the crew of the 1940-1950s has been restored. In almost every one of them you will see wax figures of captains and their assistants, junior commanders and sailors. Some crew members are resting, others are busy working, and others are having dinner. You will also go to the kitchen, where the dishes that sailors ate in the 1940s are presented. There is also a ship's infirmary, where the wounded members of the Belfast crew were sent, and even a post office. Go into the modest chapel where they prayed in their most difficult moments. Your cruise tour will end on the top deck with stunning views of the Thames.

It's time to continue the story about London's military museums. After a series of articles about, I want to talk about another worthy object - the cruiser "Belfast", installed on a conditionally eternal parking lot near the Tower Bridge in the city of fugitive oligarchs and journalists, the capital of Great Britain, London.

This cruiser is a veteran of the Second World War, she participated, among other things, in the battle in which the German battleship Scharnhorst was sunk, in operations to cover the Allied landings in Normandy, as well as in protecting Arctic convoys from the ports of Iceland and the British Isles to THE USSR. It is worth noting that these convoys delivered about half of all Lend-Lease aid to the USSR.

1. The cruiser "Belfast" in eternal parking in front of the Tower Bridge in London:

Of course, I was “lucky” with the weather that day. The rain, usual for the local population, began in the morning. I had to take a number of tricks to take pictures so as not to get the camera and lens wet. But I think I still managed to get a few decent shots of this museum ship.

Entrance to the museum ship is via a special ramp, at the beginning of which there is a ticket office and, part-time, a souvenir shop with a small restaurant.

2. The difference between high and low tides on the Thames is clearly visible. The water in the river is extremely muddy. Outside the museum pavilion, kegs of beer are cooling:

3. I buy a ticket at the ticket office and climb the ladder aboard the cruiser. I show the ticket to a specially trained inspector. If you wish, you can take an audio guide, including in Russian:

4. In case of bad weather (which, as we know, happens quite often in London), an awning is stretched on the poop - this is the aft part of the upper deck. Immediately near the entrance there is a screen on which newsreel footage of the cruiser Belfast is scrolled:

5. I look around on deck:

6. On the other bank of the Thames you can see the famous Tower of London, which has been a fortress, a palace, a treasure repository, an arsenal, a mint and even a prison:

7. A ladder is visible leading upward to the last aft turret of the main caliber:

8. The ship’s coat of arms and the main stages of its combat activity:

It is noticeable that these stages (conducting Arctic convoys and the battle with Scharnhorst in 1943, shelling of German coastal fortifications in Normandy in 1944 and participation in the Korean War on the side of UN forces in 1950-1952) are not included a rather offensive explosion on a bottom mine in November 1939.

On November 21, 1939, the cruiser Belfast was leaving its mooring in the Firth of Forth (east coast of Scotland) for firing training when a German aircraft bottom mine went off under its keel. It should be noted that the cruiser was lucky, since as a result of a mine explosion, the underwater part of the hull was severely deformed, but not destroyed. In fact, most of the shock wave fell on the keel, which eventually bent noticeably and burst. Repairing the ship ultimately turned out to be a very difficult task and took almost three years.

In addition to repairing the lining and the keel itself, the radar equipment was updated. So, after repairs, all the cruiser’s artillery was equipped with radar target acquisition.
In the battle with Scharnhorst, the ability of British ships to “see” the enemy and fire in the absence of visual contact played a decisive role in the destruction of the German battleship on the evening of December 26, 1943 (the Scharnhorst’s own radar installation was destroyed by a direct hit at the very beginning of the first phase battle, still in the morning).
As a result of a long battle with superior forces of the British fleet (one battleship, 4 cruisers and 8 destroyers), the Scharnhorst, which had lost its speed, was finished off by torpedoes. In the final attack, four destroyers fired 19 torpedoes at it. But at the beginning of this day, “Scharnhorst” seriously hoped to profit from the ships of the allied convoy passing near the North Cape...
As I already said, the cruiser Belfast played an important role in this battle, maintaining contact with Scharnhorst and periodically firing at it, controlled by radar readings.

10. Ship's Bell:

11. “The Last Witness” sign. What does it mean?

12. This means that our “native” oligarchs chipped in to repair this certainly worthy, but still foreign museum ship:

I think that many military museums in Russia could use such help.

13. Information stand, a museum employee stands nearby, trying to explain something to his colleague:

Let's get to know the cruiser "Belfast" better. HMS Belfast (C35) is a pre-war British Town-class (Edinburgh-class) light cruiser, one of 10 cruisers of her type. Four of them were sunk by the enemy during World War II, but the remaining six more or less successfully completed it and served until the end of the 1950s, after which they were slowly dismantled for metal.

The cruiser "Belfast" was lucky again - museum workers became interested in its preservation, who managed to prevent the ship from being dismantled and created a special fund for its repair. Since 1971, the cruiser Belfast has become a museum ship, and since 1978, a branch of the Imperial War Museum.

14. 152-mm main caliber guns are installed in four three-gun turrets, two each in the bow and stern:

According to the English naval tradition, the bow towers are designated by the letters A (first), B (second), etc., and the stern ones - X (penultimate), Y (last).

15. Main caliber towers are open for free access:

16. We approach the ladder leading to the aft 152 mm “Y” turret. On a special board, the time until the next visitors starts is counted down. Five minutes are allotted for viewing the tower, but no one, of course, will chase away a slightly delayed visitor:

17. We go into the tower, moving aside the fabric canopy:

18. A “working atmosphere” has been created inside the tower - everything seems to be in a haze of powder gases, secretly located speakers transmit the clanging sounds of bolts and rammers:

19. Special lamps highlight individual elements of internal equipment:

20. At some point, a “shot” is heard, the tower really twitches, everything around rumbles, a well-camouflaged disco fog generator releases another batch of steam into the tower:

21. In general, a visit to the main caliber aft tower is a real show, people get really scared when the “shot” is fired, some visitors fly out of the tower as if scalded:

Anti-aircraft artillery of the cruiser before the second modernization in the second half of the 1950s. was represented by eight twin 40-mm automatic cannons QF 2-pounder Mark VIII (due to the characteristic sound of the shots they were given the nickname “pom-pom”). It is worth noting that the British pom-poms were noticeably inferior in effectiveness to similar 40-mm anti-aircraft guns from the Swedish company Bofors, which, for example, were actively installed on American warships of that time (their licensed production was established in the USA).

22. After the second modernization, anti-aircraft guns began to look like this:

23. 8 twin Pom-Poms were replaced by 6 twin Bofors (Mk V 40mm Bofors):

24. At the same time, anti-aircraft fire control after repairs and the first modernization in 1939-42. has already been carried out according to radar readings:

25. Twin anti-aircraft 40-mm machine gun "Bofors" (Mk V 40mm Bofors):

26. The cruiser's universal artillery was initially represented by six, and after the second modernization in the 1950s. - four paired 102 mm art. installations (QF 4 inch Mk XVI):

Depending on the situation, universal guns could act as anti-aircraft artillery, be used to combat lightly armored naval targets, or to suppress enemy coastal defense units. For example, while supporting the Allied landings in Normandy in the first weeks after the start of the operation, the cruiser's 102-mm guns managed to suppress several German strong points - until the front line in Normandy moved away from the shore to a distance exceeding the firing range of its artillery.

27.

A curious story connects the cruiser with the name of British Prime Minister Churchill. A few days before the landing in Normandy, Churchill wanted to personally observe what was happening, for which he asked that a cabin be prepared for him on the cruiser Belfast. Having learned of this intention, Admiral Cunningham (First Sea Lord) and General Eisenhower (leader of the Anglo-American forces during the landing of troops in Normandy) tried to dissuade him, but were sent... to go about their business further. Fortunately for the Belfast captain and his crew, the situation was saved by the intervention of the English king, whose opinion Churchill decided to take into account. As a result, nothing prevented the cruiser from calmly and without regard to the highest ranks of the empire from carrying out its tasks of suppressing enemy batteries.

28.

29. Veterans:

Let's see what else interesting is on the deck of the cruiser.

30. Main superstructure:

31. Visor:

32. View from the navigation bridge to the bow of the ship:

33. Antenna facilities:

As I already mentioned, the cruiser Belfast managed to take part in the Korean War on the side of the UN forces. At school, during history lessons (and other political information), I was told that in that war the “bad” attacked the “good”. Then it turned out that no, it was still the “good” (according to the previous classification) who attacked the “bad” themselves. But in the end, no one was able to win.

35. Artillery fire control station:

36. Here the signalmen kept their signal flags.

Hi all! Today we will analyze the British premium cruiser of the seventh level Belfast.

In my opinion, this ship is comfortable, has good farm and shows excellent results in both random and ranked battles. At its level, it is a kind of imba, but the ship also has disadvantages, and you need to learn how to play it.

So, let's look at the main differences between this premium cruiser and its upgraded British counterparts. We have high-explosive shells, we have radar, but there are no torpedoes and no healing. We also have a slot for the fifth upgrade, which is available to other ships only from the eighth level. And from the general features we have British smoke, built-in acceleration upgrade, almost complete lack of armor combined with a large and high citadel and the absence of barrage fire.

All of the above dictates the appropriate manner of play. We need to avoid open combat by all means and not expose ourselves. To do this, we put the stealth upgrade in the fifth slot and take a similar perk. Together with the camouflage bonus, we begin to glow from 8.7 kilometers. This is a record light for a cruiser and we need to take advantage of it. We have a two-kilometer window of light-free shooting from open water. When we fire, we glow from 13.3 kilometers, and our maximum firing range is 15.4 kilometers. However, at such a distance we can only confidently hit a battleship; our ballistics are not very good. At the same time, it is worth understanding that if there is an enemy destroyer or air force nearby, we will immediately find ourselves and receive a response. Aviks annoy us the most - we have weak air defense and we play from invisibility, so a competent aircraft carrier can radically ruin our lives and we cannot do anything about it. At the same time, the absence of a barrier does not give us a chance to fight off a skilled aviator.

But most often we play from smoke and it’s worth talking about this tactic in more detail. If possible, you should avoid setting up smoke while already in the light. It would be best to approach the enemy at 9.5-10 kilometers and, having slowed down (!) to a maximum of 18-20 knots, begin to set smoke in the “reverse” telegraph position. In this case, we will not fly beyond the smoke screen. About 15 seconds after the smoke is set, it is worth turning on the hydroacoustic search; it is better to notice enemy torpedoes from afar. In the smoke, it is better to be in a diamond shape towards the target being fired upon - this way it will be more difficult for us to be shot at by tracers.

However, it is worth remembering that, unlike other ships, British cruisers accelerate extremely quickly and stop slowly. I came across a situation where I was reversing through smoke at -7 knots and, having detected enemy torpedoes with acoustics, I no longer had time to accelerate at all. The speed returned to 0 in about 15 seconds, and there was no time left to gain it. Therefore, I would still advise you not to maneuver too much in the smoke, it takes too much attention. It is enough to be distracted for just 5 seconds, and the cruiser has already taken off and is guaranteed to fly out of the smoke. Don't make the same mistake.

A very important point is where the smoke is placed. It is always worth remembering that we do not have torpedoes, and if the enemy comes at us, we will not be able to meet him with dignity. Hence the conclusion: we must be at the forefront of the allied order, in this case we will not have problems with being illuminated by the enemy (someone will shine the light) and the enemy is unlikely to trample on us.

And the main thing is that whenever we set up smoke, we need to understand how we will escape from this smoke when it ends. There is nothing worse than being caught in the light while facing the enemy when the smoke begins to fall. At best, you will lose 2/3 of your combat effectiveness. Therefore, ALWAYS control the duration of your smokes. To do this, you can use a special mod or, in the old fashioned way, watch the CD until the new smoke (at 50-55 the smoke will disappear). One of the tactics is to set smokes while crawling out from behind the island. This way we can go back when the smoke starts to fall.

Now a little about perks and upgrades. Always use only gold consumables in Belfast. Consumables are our main strength.

Speaking of modernizations. Be sure to put the stealth upgrade in the fifth slot and the steering wheel upgrade in the fourth. If you wish, you can experiment with special upgrades in the second slot, but in my opinion they will not give much benefit. Be sure to set flags to recharge consumables and increase the chance of arson. In addition, Belfast farms well, so the Zulu flag will not be superfluous.

Moving on to the perks:

The priority target allows us to assess the situation and understand how many ships will focus on us in case of light. The perk is not super useful, but there are no alternatives in the first tier. In my opinion, there is no point in calling for an artillery alarm, since we are not very agile and avoid open firefights.

The smoke screen master will allow us to feel more comfortable in the smoke and not fly out of it when setting up and maneuvering.

The Superintendent will give us the 4th charge of all consumables. Must have!

Master of Camouflage will reduce our visibility to 8.7 km. Must have!

The inertial fuse of HE shells will allow us to deal significantly more damage to battleships and cruisers of the same level above us. The perk significantly reduces our damage from landmines.

The Explosives Technician increases our chance of igniting, which is reduced by the Inertial Fuse.

The Master Gunner will give us an even more comfortable rotation speed for the turrets.

The screenshot below shows the required perks and the optimal sequence for taking them.

About ranked battles. The sixth season of ranked battles is currently underway and Belfast looks to be the best ranked ship at the moment. The cruiser destroys enemy destroyers in a matter of salvos and, thanks to the radar, they are unable to sit out in the smoke. And whoever holds the points wins. Now you can see the dominance of Fiji in the ranks. And what could be worse for a British cruiser than being detected by radar in the smoke? Belfast has no equal here. And thanks to the inertial fuse, decent chunks of HP fly off from enemy battleships in a salvo. The only problem is with aircraft carriers, but there are few of them in the current ranked season. Belfast currently has the highest win percentage in the ranked season on the server. This is what IMBA is like.

Overall: Belfast is an excellent premium cruiser that is worth the money. Belfast farms and shows excellent results in all types of battles.

There is a naval museum on the Thames, right next to Tower Bridge. It is located on board the cruiser HMS Belfast, which was built in 1939 and survived the entire war. There will be a story about this cruiser.

The post turned out to be hefty, I immediately warn those who go under the cut :)

"The main task of the Royal Navy is

protecting the interests of the British Empire

and sea trade routes"

It is with these words that the story about the history of the creation of the light cruiser Belfast begins. According to the then naval strategy, cruisers were supposed to serve around the world. In the event of a war with Germany or Japan, the cruisers were supposed to be used to support battleships and aircraft carriers. Light and fast ships, equipped with powerful weapons and modern (by those standards) radars, they were supposed to play the role of an escort and, in the event of a naval battle, detect the enemy and point their heavily armed colleagues at him. Belfast fully complied with these principles: displacement of 10 thousand tons, 32 knots, guns, anti-aircraft weapons, torpedo tubes... I will not dwell too much on the technical details, they can also be viewed on Wikipedia. Belfast was built from 1936 to 1939, it was the last in a series of Town class cruisers.

On August 5, 1939, Belfast became part of the fleet and its difficult history began. At the stern of the cruiser you can see which battles it took part in:

However, this service began, frankly speaking, unsuccessfully. The cruiser made several combat trips to the North Sea, but already on November 21, 1939, leaving Edinburgh, it ran into a magnetic mine that had been laid shortly before by the U-21 boat. Drowning - not drowning, but barely dragged itself with tugboats back to the port and was put in for lengthy repairs. It returned to service in 1942. By the way, while Belfast was being repaired, part of its crew was transferred to the cruiser HMS Hood, which a little over a year later was lost during an artillery duel with the German battleship Bismarck (only three sailors survived).

So here it is. Where did I stop there? Oh, yes, in 1942 Belfast returned to service again, in the midst of the Battle of the Arctic. I think everyone knows the history of polar convoys that supplied weapons, machine tools, fuel and much more to the USSR. Belfast spent the whole of 1943 escorting these convoys to Murmansk.

Even as a child, I read Alistair MacLean’s novel “The Cruiser Ulysses,” which told about one such convoy. Cold, ice, attacks from submarines and bombers, you had to be an iron man to get through this. Here is an archival photo of Belfast from one of these convoys:

Despite everything, the battered convoys still broke through into the USSR. This painting is called “The Allied Convoy Approaches Murmansk”:

Another archival photo. Allied squadron on the roadstead of Murmansk. Belfast is on the right in this photo.

The next milestone in the cruiser's history was the battle at the North Cape. On December 21, 1943, the German battleship Scharnhorst was trapped by the Royal Navy off the coast of Norway. The battleship went out to intercept the next convoy, but German reconnaissance did not detect a squadron sailing nearby, consisting of one battleship, one heavy, three light cruisers and several destroyers. It was Belfast that spotted the battleship on radar at about 9:00 a.m., and soon the light cruisers came within salvo range and opened fire.

The cruiser's first salvos damaged Scharnhorst's radar installation. The battleship was blinded; in the arctic snow whirlwind it was possible to aim its guns only by the flashes of enemy guns. Scharnhorst rushed to retreat south at full speed, but it was too late: the trap had slammed shut. Belfast, using its radar, directed a strike group at the Germans led by the battleship Duke of York, which was more powerful than Scharnhorst. By the way, the radar picture in Belfast was so-so :)

The pursuit continued all day. Scharnhorst, snarling, left, despite numerous hits. However, the forces were not equal. At 19:45, after another torpedo attack by destroyers, Scharnhorst capsized and sank, taking two thousand crew members to the bottom. The British lifted only 36 surviving sailors from the icy water. This diagram shows with a red line how Scharnhorst tried to leave:

In March 1944, Belfast participated in an operation during which an air raid severely damaged Germany's largest battleship Tirpitz, based in Norway - the cruiser was escorting the aircraft carriers from which this raid was organized.

By this time, the naval war in the Arctic was almost over, but in Europe everything was just beginning. In June 1944, the Allied landings in Normandy began. The cruiser managed to take part here too:

He supported the landing with his fire, crushed the coastal batteries, and in general helped the progress of this operation in every possible way:

In total, during the operation, the cruiser fired about 2,000 salvoes of the main caliber. This one:

Speaking of the main caliber. There are a total of 4 towers in Belfast, each with 3 six-inch guns. The weight of the projectile is 50 kilograms, the firing range is 20 kilometers. This is what the tower looks like from the inside:

Under each turret there is a gun magazine for 200 shells:

In July 1944, Belfast was sent for rearmament and in the spring of 1945 it moved to the Far East. However, for the time being, Japan capitulates and the cruiser does not have to fight the kamikaze. Although for this purpose special anti-aircraft guns were installed. True, in the 50s there was another modernization and they were all replaced with more advanced ones.

After the war, the cruiser continues to serve in the east. In 1950, he became part of the American squadron and participated in the Korean War. It remained in service with the Royal Navy until 1963, after which it was transferred to reserve. In 1971 it was finally written off.

But then begins the history of the museum itself, which is quite revealing. The government did not intend to make a museum out of the ship; the cruiser was heading for needles, but a private foundation was organized and a collection of donations was organized. The navy, private individuals, and commercial companies participated in the creation of the museum. As a result, at the end of 1971 the museum was open and accepting visitors. This is worth learning: in our LiveJournal the topics constantly come up: “oh, the lunar rover is in a landfill”, “oh, Buran was sold” and all this falls on the authorities: “why don’t they preserve the heritage”, probably because it’s easier this way - they don’t do anything themselves necessary.

Well, about the museum itself. I can say that this is the most interesting maritime museum I have ever visited. What can we say - a real legendary battle cruiser with a long service record. And almost all of it is open for consideration. You can climb onto the bridge:

You can go down to the car:

Gyrocompasses:

Vitality control post:

And even a pantry :)

Of course, there are still a lot of photos, but I still think it’s time to finish, and so the post turned out to be overwhelming. However, I warned you :) As I already said, the cruiser is standing right next to the Tower Bridge. A ticket to the museum costs 12 pounds, which is expensive by our standards, but generally not very expensive by English standards. In addition, they provide an audio guide. That's it, I end with the final photo from the Thames embankment.

PS To be clear: the sources of information are the museum itself and some English-language Wikipedia. Free translation, as usual, mine.