HMS Belfast London - London

HMS Belfast is the former Royal Navy cruiser that is now a permanent floating museum along the banks of the River Thames, just west of Tower Bridge near to London’s City Hall building. This week the ship is holding Warship Week onboard with a daily programme of events designed to show what life was like for the crew and what the Belfast did on active service.

HMS Belfast was launched in 1938 and had a number of roles during the Second World War including escorting arctic convoys, being involved in the sinking of the German battleship Sharnhorst and taking part in the D-Day landings and invasion of France. HMS Belfast opened up on German positions at dawn on D-Day and continued shelling German positions in Normandy for five weeks solid. She supported UN forces during the Korean War and was hit with North Korean shells in 1952. The Belfast was brought to London and open as a public museum in 1971.

Among the activities this week they’ll be a number of re-enactments including the 4? gun drill, Captain’s defaulters and the Rum Ration Issue in the Artic Messdecks. They’ll be a Damage Control display, a Gunnery Control Display and the Naval Wargames Society will be staging a wargame based on the events of 9 July 1940. Below is the daily schedule of Warship Week from 26 May-3 June.

11am 4? Gun Drill Gun Deck
12 noon Up Spirits Arctic Messdeck
1pm Family Activities & D-Day News Reels Educational Suite
1.30pm 4? Gun Drill Boatdeck
2pm Family Activities & D-Day News Reels Educational Suite
2.30pm Damage Control 3H
4pm Captain’s Defaulters
Naval Wargames Society staged Wargame based on Events of 9 July 1940 SCDH

HMS Belfast is open from 10am-6pm daily, admission is £9.95 adults, under 16s free. The ship is moored on the Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. London Bridge is the nearest Tube.