HMS Belfast - History

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jbryce1437
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Re: HMS Belfast - History

Unread post by jbryce1437 »

Hope you manage to pull it off Tim.

Jim
HMS Raleigh 1963 , HMS Collingwood 1963 & 67 , HMS Ark Royal 1964-7, HMS Undaunted 1968-71, HMS Victory (Fleet Maintenance Group) 1971-72, HMS Exmouth 1972-74
JEM, EM, OEM, LOEM, POOEL
Then 28 years in the Fire Brigade
Retired since 2002
timlewin
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Re: HMS Belfast - History

Unread post by timlewin »

There is a Belgian frigate alongside right now, this is the sort of interest we hope to capture, watching them come and go.....
Brian James
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Re: HMS Belfast - History

Unread post by Brian James »

BL 6-inch/50 cal Mk XXIII main armament,triple turret,pictured on Museum Ship,Town Class Light Cruiser HMS Belfast.
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jbryce1437
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Re: HMS Belfast - History

Unread post by jbryce1437 »

Brian James wrote: Fri Aug 09, 2019 4:16 am BL 6-inch/50 cal Mk XXIII main armament,triple turret,pictured on Museum Ship,Town Class Light Cruiser HMS Belfast.
A masterpiece in engineering.

Jim
HMS Raleigh 1963 , HMS Collingwood 1963 & 67 , HMS Ark Royal 1964-7, HMS Undaunted 1968-71, HMS Victory (Fleet Maintenance Group) 1971-72, HMS Exmouth 1972-74
JEM, EM, OEM, LOEM, POOEL
Then 28 years in the Fire Brigade
Retired since 2002
timlewin
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Re: HMS Belfast - History

Unread post by timlewin »

Delighted to report that the creators of HMSB, and so many other fine ships, Harland & Wolff in East Belfast, have been saved from closure. The new owners are involved in heavy gas industry engineering, gas storage and related fields, their CEO did not rule out a return to shipbuilding in the future. All the present jobs have been secured, with the prospect of several hundred more.

Nice to report good news, I will try to invite the new team onboard asap! this is a bond we must preserve.
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ivorthediver
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Re: HMS Belfast - History

Unread post by ivorthediver »

Good News Tim , and as you know I'm sure better to keep a door open , as you never know when it might be needed again eh ;)
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
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ivorthediver
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Re: HMS Belfast - History

Unread post by ivorthediver »

Good News Tim , and as you know I'm sure better to keep a door open , as you never know when it might be needed again eh ;)
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
timlewin
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Re: HMS Belfast - History

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my invitation is on his desk!
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ivorthediver
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Re: HMS Belfast - History

Unread post by ivorthediver »

Good man , best to get in quick at the top of his list ,....rather than the bottom , makes for better reading eh , when you have a lot to get through ;)
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
timlewin
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Re: HMS Belfast - History

Unread post by timlewin »

Last Wednesday we held a celebration for the priceless Russian help in replacing both masts of HMSB; here is the press release issued ahead of the event......


HMS BELFAST CELEBRATES BROTHERHOOD WITH RUSSIA

“WE WERE ALL IN IT TOGETHER”

When you look at HMS Belfast from any vantage point on the Thames between London Bridge and Tower Bridge the stand-out feature is the ship’s masts. How many people know that these masts were built in Russia, delivered in a Russian ship, and installed by Russian engineers?
HMS Belfast has four Battle Honours, three of them are engraved on the soul of Russia;
Arctic, North Cape and Normandy.
Between 1942 and the beginning of 1944 this mighty ship battled convoys through to Russia when the fate of the free world hung in the balance, she sailed with the merchantmen to bring relief to the hard-pressed allies fighting on the Russian Front. The culmination of this most dangerous of operations came at Christmas in 1943. Sailing with other cruisers and the battleship Duke of York HMS Belfast found by radar the Nazi battlecruiser Scharnhorst. Doggedly she hung onto this electronic echo through the Arctic winter night, black as only an Arctic night can be, swept by blinding snow storms and wracked by a savage Westerly gale. Through her tenacity the great menace of the Scharnhorst was brought to battle, and sunk.
Six months later Belfast was standing off the Normandy beaches, her great guns opened the invasion with the first symbolic broadside into the Nazi defences above Juno beach, the launch of the liberation of Western Europe.
By 2009 HMS Belfast was feeling her age, both masts were in a state beyond repair, time and the sea had corroded them to the point where replacement was the only option; but this was the recession, funds for museums were non-existent.
Russia to the rescue.
A project was launched titled “Last Witness” under which new masts would be made by a Russian shipyard and brought to London. A project dedicated to the immortal memory of all those who fought, and died, in the Arctic Campaign and to capture the significance of this last surviving warship that has come to symbolise the unbreakable bonds of friendship generated by this Allied cause in which men, and women, from all sides fought side by side sharing the same mortal dangers of the sea and the violence of the enemy.
The masts that grace the ship today are made from Russian steel, forged from iron dug from the heart of Russia, fabricated in the Severnaya Verf shipyard in St. Petersburg, and installed by skilled Russian engineers ten years ago. A fragment of the soul of Russia that is forever part of the soul of this great ship.
On 23rd. October there will be a celebration onboard HMS Belfast led by Admiral The Lord West of Spithead, former First Sealord and Government minister, accompanied by The Charge D’Affaires of the Russian Embassy, veterans, representatives of the Severnaya Verf Shipyard and key participants in the creation and execution of “Project Last Witness” ten years ago. The Arch-priest of the Russian Church in Great Britain will refresh the dedication of the masts as a memorial to all those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Allied cause. To mark the occasion a crest of HMS Belfast cast from the steel of the original masts will be presented as a memento to the men of Severnaya Verf who made the new masts possible.
Ends; 18-09-2019
Press release; pictures available
For Media Registration please contact;- AWigley@iwm.org.uk; RCole@iwm.org.uk
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