One of the largest cruisers in the Royal Navy during the WWII, HMS Belfast's battle honours include North Cape 1943, Arctic 1943, Normandy 1944 and Korea 1950-53. She also took part in the last capital ship action in the history of the Royal Navy, and was the first warship since HMS Victory to be preserved by the nation. Now anchored in the Pool of London, she bagan life in 1936 when she was laid down as an Edinburgh Class cruiser. Launched on March 17, 1938, and commissioned on August 5th 1939, she operated from Scapa Flow with the 18th Cruiser Squadron until November 21st, when a German magnetic mine exploded, breaking the cruiser's back and laying her up for major reconstruction in Devonport for 2 years. She was recomissioned in November 1942, and in December 1943, with HMS Norfolk, Jamaica, Duke of York, Sheffield and attendant destroyers, sank the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst at the Battle of North Cape. She became the flagship of The Commander, Force E, in the invasion of Normandy in 1944, and following a refit, sailed for the Far East for operations against Japan. She was then kept busy by the Yangtse incident, the Malayan emergency an and in 1950, the Korean War. She was finally paid off into reserve on 24th August 1963. Armaments following reconstruction in 1942 consisted of 12 x 6 inch guns in 4 turrets, 12 x 4 inch HA in 6 turrets, 16 x 2 pdr pom-poms in 2 mountings, 10 x 20mm Oerlikon guns in 5 mountings, and 8 single Oerlikons around catapult deck.
Technical Specification & Details
Scale 1/600
Skill 3
Flying Hours 2
Number of Parts 250
Dimensions L 311mm X W 35mm
Age 8+