Creigiau Tours and Ski cruise the HMS Belfast.

Our last stop on our World War II expedition was the Imperial War Museum HMS Belfast, the largest object of the entire Imperial War Museum. We had walked past the ship many times and always thought to ourselves that next time we must remember to go take a look at this old floating fortress. We had wondered what it might look like on the inside. We had seen that it goes several levels down and it looks gigantic where it is moored right in the heart of London by Tower Bridge, surrounded by other remarkable landmarks like the Tower of London and the Shard. It looks slightly out of context although it sits there as nothing is more normal, all imposing with its many cannons and dazzling camouflage. We had taken the boys to the dockyards in Portsmouth one year and they loved it so to HMS Belfast we went ready for an interesting day of learning all about this fascinating ship and hearing stories told by 950 people who lived and served on her during her time on the sea.

Today the HMS Belfast is the last remaining vessel of her type. One of the largest and most powerful light cruisers ever built and served across the world, visiting the extremes; the freezing seas of the North Atlantic and the steaming tropics of Southeast Asia

She was built in 1938 by the same shipbuilders who built the Titanic. This was at a time when the British navy had been the strongest in the world for the best part of the last hundred years and it intended to stay that way. She is a cruiser built for speed and range, is heavily armed while versatile, perfect for sailing the world and protecting the British Empire and its shipping routes. She served for 25 years and saw her fair share of hard work and conflict. In the Second World War HMS Belfast patrolled the northern seas. She went on a mission via Iceland in 1943 to escort Arctic convoys to Russia. This made me remember tales from my older relatives back in Iceland of British ships so big they seemed to fill whole bays and fjords. This particular convoy ended up with HMS Belfast playing an important role in the Battle of North Cape in North Norway when she assisted in the destruction and sinking of a great German warship that had terrorised these shipping routes. With the German warship out of the way, the sailing route to Russia was made safer, as safe as wartimes go that is.

She participated in the Normandy Landings by firing on German defences to clear the way for Allied soldiers. The story goes that the bombing was so intense that some of the toilets inside the ship cracked.

In August 1945, HMS Belfast embarked on a mission to the Pacific to help fight against Japan. Though the war had ended before reaching Japan, the ship still had an important job to do. It helped thousands of British civilians, including children who were released from Japanese prison camps. One of her missions was to help in The Chinese Civil War, which had been put on hold during the Second World War and resumed when it ended. When it became apparent that the Nationalists were losing, HMS Belfast stepped in to transport those fleeing mainland China. From 1950-1966 she took part in the Cold War in the Far East including the Korean War. Britain supported South Korea in its fight against the North Koreans, who were backed by China. HMS Belfast was sent to their aid and the ship's guns were used to fire at enemy forces on land, while the medics abroad provided medical aid to injured Korean civilians and soldiers from both sides. It's remarkable to think about the important role that HMS Belfast played in the conflict, both destroying and helping people during times of crisis and war.

HMS Belfast underwent several transformations to adapt to changing times during her seafaring times. As the nuclear threat grew in the 1950s, the ship underwent extensive modernisation, including the installation of specialised air conditioning to protect the crew from nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, as well as improved anti-aircraft guns and water jets to clean off radioactive substances. During the early stages of World War II, she went through her first transformations but not by choice. After only four months of service, a magnetic mine exploded directly underneath the ship, causing severe damage to its hull, keel, engine rooms, and gun turrets. The explosion caused everything to be pushed out of place, and it was a miracle that the ship didn't sink. Fortunately, the ship managed to make it back to land safely where she went for her repairs. It took three years to repair the ship and she was almost wholly rebuilt. At the end of her repairs, she had new radar-guided guns and anti-aircraft guns, radar which replaced the patrolling Walrus planes they had set off from the ship to find enemy aircraft and surface warships. New torpedoes, new electronic systems and the layouts of the hull and armour were modified making her an all-around more stable and stronger ship.

HMS Belfast was permanently moored in the Pool of London in 1971 and has been a floating museum since. That is a nice retirement for a lady of the seas after decades of service as one of the Royal Navy's most powerful light cruisers now resting while rising and falling with the ebbs and flows of the River Thames. She greets over 200,000 visitors annually, and we had a great time being one of those hundreds of people going through the ship and her history.

Before heading into the ship we explored the quarterdeck and enjoyed the stunning views of London's landmarks.

The forward-facing gun turret above the quarterdeck is a surreal experience with its massive guns made for fast-firing heavy shells, the guns now positioned for a direct hit on the London Gateway service station at Scratchwood. Whenever we passed the HMS Belfast, my husband would share this fun fact with me, I never quite believed him. Why would the guns be set on a specific civilian target? Surely this is an urban myth. But no, the target is indeed intentional! The guns simply had to point somewhere and for publicity, that is why the chosen target was an ordinary everyday spot such as a service station. The great HMS Belfast has long retired and doesn't shoot at anything anymore!

Once in the belly of the beast, we were introduced to the large kitchen, bakery, butcher’s, food and supply storages, post office, library, laundry room, health services, radio station, kiosk and a chapel. I am probably forgetting something but there was everything onboard that a community needs to make sure everyone is fed, healthy, happy and able to do their various jobs needed to keep HMS Belfast floating and working. She is referred to as The Floating Town, which is a pretty accurate description. Although she was a warship she served as the home to 761 officers and men during peace time and that number went up to 950 during war times. She served as a mothership, supporting sailors on smaller ships nearby, sometimes to soldiers fighting in the area.

I completely lost my sense of direction when we descended to the lower levels, and I couldn't keep track of the number of stairs and bridges we crossed while navigating through the narrow passages to various levels, rooms and stations. As we made our way through the ship's maze we came across the punishment rooms. I briefly considered leaving my eldest son there as punishment for getting lost on board! I have to say that one benefit of the narrow corridors and the (almost) one-way system is that there's no need to panic when lost, at least not too much. We concluded our visit to the bridge, where we tested our navigational skills using interactive screens. The boys were particularly excited about this, as they love anything screen or buttons that they can touch or mess around with. It seems like they inherited their dad's tendency to have to press buttons whenever they see them! That alone would make HMS Belfast the perfect place for us to visit.

In fact, this was a fantastic place to visit, The HMS Belfast is amazingly well-kept, informative and interactive with its replicated rooms and stations, where the people lived, worked and played. This would make an excellent school history trip on not only World War 2 but also the Cold War and the changes the British Empire started going through in the 50s.