Website: http://hmsbelfast.iwm.org.ukToday I visited HMS Belfast. This is a Royal Navy ship which has been moored near Tower Bridge since the 1970s. It saw active service in World War II and the Korean War and is now a floating museum about its naval history. I'm not much of a military buff but thought I'd give it a visit.
When I arrived I found the ship was so big it couldn't fit in one photo. Clearly a montage was required:
I bought a student ticket (£7.20), got a free English language audio-guide and set off along the jetty out to the moored ship. At the end of the jetty a uniformed Navy officer took my ticket and, calling me "Sir", gave me a map and a brief, official-sounding orientation. Then I was on my own.I tried to figure out if there was a "tour start point" but the map was no help so I tried the audio guide. Holding the over-sized phone to my ear I felt like a genuine tourist. Although the guide was interesting (for example the ship's bell was also used as a christening font for the sailor's babies) and included excerpts from veterans who served on the ship it went a bit too slow for my liking so I slung it around my neck and set off without its aid.
My first stop was Gun Turret Y at the stern (i.e. back) of the ship. Here the awesome guns were on display. These were used to fire huge 6 inch shells out at the enemy and were manned by a crew which, when there was action, worked, slept and ate in the turret. A father and son were in the turret with me and I benefited from the father's explanation of how the guns worked.
Next stop was inside the ship where a TV display explained all about torpedoes. The Belfast used to carry 6 torpedoes and there was a huge one on display. I watched a French tourist pose for a "ride the torpedo photo"...I tried to follow the arrows around the ship but it turned out a new tour route was being trialled. This meant there were conflicting old and new arrows pointing in contradictory directions. I did my best and went down to the Boiler Room and the Engine Room. The complex and immense machinery was amazing. The boilers produced super-heated steam to power the turbine engines which powered the ship's propellers. It took 4 hours to get up enough steam for the ship to start off! These rooms were fun because you were allowed to climb up and down ladders and steep steps. There were narrow walkways suspended between pipes and dials. It was a cross between a museum and an agility course.
I got turned around with the ladders between decks and the confusing arrows and the occasional signs sometimes declaring "You are now below the water line". Rather than try to reconstruct my route around the ship I'll give you the highlights. The best one was the insight into the little things you don't think about but are essential to the running of such a massive ship. The Belfast had a bakery, a butchers, an immense galley to cook for everyone, a clothes store, a small shop selling sweets, a dentist, a sick bay, a post room, a music broadcasting room (to play music to entertain the men), a chapel etc etc. The galley ovens were enormous. One huge, deep "copper" was filled with hundreds of fake potatoes to give you a rough idea:
Everywhere there were models of people acting out the relevant task: people having teeth pulled, baking, butchering, even a model of someone having an operation. I learnt that there were cats on board to catch mice and rats and that the soap and tobacco were stored separately from everything else (or else they'd taint the food). A reindeer given to the ship as a present by the Russians in WWII was so scared by the gunfire that they had to "put it out of its misery" a few days later. I believe it ended up as reindeer pie...The ship turned out to be so huge that I began to tire of climbing between decks and reading the information boards. I saw the shell stores where the explosives were kept and learnt about how they were hauled up mechanically to the gun turrets above.
I took a short break to have a snack in the Walrus Cafe before my final assault. The tour lead to the mess area were sailors used to sleep in hammocks and play cards. I saw the punishment cell where sailors were locked up by the captain for misdemeanors including falling asleep on watch. A quick look at the bow (i.e. front) and the impressively huge guns. They are capable of firing shells 14 miles away! Currently the guns are aimed at a service station on the M1...
It was starting to rain now so I did a quick look through some parts I'd missed. These included a mechanical computer that calculated where to fire the guns in order to hit the targets:
It sounded very complicated - wind speed, wind pressure, how many shells had been fired by the guns, the targets speed and direction were all taken into account. I was also surprised to see that the ship was steered by an old-fashioned steering wheel:
(For some unexplained reason the sailors on the Belfast wore full head-covering white balaclavas...)Summary: A surprisingly fun day out with lots to see. It's good fun to climb around the ship and pretend you're on a seafaring adventure.
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