Navis Neptun 1/1250 1142 HMS Belfast Royal Navy Light Cruiser 1944

A superb model of the British Cruiser now moored permanently in the Pool of London.

HMS Belfast is a 6-inch gunned, 32-knot Edinburgh Class Light Cruiser that served in World War 2 and is now berthed on the River Thames, near Tower Bridge, London as a museum Ship. Launched in March 1938, Belfast struck a mine soon after the start of war in 1939 which broke her back and injured 21 members of the crew, a calamity putting the ship out of action for three years. Once returned to service, with her original displacement of 11,175 tons now increased to 11,553 tons, she served with distinction for the rest of the war. Amongst her best-known activities are her role in the sinking of the German Battlecruiser Scharnhorst in the Battle of the North Cape in December 1943 and the bombardment of enemy positions at the beginning of the landing phase of the D Day (Operation Neptune) in June 1944. She was later given a brief refit for Pacific service in the Far East, and joined Operation Zipper which was intended to eject the Japanese from Malaya but turned into a relief operation following the Japanese surrender. During the last days of the war in Europe she was spotted in the North Sea by a German submarine without being aware of it. The German captain decided not to fire, however, since the war was almost over. She also served in the Korean War, with her guns used for shore bombardment in support of the United Nations forces. In July 1952 she was hit by shellfire from a Communist battery, suffering one of the crew killed and four others wounded.