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3. Talks, hands-on activities and workshops are available
for groups of formal and informal learners and have
been designed to help deliver the National Curriculum.
4. Foreign language sessions and Special Needs groups
can be accommodated, simply discuss your needs when
you book.
5. Primary and Secondary sessions are offered to pre-booked
groups.
6. Their education team will be happy to tailor an activity
to suit your group's age, needs and focus of study.
Groups should allow at least one hour in which to explore
the ship and can journey from the top of the Bridge,
all the way down to the Boiler and Engine Rooms, well
below the ship's waterline. Venturing through the six-inch
gun turrets, to the Galley, Sick Bay, Operations Room
and cramped Mess Decks, original artefacts, audio-visual
re-constructions and life-like models of the ship's
company reconstruct HMS Belfast's dramatic story.
History:
The term 'cruiser' goes back to the days of sailing
ships when large frigates could be detached from the
main fleet to cruise independently.
The sailing cruiser, like her twentieth-century counterpart,
was sufficiently powerful and fast to attack and destroy enemy
commerce raiders. During the nineteenth century when sail
gave way to steam and wooden ships were replaced by those
built of iron, and later of steel, the cruiser evolved into
a powerful warship which was used to patrol the Empire trade
routes and protect friendly merchant shipping.
After the First World War (1914-1918) a single category of
cruiser emerged whose size was indicated by the size of its
guns; thus, HMS Belfast is a 6-inch cruiser, designed for
the protection of trade, for offensive action, and as a powerful
support for amphibious operations.
Technical Details:
Class: Edinburgh, Modified Southampton class
Sister ship: HMS Edinburgh (sunk May 1942)
Built: Harland and Wolff Shipyard, Belfast. Keel laid 10 December
1936
Launched: 17 March 1938 - St. Patrick's Day
Commissioned: Commissioned into the Royal Navy 5 August 1939
Standard displacement: 11,553 tons
Overall length: 613 feet 6 inches (187metres)
Beam: 69 feet (21metres)
Draught: 19 feet 9 inches (6.1metres)
Armament (1959): Twelve (4x3) 6-inch; eight (4x2) 4-inch HA/LA;
12 (6x2) Bofors AA
Propulsive machinery: Four Admiralty 3-drum boilers; four
steam powered Parsons single reduction geared turbines driving
four shafts at 80,000 shaft horsepower
Maximum speed: 32 knots (36 miles / 58 km per hour)
Complement: 750 - 850 (as flagship)
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