Secrets of HMS Belfast

By Nigel Steel

Using brand new photographs, this magnificent new volume shows you HMS Belfast as it has never been seen before.

At 05.27am on D-Day, 6 June 1944, HMS Belfast launched a thunderous broadside that shattered the silence of the Normandy coastline. Its guns started to clear the way forward so that thousands of Allied troops could advance over the beaches into history.
For almost 90 years, HMS Belfast has been one of Britain's most remarkable warships. Badly damaged early in the war, it emerged bigger and stronger to fight the Arctic convoys and the Battle of North Cape. The bombardment of Normandy was repeated six years later in Korea. Over 25 operational years, Belfast witnessed some of the defining moments of the twentieth century. Today, moored in the Pool of London on the River Thames, it remains a powerful reminder of the people who lived, worked and fought aboard the ship.
Using brand new photographs, this magnificent new volume shows you HMS Belfast as it has never been seen before, exploring both its best-loved spaces and the hidden corners visitors are unable to see. Pass through closed doors to explore the Admiral's quarters where King George VI haltingly gave Captain Parham his photograph. Move from the familiar Shell Rooms to the closed magazines underneath and leave the mess decks to explore the giant cold rooms where vital supplies were stored for the Galleys.
Discover the fascinating details, untold stories and layers of history that make HMS Belfast one of the most extraordinary surviving ships in the world. These are the secrets of HMS Belfast.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1911748203
• ISBN13: 9781911748205
• Release Date: August 2027
• Publisher: Imperial War Museum
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.81 lbs.