HMS Belfast on the Thames London England UK

 The HMS Belfast is a World War II Royal Navy warship on the Thames River in London. It is an IWM (Imperial War Museum) site on the Queen's Walk near Tower Bridge. I took the photo above in 2021.

After paying for my visit at the dockside office, you walk past the small gift shop and down a ramp to the main deck and the commemorative bell. My photos are from 10 November 2021.

The tour route is marked with arrows. Entering a door, I arrive at one of the many gun turrets. HMS Belfast was one of the ships firing over the beaches of Normandy on D-Day.

As you walk about the ship, you glimpse life 

as it was for the sailors decades ago.

Toilets

Workroom

A massive kitchen...

Stores (a nice look back at old products)...

a dentistry

and a bunk for some kip

There's plenty of ammo below.

Of course, there's a ship's cat.

I took a break for a light lunch before seeing a few more rooms and guns.

You can walk about nine decks.

Get a pilot's view...

and appreciate an amazing experience.

So, it's easy for me to recommend a visit to HMS Belfast and the other IWM locations.

Here's a view of HMS Belfast and the area from the Shard, which I took in 2018.

Photo: HMS Belfast on the Thames with the

 Tower of London upper right and Tower Bridge to the Right (East)

Notes

On board HMS Belfast

  Arrows mark the tour route.

  Numbers indicate what numbers to press on the included audio guide

  Some areas require ladders or small steps.

  There are toilets on board

  There is a café on board

  There are activities for families--see the website

Tube stations:  London Bridge, Tower Hill

Google Map of the area

Address: The Queen's Walk, London, SE1 2JH

The 5 IWM (Imperial War Museums)

IWM LONDON

CHURCHILL WAR ROOMS, LONDON

IWM DUXFORD

IWN NORTH- MANCHESTER

HMS BELFAST, On the Thames in London

 Visit Places Nearby

Tower Bridge

The Tower of London

the Shard

Cruise the Thames

Learn More About HMS Belfast

HMS Belfast at D-Day

HMS BELFAST 1938-2018: Commemorating the 80th Anniversary.

HMS Belfast Books Google Link

Models of HMS Belfast on AMAZON

Royal Navy Museum Portsmouth

In addition to a special exhibit featuring Lord Nelson, the museum includes a history of the Royal Navy.


Storyboards, audio-visual presentations, and artefacts tell the story. Many individual stories reveal elements of Navy life. Special exhibits draw attention to the role of women in the Royal Navy.









The museum is located in the Historic Dockyards at Portsmouth.

Harbour Tour Historic Dockyard Portsmouth UK

 A tour of the harbour is included with a multi-attraction ticket to the Historic Dockyard. I recommend taking the tour early on to get an overview of the area and introductory information about this busy port.

In addition to the ships, which are amongst the attractions, there are various Royal Navy and other ships in the harbour. I'll include a few examples from my April 2017 visit.

HMS Westminster

HMS Diligence

Whitonia

Powerful & Helen

Victoria

102 and 81

Also, here is a brief video clip from the tour.

Monitor HMS 33 Gallipoli and WW I

HMS 33 by Geoff W. Sutton 2017

HMS 33 is the only British war ship from the 1915 Gallipoli Campaign. As you enter the ship at the Historic Dockyard, you experience a sight and sound experience of war--including the perspectives of those on board.


Following the audio-visual presentation, there's opportunity to inspect the insides and topside, which includes some re-creations of shiplife.

The ship is a small, spartan war machine- home to 72 crew for more than three years.

The tour is worth including in a visit to the Historic Dockyards in Portsmouth.

Learn more at the website https://www.nmrn.org.uk/exhibitions-projects/monitor-hms-m33

HMS Alliance Portsmouth UK

HMS Alliance - Geoff W Sutton 2017

I toured the HMS Alliance at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport. A tour of the submarine provides insight into nearly three decades of this aspect of defense from the end of WW II into the Cold War era. The Alliance was commissioned into service in 1947.

I was fortunate to have conversations with two retired submariners who served on the Alliance--one a cook, the other an electrician.

Our tour began by the forward torpedoes.

Forward torpedo area

and moved through dining and sleeping areas to the control room.

Breakfast

Before exiting, the guides explain the engine room, aft torpedoes, and method of escape from a submarine.

Submariner explains how to escape

Even a short tour can give many a sense of claustrophobia as one tourist felt the need to retreat after a few minutes. As fellow tourists impede movement its easy to get a sense that not all humans could likely adapt to this underwater environment beneath the waves with human and mechanical sounds and smells.

The Alliance and the nearby museum are worth a visit as part of the Historic Dockyards multi-attraction ticket.