Jump to content

HMS Belfast


Mice!
 Share

Recommended Posts

Just watching this series on channel 5, can't believe the conditions they faced, just been showing pictures of the ship in the arctic with the entire deck covered in ice which had to be constantly chipped off because of the weight it added.

Talking about the battle with the Scharnhorst a much bigger ship, fascinating stuff.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Mice! said:

Just watching this series on channel 5, can't believe the conditions they faced, just been showing pictures of the ship in the arctic with the entire deck covered in ice which had to be constantly chipped off because of the weight it added.

Talking about the battle with the Scharnhorst a much bigger ship, fascinating stuff.

Dad did the Murmansk run on convoy escort, he would have been around 22/24 at the time. Said the same thing regarding the ice. Plus the way they dressed, ended up almost as wide as they were tall. Never would say which destroyer he was on, don't know why, to late to ask him now. He also said the attitude of the Russians was disgraceful, treated the sailors (RN & Merchant) with total contempt. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to love trips to the city and tours of the Belfast. My dad would wind up the curators, many who had actively served on the Belfast, by calling it "a crabby old tub".

My dad served on HMS London, a superior county class heavy cruiser, from 46 to 49 when the Chinese filled her full of holes from shore artillery on the Yangtze River during a rescue mission.

I've got some excellent pictures of the ships he served on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Pistol p said:

I used to love trips to the city and tours of the Belfast. My dad would wind up the curators, many who had actively served on the Belfast, by calling it "a crabby old tub".

My dad served on HMS London, a superior county class heavy cruiser, from 46 to 49 when the Chinese filled her full of holes from shore artillery on the Yangtze River during a rescue mission.

I've got some excellent pictures of the ships he served on.

Some great pictures and stories I'll bet, i didn't know the Chinese had fired on us , did they fire back??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Pistol p said:

I used to love trips to the city and tours of the Belfast. My dad would wind up the curators, many who had actively served on the Belfast, by calling it "a crabby old tub".

My dad served on HMS London, a superior county class heavy cruiser, from 46 to 49 when the Chinese filled her full of holes from shore artillery on the Yangtze River during a rescue mission.

I've got some excellent pictures of the ships he served on.

Just read up on that, really interesting and not something I knew about until now so thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Rewulf said:

Surprised you've never seen the film , called Yangtze incident. It's an oldy but a goody.

Yes, dad did watch "some" of it. He said it was twaddle. It didn't show how the rear admiral, who was aboard to negotiate the release of the HMS Amethyst, was hiding in X turret and refused to come out. It was subsequently hit and damaged. Or how the white sheets that were draped along the sides of the ship and super structure to show peaceful intent had to be pulled down, ripped and used to stuff the shrapnel wounds of the injured crew men. The Chinese were using horse drawn cavalry and would set up a rolling bombardment, the London returned fire with 8 inch and 4 inch guns using up to 400 rounds. London did retreat with considerable damage. It eventually returned to Hong Kong to be de-ammunitioned, fuelled and sent to Chatham for damaged assessment. It was considered beyond repair and sent to Barrow-in-Furness to be broken up for scrap. The end of the "Lovely London ". 

 15 killed. 93 wounded.

Edited by Pistol p
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Rewulf said:

Surprised you've never seen the film , called Yangtze incident. It's an oldy but a goody.

No i hadn't, I'll have to watch it, regardless of how accurate it is.

32 minutes ago, Pistol p said:

Yes, dad did watch "some" of it. He said it was twaddle. It didn't show how the rear admiral, who was aboard to negotiate the release of the HMS Amethyst, was hiding in X turret and refused to come out. It was subsequently hit and damaged. Or how the white sheets that were draped along the sides of the ship and super structure to show peaceful intent had to be pulled down, ripped and used to stuff the shrapnel wounds of the injured crew men. The Chinese were using horse drawn cavalry and would set up a rolling bombardment, the London returned fire with 8 inch and 4 inch guns using up to 400 rounds. London did retreat with considerable damage. It eventually returned to Hong Kong to be de-ammunitioned, fuelled and sent to Chatham for damaged assessment. It was considered beyond repair and sent to Barrow-in-Furness to be broken up for scrap. The end of the "Lovely London ". 

 15 killed. 93 wounded.

I'm amazed Id never heard of this incident, really fascinating stuff and some real bravery and determination shown by the sounds of it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, 12gauge82 said:

I'm amazed Id never heard of this incident, really fascinating stuff and some real bravery and determination shown by the sounds of it.

Just had a read now, chances are I've seen the film. Not sure if I'm more surprised we were that involved in an incident in China, that the Chinese were firing on a British ship or that we fired back at what must have been very close range.

certainly an interesting read.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, 12gauge82 said:

No i hadn't, I'll have to watch it, regardless of how accurate it is.

I'm amazed Id never heard of this incident, really fascinating stuff and some real bravery and determination shown by the sounds of it.

Any information you'd like can be acquired by contacting Michael Overton, he runs an association covering the Yangtze incident. 

My father is to be seen standing on top of the bridge in this picture taken from a pathe  news reel. It was shown in cinemas, my mum saw it and commented on " the idiot standing on the tower". A year later they meet for the first time outside the same cinema in Colchester and were married for 55 years.

image.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...