page_title: HMS Belfast
section_title: 1939–1942: Commissioning, prize capture, mining, and repairs
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Belfast / Second World War / 1939–1942: Commissioning, prize capture, mining, and repairs
caption_attribution_description: English: HMS Belfast in dry dock, showing heavy damage from a German magnetic mine. (Original IWM caption: HMS BELFAST in dry dock for repair in 1939 after striking a mine in the Firth of Forth.)
context_page_description: HMS Belfast is a Town-class light cruiser that was built for the Royal Navy. She is now permanently moored as a museum ship on the River Thames in London and is operated by the Imperial War Museum.
  Construction of Belfast, the first ship in the Royal Navy to be named after the capital city of Northern Ireland and one of ten Town-class cruisers, began in December 1936. She was launched on St Patrick's Day 1938. Commissioned in early August 1939 shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Belfast was initially part of the British naval blockade against Germany. In November 1939, Belfast struck a German mine and, in spite of fears that she would be scrapped, spent more than two years undergoing extensive repairs. Belfast returned to action in November 1942 with improved firepower, radar equipment, and armour. Belfast saw action escorting Arctic convoys to the Soviet Union during 1943 and in December 1943 played an important role in the Battle of North Cape, assisting in the destruction of the German warship Scharnhorst. In June 1944, Belfast took part in Operation Overlord supporting the Normandy landings.
context_section_description: Belfast sailed for Portsmouth on 3 August 1939, and was commissioned on 5 August 1939, less than a month before the outbreak of the Second World War. Her first captain was Captain G A Scott with a crew of 761, and her first assignment was to the Home Fleet's 2nd Cruiser Squadron. On 14 August, Belfast took part in her first exercise, Operation Hipper, in which she played the role of a German commerce raider attempting to escape into the Atlantic. By navigating the hazardous Pentland Firth, Belfast successfully evaded the Home Fleet.
  On 31 August 1939 Belfast was transferred to the 18th Cruiser Squadron. Based at Scapa Flow in the Orkney islands, 18th Cruiser Squadron was part of the British effort to impose a naval blockade on Germany. Germany invaded Poland the following day, and Britain and France declared war on 3 September. At 11:40 that morning, Belfast received the message ‘Commence hostilities at once against Germany’. On 8 September Belfast put to sea from Scapa Flow with the battlecruisers Hood, Renown, her sister ship Edinburgh and four destroyers, on a patrol intended to intercept German ships returning from Norway. In particular, they were to search for the Norddeutscher Lloyd liner Europa. No enemy vessels were found. On 25 September, Belfast took part in a fleet operation to recover the submarine Spearfish, during which the ship was attacked by German aircraft, but suffered no damage. On 1 October 1939 Belfast left Scapa Flow for a patrol in the North Sea. On 5 October Belfast intercepted and boarded a neutral Norwegian factory ship that was sailing in company with six whaling ships.  On 8 October the ship sighted the Swedish merchant ship C. P. Lilljevach but, in poor weather, did not intercept or board her. The following day she boarded Tai Yin, a Norwegian ship. Tai Yin had been listed by the Admiralty as suspicious, so a prize crew from Belfast sailed her to Kirkwall for investigation. On 9 October Belfast intercepted a German liner, the 13,615-ton Cap Norte, 50 miles (80 km) north-west of the Faroe Islands. Disguised as a neutral Swedish vessel, SS Ancona, Cap Norte was attempting to return to Germany from Brazil; her passengers included German reservists. Under the Admiralty's prize rules, Belfast's crew later received prize money. On 12 October Belfast boarded the Swedish ship Uddeholm, which was also sailed to Kirkwall by a prize crew. Returning to harbour, on the night of 13–14 October, Belfast was among the few ships anchored in Scapa Flow, following intelligence reports of an expected air raid. That night, the battleship Royal Oak was torpedoed by German submarine U-47, which had infiltrated the anchorage. On the morning following the sinking, Belfast left for Loch Ewe.
  On 10 November Belfast was taken off the northern patrol and reassigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron. This squadron was to form an independent striking force based at Rosyth. On 21 November, Belfast was to take part in the force's first sortie, a gunnery exercise. At 10:58 am she struck a magnetic mine while leaving the Firth of Forth. The mine broke Belfast's keel, and wrecked one of her engine and boiler rooms. Twenty officers and men required hospital treatment for injuries caused by the explosion, and a further 26 suffered minor injuries. One man, Painter 2nd Class Henry Stanton, was hospitalised but later died of a head injury, having been thrown against the deckhead by the blast. The tugboat Krooman, towing gunnery targets for the exercise, released her targets and instead towed Belfast to Rosyth for initial repairs.
  Initial assessments of Belfast's damage showed that, while the mine had done little direct damage to the outer hull, causing only a small hole directly below one of the boiler rooms, the shock of the explosion had caused severe warping, breaking machinery, deforming the decks and causing the keel to hog (bend upwards) by three inches. On 4 January 1940 Belfast was decommissioned to Care and Maintenance status, becoming the responsibility of Rosyth Dockyard, and her crew dispersed to other vessels. By 28 June she 
caption: Photograph of Belfast's damaged hull, taken while the ship was drydocked for repairs.
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