HMS Belfast - D-Day 80th Anniversary Gun Salute - 06/06/2024

2024 marks 80 years since D-Day and the Normandy Landings. Our cameras take a visit to London to view Town Class light cruiser HMS Belfast perform a simulated gun salute in honour of the occasion. Pyrotechnics were fired from the ships forward 6-inch guns and Starboard side 4-inch guns for the display at 1300 on 6th June 2024.

HMS Belfast was launched on St Patrick’s Day of 1938, and was later commissioned by the Royal Navy in August 1939, just one month before the outbreak of World War Two. On 6th June 1944, as part of Operation Overlord, she was one of the first vessels to lead the bombardment on German Artillery in Normandy, supporting the Allied forces on their assault of beaches Gold and Juno. HMS Belfast spent 33 days in Normandy, during which time she fired over 5,000 shells.

After World War Two, HMS Belfast played an active role in the Korean War, before retiring from service in 1963. In 1971, she was saved from scrap by the newly formed HMS Belfast Trust, and was moved to London for display, opening to the public on 21st October. In 1978, the HMS Belfast Trust merged with the Imperial War Museum, who today, continue to maintain the ship for public display on the River Thames.

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Filmed on 6th June 2024.