The famous cruiser, the only one still on display on the Thames, and the living embodiement of the Royal Navy in WW2, was commissioned on 5 August 1939, after Edinbugh. She had been built at Harland and Wolff, Belfast, the namesake city and same Irish yard that built the Titanic. She costed £2,141,514 and was launched on St. patrick's day, Christened by Anne Chamberlain, the PM's wife. The tenth Town-class cruiser was initially part of the British naval blockade but in November 1939, she struck a German mine, but was salvaged and towed for repairs, which kept her more than two years out of action. HMS Belfast was back into the fray in November 1942, with improved AA and new radar suite, plus improved armour, for a large displacement and dimensions. She saw action in the Arctic convoys as her sister ships, until December 1943. She was present at the Battle of North Cape, assisting in the end of Scharnhorst. By June 1944, the cruiser took part in Operation Overlord, covering the landings. In June 1945, as many other British cruisers, she was redeployed on the Far East theater. She arrived to the British Pacific Fleet shortly before the end of the War. But this was not over, as she was modenrized and took part in the Korean war in 1950-52. She was the last to be completely rebuilt and modernized in 1956-1959 and was commissioned in various theaters until her reserve in 1963, and decommission in 1967.