Historic warship HMS Belfast reaches 80th birthday

She was built before the Second World War, and is now a permanent reminder of British naval history, sitting right on the heart of the Thames.

This weekend HMS Belfast is celebrating 80 years since her launch, on St Patrick's Day 1938, with a series of events including a private ceremony for veterans who served on her in various campaigns - D Day, the Arctic Convoys, the Korean War and the Cold War.

The celebrations also involve the cutting of a nine-tiered cake - inspired by the ship's nine decks - baked specially by the winner of the Great British Bake Off 2017, Sophie Faldo.

John Harrison, aged 104, is now the ship's oldest surviving veteran.

"It's a warm feeling ship, it really is," he said. "Right from the word go."

Launched in 1938, the Belfast was quickly pressed into service against Germany once the Second World War began the following year.

And John was on board when she suffered her first attack - hitting a German magnetic mine.

"Suddenly, the lights went out," he said. "My head felt heavy, the deck bounced about a foot and I thought 'That's strange'. The lights had gone out, it bounced about three times, we eventually got back on to deck and they said we've just hit a mine and been blown up 16 foot!"

But the Belfast was repaired and thanks to her refit, became one of the most advanced ships in the British fleet, with better firepower, radar and armour.

By 1943 was ready to take part in the Battle of the North Cape in icy Arctic seas. Veterans describe clinging on to whatever they could find on deck as towering waves smashed into the deck.

Sailors faced pack ice, howling winds and extreme cold as they escorted much-needed supply boats to Russia.

The end of World War Two didn't see the end of HMS Belfast's service though - she was soon off to the Korean War, taking with her Ron Yardley, now 89.

"It's impossible to describe the noise when the six-inch guns fired. The blast used to take the ship over and back again," Ron told Sky News.

An American admiral in Korea agreed that the Belfast's artillery was impressive, reportedly praising her as a "straight-shooting ship".

When the Belfast was eventually retired from service in 1963, the government had decided to scrap her - but a private trust campaigned successfully for her preservation and since 1971 she has been moored on the River Thames.

Ngaire Bushell, public engagement and learning officer at the Imperial War Museum, which runs HMS Belfast, says she's a special ship.

"I think it was because many of the crew had such fond memories of her, and there was such a spirit around them, that they really successfully argued this should be the first flagship saved for the nation since Nelson's victory," she told Sky.

"This ship is a survivor. To get to 80 years old is pretty remarkable - most ships are considered old at 30. But it's the stories she tells, and the people that served on board her. We have veterans on board this weekend from across all of her commissions, telling the stories from the 1930s - when this ship was sent into the Second World War as a very new commissioned ship with very young sailors, as young as 16, 17 - right up through the 1950s and 60s. So Belfast tells the story of all that period of history, and it's the last big-gunned, armoured warship left in the whole of Europe from the Second World War."

The veterans' love for the ship was much in evidence as they gathered for a memorial ceremony on Friday - which included the firing of those powerful six-inch guns, the booms echoing across the South Bank and the City.

Ron remembered the day in 1971 when the Belfast arrived in the heart of the capital.

"I worked in the City for 38 years," he said. "And when I heard that the Belfast was coming in, I walked out my office, I walked down and stood on the cobbles by the Tower of London as Tower Bridge went up and the four tugs pulled her in, and tears just came streaming down my eyes, because what was happening was that my old home was coming back again."