Shell Rooms and Magazines

Each of the 6-inch Gun Turrets is served by its own Shell Room and Magazine, with the Magazines and their vulnerable cordite charges sited below the Shell Rooms on the Hold Deck, the lowest of all HMS Belfast's seven habitable decks.

The shells and cordite charges were sent up to the turrets above by mechanical hoists.

The picture shows the 6-inch shells lined up on the handling carousel which revolved around the mechanical hoists leading to the gun house above.

In the event of HMS Belfast receiving a hit which threatened an explosion in the Magazines, the compartments could be rapidly flooded to prevent the loss of the ship. In such circumstances, the men working in the Handing Rooms would have had little chance of escape.