A modernized HMS Belfast would trade aft guns for aviation

Which British Pacific Fleet ship would be most useful today if it could be modernized?

HMS Belfast is the choice, retaining the forward six-inch guns while converting the aft section for helicopters and adding modern weapons, radar, and machinery.

HMS Belfast is selected because a cruiser-sized hull offers more useful modern capacity than the period's small carriers, costly battleships, or smaller destroyers. A modernized cruiser could still combine presence with heavy gunfire. The proposed conversion keeps the forward six-inch turrets, removes the after main armament, and uses the released space for a flight deck and hangar. It would also replace the four-inch battery with modern 40 mm weapons, install contemporary radar, and renew the machinery.