HMS Vanguard (1909)

HMS ''Vanguard'' was one of three dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century. She spent her career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets. Aside from participating in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 and the inconclusive action of 19 August several months later, her service during World War I mostly consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea.

Shortly before midnight on 9 July 1917 at Scapa Flow, ''Vanguard'' suffered a series of magazine explosions. She sank almost instantly, killing 843 of the 845 men aboard. The wreck was heavily salvaged after the war, but was eventually protected as a war grave in 1984. It was designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986, and diving on the wreck is generally forbidden.

Design and description

The design of the ''St Vincent'' class was derived from that of the previous , with a slight increase in size, armour and more powerful guns, among other minor changes. ''Vanguard'' had an overall length of , a beam of , and a normal draught of .Preston 1972, p. 125 She displaced at normal load and at deep load. In 1910 her crew numbered 753 officers and ratings.Burt, p. 76

''Vanguard'' was powered by two sets of Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam from eighteen Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbines were rated at and intended to give the ship a maximum speed of . During her sea trials on 17 December 1909, she unofficially reached a top speed of from , although she must have been lightly loaded to reach this speed. ''Vanguard'' carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of at a cruising speed of .

The ''St Vincent'' class was equipped with ten breech-loading (BL) Mk XI guns in five twin-gun turrets, three along the centreline and the remaining two as wing turrets. The centreline turrets were designated 'A', 'X' and 'Y', from front to rear, and the port and starboard wing turrets were 'P' and 'Q' respectively. The secondary, or anti-torpedo boat armament, comprised twenty BL Mk VII guns. Two of these guns were each installed on the roofs of the fore and aft centreline turrets and the wing turrets in unshielded mounts, and the other ten were positioned in the superstructure. All guns were in single mounts. The ships were also fitted with three 18-inch (450 mm) torpedo tubes, one on each broadside and the third in the stern.

The ''St Vincent''-class ships were protected by a waterline armoured belt thick that extended between the end barbettes. Their decks ranged in thickness between with the thickest portions protecting the steering gear in the stern. The main battery turret faces were thick, and the turrets were supported by barbettes thick.

Modifications

The guns on the forward turret roof were removed in 1910–1911. About three years later, gun shields were fitted to most of the 4-inch guns in the superstructure and the bridge structure was enlarged around the base of the forward tripod mast. During the first year of World War I, the base of the forward superstructure was rebuilt to house eight 4-inch guns and the turret-top guns were removed, which reduced her secondary armament to a total of fourteen guns. In addition a pair of 3-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft (AA) guns were added. A fire-control director was installed high on the forward tripod mast before the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. Approximately of additional deck armour were added afterwards. By April 1917, ''Vanguard'' mounted thirteen 4-inch anti-torpedo boat guns as well as one 4-inch and one 3-inch AA gun.Burt, p. 81

Construction and career

''Vanguard'', the eighth ship of that name to serve in the Royal Navy, was ordered on 6 February 1908. She was laid down by Vickers Armstrong at their Barrow-in-Furness shipyard on 2 April 1908, launched on 22 February 1909, and completed on 1 March 1910. Including armament, the ship cost about £1.6 million. ''Vanguard'' was commissioned on 1 March 1910, under the command of Captain John Eustace, and assigned to the 1st Division of the Home Fleet. She was present in Torbay when King George V visited the fleet in late July. ''Vanguard'' also participated in the Coronation Fleet Review at Spithead on 24 June 1911 and she trained with the Atlantic Fleet the following month before beginning a refit.Burt, p. 86 Captain Arthur Ricardo relieved Eustace on 23 September.

The ship was recommissioned on 28 March 1912 and rejoined the 1st Division shortly before it was renamed the 1st Battle Squadron on 1 May. She participated in exercises with the 1st Fleet in October. ''Vanguard'' was refitted in December, with new bilge keels being installed. On 5 June 1913, Captain Cecil Hickley replaced Ricardo upon the latter's promotion to commodore, second class.

World War I

Between 17 and 20 July 1914, ''Vanguard'' took part in a test mobilisation and fleet review as part of the British response to the July Crisis. Arriving in Portland on 27 July, she was ordered to proceed with the rest of the Home Fleet to Scapa Flow two days later to forestall a possible surprise attack by the Imperial German Navy. In August 1914, following the outbreak of World War I, the Home Fleet was reorganised as the Grand Fleet, and placed under the command of Admiral John Jellicoe. On 1 September, the Grand Fleet was anchored at Scapa Flow when the light cruiser spotted a suspected German submarine, provoking a panic across the fleet. ''Vanguard'' also spotted what was believed to be a periscope and opened fire, but the whole incident proved to be a false alarm. Submarine scares such as this caused the fleet to be briefly (22 October to 3 November) based at Lough Swilly, Ireland, while the defences at Scapa were strengthened. On the evening of 22 November, the Grand Fleet conducted a fruitless sweep in the southern half of the North Sea; ''Vanguard'' stood with the main body in support of Vice-Admiral David Beatty's 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. The fleet was back in port in Scapa Flow by 27 November.In his 1919 book, Jellicoe generally only named specific ships when they were undertaking individual actions. Usually he referred to the Grand Fleet as a whole, or by squadrons and, unless otherwise specified, this article assumes that ''Vanguard'' is participating in the activities of the Grand Fleet. The 1st Battle Squadron cruised north-west of the Shetland Islands and exercised their guns on 8–12 December. Four days later, the Grand Fleet sortied during the German raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, but failed to make contact with the High Seas Fleet. ''Vanguard'' and the rest of the Grand Fleet made another sweep of the North Sea on 25–27 December.

Jellicoe's ships, including ''Vanguard'', conducted gunnery drills west of Orkney and Shetland on 10–13 January 1915. On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers, but they were too far away to participate in the ensuing Battle of Dogger Bank the following day. On 7–10 March, the Grand Fleet made a sweep in the northern North Sea, during which it conducted training manoeuvres. Another such cruise took place on 16–19 March. On 11 April, the fleet patrolled the central North Sea and returned to port on 14 April; another patrol in the area took place on 17–19 April, followed by gunnery drills off Shetland on 20–21 April.

The Grand Fleet swept the central North Sea on 17–19 May and 29–31 May without encountering any German vessels. During 11–14 June the fleet practised gunnery and battle exercises west of Shetland, and on 11 July there was more training off Shetland. On 2–5 September, the fleet went on another cruise in the northern end of the North Sea and conducted gunnery drills. Throughout the rest of the month, the Grand Fleet was performing numerous training exercises before making another sweep into the North Sea on 13–15 October. Almost three weeks later, ''Vanguard'' participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November.

Captain James Dick relieved Hickley on 22 January 1916. The fleet departed for a cruise in the North Sea on 26 February; Jellicoe had intended to use the Harwich Force to sweep the Heligoland Bight, but bad weather prevented operations in the southern North Sea. As a result, the operation was confined to the northern end of the sea. Another sweep began on 6 March, but had to be abandoned the following day as the weather grew too severe for the escorting destroyers. On the night of 25 March, ''Vanguard'' and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support Beatty's battlecruisers and other light forces raiding the German Zeppelin base at Tondern. By the time the Grand Fleet approached the area on 26 March, the British and German forces had already disengaged and a strong gale

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