HMS Vanguard (1946)
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HMS ''Vanguard'' was a British fast battleship built during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and commissioned after the war ended. She was the largest and fastest of the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
's
battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
s, the only ship of her
class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
and the last battleship to be built. The RN anticipated being outnumbered by the combined German and Japanese battleships in the early 1940s, and had therefore started building the s. However, the time-consuming construction of the triple- turrets for the ''Lion'' class would delay their completion until 1943 at the earliest. The British had enough guns and turrets in storage to allow one ship of a modified ''Lion''-class design with four twin-15-inch turrets to be completed faster than the ''Lion''-class vessels that had already been
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...
. Work on ''Vanguard'' was started and stopped several times during the war, and her design was revised several times during her construction to reflect war experience. These stoppages and changes prevented her from being completed before the end of the war. ''Vanguard''s first task after completing her
sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...
at the end of 1946 was, early the next year, to convey
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and his family on the first Royal Tour of South Africa by a reigning monarch. While refitting after her return, she was selected for another Royal Tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1948. This was cancelled due to King George's declining health and ''Vanguard'' briefly became flagship of the
Mediterranean Fleet The British Mediterranean Fleet, also known as the Mediterranean Station, was a formation of the Royal Navy. The Fleet was one of the most prestigious commands in the navy for the majority of its history, defending the vital sea link between t ...
in early 1949. After her return home in mid-1949, she became flagship of the
Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...
Training Squadron. Throughout her career, the battleship usually served as the flagship of any unit to which she was assigned. During the early 1950s, ''Vanguard'' was involved in a number of training exercises with
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forces. In 1953 she participated in Queen
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's Coronation Review. While she was refitting in 1955, the
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announced that the ship was going to be put into
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upon completion of the work. ''Vanguard'' was sold for
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and was broken up beginning in 1960.


Design and description

By early 1939 it was clear that the first two s could not be delivered before 1943 at the earliest and that further battleship construction would be necessary to match the German and Japanese battleships already under construction. The main constraint on the construction of any new battleships was the limited available capacity and the time required to build large-calibre guns and their gun turrets. Using four existing twin 15-inch mountings offered the possibility of bypassing this bottleneck and allowed the construction of a single fast battleship more quickly than building more ''Lion''-class ships. The turrets were originally built for the
battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...
s and during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, and were removed during the conversions of these ships to
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s in the 1920s. To save time, the ''Lion'' design was modified to accommodate the four turrets, and preliminary design work began in July 1939. The square or
transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...
stern was retained as it was estimated to improve speed at full power by . This made ''Vanguard'' the only British battleship built with a transom stern, as the ''Lion''s were never finished. Design work was suspended on 11 September 1939, after the start of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, but resumed in February 1940 after the First Lord of the Admiralty,
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
, expressed an interest in the ship. The design was modified to increase protection against shell splinters on the unprotected sides of the ship's hull, the armour of the secondary armament was increased to resist semi-armour-piercing bombs, and the splinter belt's thickness fore and aft of the main armour belt was reduced by in compensation. A small
conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...
was added aft, and four
Unrotated Projectile The Unrotated Projectile (UP) was a British anti-aircraft and ground-bombardment rocket of the Second World War. A 7-inch version was developed for the Royal Navy by Alwyn Crow of the Projectile Development Establishment of the Ministry of Supp ...
mounts were added to supplement the six octuple-barrel 2-pounder
anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
mounts already planned. More pressing commitments forced the preliminary design work to be suspended again in June; when it resumed in October the design was modified again in light of recent war experience. Greater fuel capacity was added and the armour protection improved, but these changes deepened the design's draught to beyond the limit of the
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. The thickness of the main belt was reduced by to save weight, but the primary method chosen to reduce the draught was to increase the
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by . This exceeded the width of the docks at Rosyth and
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, which severely limited the number of docks that could handle the ship, but the changes were approved by the
Board of Admiralty The Board of Admiralty (1628–1964) was established in 1628 when Charles I put the office of Lord High Admiral into commission. As that position was not always occupied, the purpose was to enable management of the day-to-day operational requi ...
on 17 April 1941. The ship had already been ordered on 14 March under the 1940 Emergency War Programme, although the drawings were not turned over to John Brown & Company until ten days later. ''Vanguard''s design was revised again, while the ship was under construction in 1942, to reflect lessons learned from the loss of the battleship and operations with the other battleships. The longitudinal distance between the inboard and outboard propellers was increased from to reduce the chance of a single torpedo wrecking both propeller shafts on one side and watertight access trunks were added to all spaces below the deep waterline to prevent the progressive flooding through open watertight doors and hatches that had happened to ''Prince of Wales''. This change and the relocation of some of the ammunition handling rooms from the lower deck to the middle deck seriously delayed the ship's completion. The design requirement that the guns of 'A' turret be capable of firing straight ahead at 0° of elevation was sacrificed to allow her freeboard forward to be increased, and her bow was reshaped to make it less prone to shipping water and throwing sea spray in
head sea A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
s. The ship's fuel supply was increased from to to prevent the fuel shortage problems suffered by and during their pursuit of the . The Unrotated Projectile mounts were deleted from the design and the light anti-aircraft armament was increased to a total of 76 two-pounders in one quadruple, and nine octuple mounts and 24 Oerlikon 20 mm cannon were also added in 12 twin mounts. Space for these was made available by removing the two
floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
s, the
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and their associated facilities. A proposal was made in 1942 to convert ''Vanguard'' to an aircraft carrier. The
Director of Naval Construction The Director of Naval Construction (DNC) also known as the Department of the Director of Naval Construction and Directorate of Naval Construction and originally known as the Chief Constructor of the Navy was a senior principal civil officer resp ...
stated that doing so along the lines of the would present no major difficulties but would require six months to redesign the ship. The proposal was formally rejected on 17 July.


General characteristics

''Vanguard'' had an
overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads in ...
of , a beam of and a draught of at
deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
. She displaced at
standard load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
and at deep load. The ship was significantly larger than her predecessors of the class, almost longer and displaced about more than the older ships at deep load. ''Vanguard'' was overweight by some , which magnified the difference. The ship had a complete
double bottom A double hull is a ship Hull (watercraft), hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull ...
deep and she was divided into 27 main compartments by watertight bulkheads. The ''King George V''-class ships had been built with almost no sheer to the main deck forwards to allow 'A' turret to fire straight forward at zero elevation, resulting in those ships being wet forward. ''Vanguard'' was redesigned as a result of this experience, significant sheer and flare being added to the bow. The ship's seaworthiness was well regarded, and the ship was able to keep an
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in rough seas. At full load ''Vanguard'' had a metacentric height of . As a fleet
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
, her complement was 115 officers and 1,860 men in 1947.
Air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
was provided for many of the ship's control spaces, and
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insulation was provided on exposed areas of the ship's sides, decks and bulkheads. Steam heating was provided for her armament, instruments, look-out positions and other equipment to make ''Vanguard'' suitable for operations in the
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. An Action Information Centre was fitted below the main armour deck with facilities to track aircraft and ships around ''Vanguard''.


Propulsion

To save design time, the four-shaft unit machinery from the ''Lion''-class battleship was duplicated with alternating boiler and engine rooms. ''Vanguard'' had four sets of single-reduction geared
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steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
s housed in separate engine rooms. Each set consisted of one high-pressure and one low-pressure turbine, driving a
propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
in diameter. The turbines were powered by eight
Admiralty 3-drum boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power Steamship, ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although ...
s in four boiler rooms at a working pressure of and temperature of . The engines were designed to produce a total of and a speed of , but achieved more than during the ship's
sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...
s in July 1946, when she reached a speed of . After trials, the three-bladed propellers on the inboard shafts were replaced by five-bladed propellers, to reduce vibrations of the inboard propeller shafts but this was a failure. ''Vanguard'' was designed to carry 4,850 long tons of
fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...
and of
diesel fuel Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and t ...
. With a clean bottom she could steam at a speed of for . The ship had four
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s and four diesel generators that supplied electricity via the common
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at 220
volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defi ...
s. Their total output of was the largest of any British battleship.


Armament

The ship's main armament consisted of eight 42-
calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...
BL 15-inch Mk I guns in four twin hydraulically powered
gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...
s, 'A', 'B', 'X' and 'Y' from bow to stern. The guns were loaded at +5°; when the turrets were modernised to the Mk I(N) RP12 design, their maximum elevation was increased from 20° to +30°. They fired projectiles at a
muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...
of , for a maximum normal range of . The guns could use supercharges, which gave a maximum range of with the same shells. Their rate of fire was two rounds per minute. ''Vanguard'' carried 100 shells per gun. The old 15-inch turrets had been designed when the customary practice was to place the
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above the shell room, and it was not cost-effective to modify the ammunition hoists to accommodate the opposite arrangement, which had been adopted after the
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demonstrated the dangers of exposing the magazines to long-range gunfire. The ship was provided with a powder-handling room above the shell room to mimic the arrangement that the turrets' hoists were designed to handle, and another set of hoists moved the propellant charges from the magazines to the powder-handling room. The charges were stowed in cases to reduce their exposure to fire. The secondary armament consisted of sixteen 50-calibre QF 5.25-inch Mk I*
dual-purpose gun A dual-purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets. Description Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and ...
s in eight twin gun mounts. They had a maximum depression of −5° and a maximum elevation of 70°. They fired an high-explosive shell at a muzzle velocity of . The improved RP10 spec 5.25 turrets on ''Vanguard'' were claimed to be fully automatic, with a power-rammed breech and automatic tracking and elevation under radar control enabling a rate of fire of about 18 rounds per minute. At maximum elevation, the guns had a maximum range of . 391 rounds were provided for each gun. Short-range air defence was provided by 73
Bofors 40 mm Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: *Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s ...
AA guns in a variety of mountings. ''Vanguard'' had ten sextuple-barrel power-operated mounts concentrated in the superstructure and stern, a twin-barrel mount on 'B' turret and 11 power-operated single mounts on the upper deck and rear superstructure. All mounts could depress to −10° and elevate to +90°. The gun fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of to a distance of . The guns' rate of fire was approximately 120 rounds per minute. Space was not available to stow the standard allowance of 1,564 rounds per gun, and ''Vanguard'' carried only 1,269 rounds per gun. Two of the single guns on the quarterdeck were removed in 1949, and five others during a major refit in 1954. All of her multiple Bofors mounts were removed at this same time.


Fire control

''Vanguard'' was unique among British battleships in having remote power control (RPC) for her main, secondary and tertiary guns along with the
Admiralty Fire Control Table Admiralty Fire Control Table in the transmitting station of .The Admiralty Fire Control Table (A.F.C.T.) was an electromechanical analogue computer fire-control system that calculated the correct elevation and deflection of the main armament of a R ...
Mk X for surface fire control of the main armament. There were two director control towers (DCT) for the 15-inch guns, each carrying a "double cheese" Type 274 fire-control radar for range finding and spotting the fall of shot. Each DCT could control all four turrets, 'B' turret could control 'A' and 'X' turrets, and 'X' turret could control 'Y' turret. There were four American Mark 37 DCTs for the 5.25-inch guns, each carrying the twin domes of Type 275 gunnery radar. Each Mark VI sextuple 40 mm Bofors mounting was provided with a separate CRBF ("close range blind fire")
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fitted with a Type 262 radar, although the ship never mounted her complete outfit of those directors. The STAAG Mk II 40 mm Bofors mounting carried its own Type 262 on the mounting itself. Other radar sets carried were Type 960 air and surface search, Type 293 target indication and
Type 277 radar The Type 277 was a surface search and secondary aircraft early warning radar used by the Royal Navy and allies during World War II and the post-war era. It was a major update of the earlier Type 271 radar, offering much more power, better signal ...
height finding. When the 15-inch gun turrets were modernised, their rangefinders were replaced by ones in all turrets except 'A', and they were fitted for RPC in azimuth only. The turrets were also provided with de-humidifying equipment and insulation to improve their habitability.


Protection

The ship's armour scheme was based on that of the ''King George V'' class with a thinner
waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...
belt and additional splinter protection. Originally the belt armour was equal to that of the older ships, but it had to be reduced to offset weight increases when the design was modified to reflect wartime experience. The waterline main belt was composed of
Krupp cemented armour Krupp armour was a type of steel naval armour used in the construction of capital ships starting shortly before the end of the nineteenth century. It was developed by Germany's Krupp Arms Works in 1893 and quickly replaced Harvey armour as the pr ...
(KCA) thick but increased to abreast the magazines. It was high and tapered to a thickness of at the bottom edge of the belt. Fore and aft of the transverse bulkheads that closed off the central citadel, the belt continued almost to the ends of the ship. Forward it tapered to a thickness of and a height of , and aft to the same thickness but a height of . At the aft end of the steering gear compartment was a transverse bulkhead. After the
Battle of the Denmark Strait The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a naval engagement in the Second World War, which took place on 24 May 1941 between ships of the Royal Navy and the ''Kriegsmarine''. The British battleship and the battlecruiser fought the German battlesh ...
in 1941, non-cemented armour bulkheads were added on the sides of the magazines, to protect them from splinters from any hits from plunging shells that might have penetrated the ship's side beneath her belt. When the gun turrets from the First World War-era battlecruisers were modernised, their KCA faceplates were replaced by new ones 13 inches thick, and their roofs were replaced by non-cemented armour plates. Their sides remained in thickness. The
barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protection ...
s for the 15-inch guns were 13 inches thick on the sides but tapered to closer to the centreline of the ship. The side and roof armour of the 5.25-inch turrets was thick. Their ammunition hoists were protected by armour thick. Intended to resist the impact of a armour-piercing bomb dropped from a height of , ''Vanguard''s deck protection was identical to that of the ''King George V'' class, six-inch non-cemented armour over the magazines that reduced to over the machinery spaces. The armour continued forward and aft of the
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at the lower-deck level. Forward it tapered in steps from five inches down to 2.5 inches near the bow. Aft, it protected the steering gear and propeller shafts with 4.5 inches of armour before tapering to a thickness of 2.5 inches near the stern. Unlike the Germans, French and Americans, the British no longer believed that heavy armour for the conning tower served any real purpose given that the chance of hitting it was very small; ''Vanguard''s conning tower was therefore protected with of armour on the face and 2.5 inches on the sides and rear. The secondary conning tower aft had of armour on its sides. ''Vanguard''s underwater protection was enhanced when she was redesigned in 1942 to reflect the lessons learned when ''Prince of Wales'' was sunk by Japanese torpedo bombers. It still consisted of a three-layer system of voids and liquid-filled compartments meant to absorb the energy of an underwater explosion. It was bounded on the inside by the torpedo bulkhead. Her enlarged oil tanks reduced the empty spaces that could flood and cause the ship to list, and greater provision was made to pump these spaces out. The longitudinal bulkheads of the side protection system were raised one deck higher to further subdivide the spaces behind the waterline armour belt. The side protection system had a maximum depth of , but this decreased significantly as the ship narrowed at its ends. Over the length of the citadel, this system was found during full-scale trials to be proof against of TNT.


Construction and career

''Vanguard'' was laid down on 2 October 1941 by John Brown and Company of
Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...
,
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, with the yard number of 567. After the
Japanese invasion of Malaya The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...
in December, the ship was given an A1 priority in the hope of finishing her by the end of 1944, and construction of the light cruiser HMS ''Bellerophon'', as well as some merchant shipping, was halted to expedite the ship's completion. This was unsuccessful, however, due to a shortage of skilled labour. As a result, it was not until 30 November 1944 that the ship was launched. Princess Elizabeth presided over this ceremony, the first ship she ever launched, and was presented with a diamond rose brooch to commemorate the event. Two yard workers were killed and six others injured when a "blinding explosion ripped" the ship in a fitting-out basin at Clydebank on 16 September 1945.
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William Gladstone Agnew Vice-Admiral Sir William Gladstone Agnew (2 December 1898 – 12 July 1960) was an officer of the Royal Navy. He served during the First and Second World Wars, and rose to the rank of vice-admiral. Agnew was the fifth son of Charles Morland ...
assumed command on 15 October 1945. The end of hostilities following Japan's surrender reduced the need for new warships, and consequently the ship was not commissioned until 12 May 1946. By this time, a total of £11,530,503, including £3,186,868 for the modernisation of the main armament, had been spent on producing ''Vanguard''. After commissioning, the ship spent several months conducting sea trials and training until August, when she began the necessary modifications to serve as a
royal yacht A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often c ...
for the forthcoming royal tour of South Africa. The Admiral's suite was reworked into accommodations for the Royal Family and their staff while the anti-aircraft mount on top of 'B' turret was replaced by a saluting platform. Agnew was promoted to rear-admiral with effect from 8 January 1947. The alterations were complete by December, and ''Vanguard'' made a shakedown cruise into the Central
Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
and made a port visit to
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
on the return voyage. Initially escorted by the destroyers , , , , and , the ship rendezvoused with the
Home Fleet The Home Fleet was a fleet of the Royal Navy that operated from the United Kingdom's territorial waters from 1902 with intervals until 1967. In 1967, it was merged with the Mediterranean Fleet creating the new Western Fleet. Before the First ...
on 1 February 1947 to receive a 21-gun salute led by the battleships and , and the aircraft carrier . Later that morning, a Sikorsky R-4
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...
landed aboard to pick up mail and photographic film. ''Vanguard'' arrived in
Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
on 17 February, escorted by the South African frigates , and on the last leg of her voyage. While the Royal Family toured the country on the first visit by a reigning monarch to South Africa, the ship exercised with ships of the South African and Royal Navies stationed there and made port visits to a number of South African cities. She sailed for home on 22 April and made brief visits to
Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...
and
Ascension Island Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overseas Territory o ...
en route. ''Vanguard'' arrived in
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
on 11 May, and Captain F. R. Parham relieved the newly promoted Agnew on 29 May. In July, the ship began an overhaul in Devonport, which lasted until August 1948. While she was refitting, ''Vanguard'' was tasked to carry the Royal Family on a tour of Australia and New Zealand, planned for January 1949. On 31 August, she began a shakedown cruise to the Mediterranean and returned to Devonport on 12 November. Around this time, ''Vanguard'' was considered, along with a number of other large warships, for conversion to carry
anti-aircraft missiles Anti-aircraft missiles are guided missiles designed to destroy or damage aircraft. These include * air-to-air missile, a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft * subsurface-to-air missile, a missile usually la ...
, but nothing further was done along these lines.
George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until Death and state funeral of George VI, his death in 1952. ...
was now too ill for travel, and the Royal Tour was indefinitely postponed later that month. ''Vanguard'' became the flagship of
Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
Sir
Arthur Power Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur John Power, (12 April 1889 – 28 January 1960) was a Royal Navy officer. He took part in the First World War as a gunnery officer and saw action in the Dardanelles campaign. During the inter-war years he comma ...
, Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, on 1 March 1949, and the ship made port visits to Algeria, France, Italy, Cyprus, Libya, Lebanon, Greece and Egypt before she arrived back at Devonport on 21 July. The newly promoted Rear Admiral Parham was relieved by Captain G. V. Gladstone a week later. The ship then became the flagship of the Home Fleet Training Squadron under Rear Admiral
Edward Evans-Lombe Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Malcolm Evans-Lombe KCB (15 October 1901 – 14 May 1974) was a Royal Navy officer who became Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. Naval career Educated at West Downs School and in the Royal Navy, Evans-Lombe served in th ...
on 12 November. While returning from a brief training sortie to Gibraltar, ''Vanguard'' went to the aid of a small French merchantman whose cargo had shifted in a severe storm on 13 February 1950. The merchantman, , was taken under tow and the cargo was redistributed. Once the storm had abated, ''Boffa'' was able to resume her voyage under her own power. ''Vanguard'' reached Weymouth Bay the following day. Later, in March, she fired the salute to
Vincent Auriol Vincent Jules Auriol (; 27 August 1884 – 1 January 1966) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1947 to 1954. Early life and politics Auriol was born in Revel, Haute-Garonne, as the only child of Jacques Antoine Aurio ...
, the
President of France The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency i ...
, during his
state visit A state visit is a formal visit by a head of state to a foreign country, at the invitation of the head of state of that foreign country, with the latter also acting as the official host for the duration of the state visit. Speaking for the host ...
to Great Britain. On 13 September 1950 Admiral Sir
Philip Vian Admiral of the Fleet Sir Philip Louis Vian, & Two Bars (15 July 1894 – 27 May 1968) was a Royal Navy officer who served in both World Wars. Vian specialised in naval gunnery from the end of World War I, and subsequently received sever ...
hoisted his flag as Commander in Chief, Home Fleet, on ''Vanguard'' and the ship joined the rest of Home Fleet on exercises with the
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack s ...
and the Mediterranean Fleet. On 19 December, Vian transferred his flag to . Nearly two months later, on 10 February 1951, the aircraft carrier collided with ''Vanguard'' as the carrier docked at Gibraltar. The hole in the battleship's stern was not serious, and Vian re-hoisted his flag in ''Vanguard'' shortly afterwards. After manoeuvres with ''Indomitable'', during which her aircraft "sank" the battleship, the ship made port visits in
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
and
Villefranche-sur-Mer Villefranche-sur-Mer (, ; oc, Vilafranca de Mar ; it, Villafranca Marittima ) is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera and is located south-west of the Principality of ...
before returning for a brief refit in Devonport on 14 March. After completing her refit in May, she became flagship of the Home Fleet Training Squadron under Rear Admiral R. M. Dick at the
Isle of Portland An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...
. Four months later the admiral transferred his flag to the carrier as ''Vanguard'' began another refit in preparation to again become the flagship of Home Fleet.
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
announced in November that King George VI was planning to take a short cruise for his health aboard ''Vanguard'', which meant that her Admiral's suite again had to be modified to accommodate him and his staff. Captain John Litchfield assumed command on 21 December while the ship was still refitting, but the King died on 6 February 1952 before he could make his cruise. A detachment from the ship participated in his funeral procession before she departed for her post-refit shakedown cruise on 22 February. After exercising with ''Implacable'', ''Indomitable'' and the fast minelayer , ''Vanguard'' returned home on 29 March. She became flagship of Home Fleet again on 13 May when Admiral Sir
George Creasy Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Elvey Creasy, (13 October 1895 – 31 October 1972) was a senior Royal Navy officer. After serving as a junior officer in the First World War, during which he took part in operations at Heligoland Bight in 1917, h ...
hoisted his flag. Due to manning and weight problems, ''Vanguard'' operated with many of her turrets unmanned and with ammunition carried for only two of the 15-inch turrets and only starshell ammunition for the 5.25-inch guns. She participated in exercises with the Dutch and American navies, before returning to Portsmouth for the holidays. Litchfield was relieved by Captain R. A. Ewing on 19 January 1953; the ship departed the next day for a brief refit at Gibraltar. After its completion on 2 March, the ship trained with several of the Royal Navy's carriers before arriving back at Portsmouth on 25 March. ''Vanguard'' participated in Queen Elizabeth's Coronation Fleet Review at
Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...
on 15 June 1953. The following September, she participated in NATO's
Exercise Mariner Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic s ...
in the Denmark Strait. Admiral Sir
Michael Denny Admiral Sir Michael Maynard Denny (3 October 1896 – 7 April 1972) was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Third Sea Lord. Naval career Educated at Queen Elizabeth's School, Wimborne Minster,Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
and
Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...
in Norway and Helsingborg in Sweden. She was inspected on 11 July by King
Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: * Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short car ...
before returning home later that month. Denny struck his flag on 15 September, and ''Vanguard'' sailed to Devonport for a £220,000 refit 10 days later. The February 1955 Defence Estimates had intended her as the Home Fleet flagship with a role as a killer, but after the appointment of Earl Mountbatten in April 1955 and with Antony Eden replacing Churchill as prime minister, the government decided instead to maintain two extra cruisers in the fleet, and ''Vanguard'' was placed in reserve when it completed its 1955 refit. She subsequently became the flagship of the
Reserve Fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...
when Vice Admiral Richard Onslow hoisted his flag on 28 November. While moored in Fareham Creek, during her time in the reserve fleet, waterline shots of ''Vanguard'' in Portsmouth Harbour were filmed for the title sequence of the 1957 comedy film '' Carry on Admiral''. Just before decommissioning, scenes for the 1960 film ''
Sink the Bismarck! ''Sink the Bismarck!'' is a 1960 black-and-white CinemaScope British war film based on the 1959 book ''The Last Nine Days of the Bismarck'' by C. S. Forester. It stars Kenneth More and Dana Wynter and was directed by Lewis Gilbert.Weiler, A.H ...
'' were filmed aboard, with ''Vanguard'' being used to depict interiors of the bridges, Admiral's Quarters and gun turrets for ''Hood'', ''Bismarck'' and ''King George V''.


Decommissioning and fate

On 9 October 1959 the
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...
announced that ''Vanguard'' would be scrapped, as she was considered obsolete and too expensive to maintain. She was decommissioned on 7 June 1960 and sold to BISCO for £560,000. On 4 August 1960, when the ship was scheduled to be towed from Portsmouth to the breaker's yard at
Faslane His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...
, Scotland, the whole of the Southsea sea front was packed with people who came to see her off. As ''Vanguard'' was being
towed Towing is coupling two or more objects together so that they may be pulled by a designated power source or sources. The towing source may be a motorized land vehicle, vessel, animal, or human, and the load being anything that can be pulled. Th ...
towards the
harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
entrance, she slewed across the harbour and ran aground near the Still & West
pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
. She was pulled off by five
tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
s an
hour An hour (symbol: h; also abbreviated hr) is a unit of time conventionally reckoned as of a day and scientifically reckoned between 3,599 and 3,601 seconds, depending on the speed of Earth's rotation. There are 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 ho ...
later, and after nearly running aground again near the Moving & East pub on the opposite shore, made her final exit from Portsmouth. Five days later she arrived at Faslane, and by mid-1962 the
demolition Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...
process was complete. She was the last British
battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
to be scrapped. As a part of the scrapping process, sections of pre-atomic steel plate uncontaminated with
radionuclide A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess nuclear energy, making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ways: emitted from the nucleus as gamma radiation; transfer ...
s were recovered from ''Vanguard'' and used for the shielding of the whole body monitor at the Radiobiological Research Laboratory (now
DSTL The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) is an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is "to maximise the impact of science and technology for the defence and security of the UK". The a ...
) at Alverstoke,
Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...
in
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, England. The process of decommissioning was filmed by the
Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distribu ...
for their Look at Life film series in an episode entitled ''The Last Battleship''.


Notes and references


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* *


External links


The Gunnery Pocket Book

HMS ''Vanguard'' website


* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanguard (23) 1944 ships Battleships of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Clyde Cold War battleships of the United Kingdom Maritime incidents in 1960