HMS Vanguard was a British fast battleship built during the Second World War and commissioned after the war ended. She was the largest and fastest of the Royal Navy's battleships,[3] the only ship of her class, and the last battleship to be built.

HMS Vanguard and USS Midway in the Firth of Clyde during Exercise Mainbrace, September 1952 

HMS Vanguard was a British fast battleship built during World War II and commissioned after the war. She was the only ship of her class and was the biggest, fastest and last of the Royal Navy's dreadnoughts, and the final battleship to be launched in the world. Work on the ship's design commenced before the war because the Royal Navy anticipated being outnumbered by the combined German and Japanese battleships in the early 1940s. The existing Lion-class battleship design was modified to suit Vanguard's main armament. The British had enough guns and gun turrets in storage to allow one battleship to be built relatively quickly, but the work was started and stopped several times during the war. Even after construction had begun, her design was revised several times to reflect war experience, and these changes prevented her from being completed during the war.

Vanguard's first task after completing her sea trial at the end of 1946 was, early the next year, to convey King George VI 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, however, by King George's declining health, and Vanguard briefly became flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet in early 1949. After her return home in mid-1949, she became flagship of the Home Fleet Training Squadron. Throughout her career, the battleship usually served as the flagship of whichever unit she was assigned to. During the early 1950s, Vanguard was involved in a number of training exercises with NATO forces. In 1953 she participated in Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Review. While she was refitting in 1955, the Admiralty announced that the ship was going to be put into reserve upon completion of the work. Vanguard was sold for scrap and was broken up beginning in 1960.

 

Displacement:

42,500 tons standard

48,500 tons fullload

 

Length: 814 ft 4 in (248.2 m)

 

Beam: 108 ft (32.9 m)

 

Draught: 36 ft (11.0 m)

 

Installed power: 130,000 shp (97,000 kW)

 

Propulsion:

4 shafts

4 Parsons steam turbine sets

8 Admiralty 3-drum water-tube boilers

 

Speed: 30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)

 

Range: 8,250-nautical-mile (15,280 km; 9,490 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)

 

Complement: 1,975

 

Sensors and processing systems:

1 × Type 960 air-warning radar

1 × Type 293 target-indication radar

1 × Type 277 height-finding radar

2 × Type 274 15-inch fire-control radar

4 × Type 275 5.25-inch fire-control radar

11 × Type 262 40 mm fire-control radar

 

Armament:

4 × 2 - BL 15-inch Mk I guns

8 × 2 - QF 5.25-inch Mk I dual purpose guns

10 × 6 - 40 mm Bofors AA guns

1 × 2 - 40 mm Bofors AA guns

11 × 1 - 40 mm Bofors AA guns

 

Armour:

Belt: 4.5–14 in (114–356 mm)

Deck: 2.5–6 in (64–152 mm)

Barbettes: 11–13 in (279–330 mm)

Gun turrets: 7–13 in (178–330 mm)

Conning tower: 2–3 in (51–76 mm)

Bulkheads: 4–12 in (102–305 mm)

 

Edited January 4, 2013 by Smederevac94

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Posted January 4, 2013

 

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