When HMS Vanguard was built, submarines and long-range missiles had turned the concept
of a battleship practically useless.
Aircraft had also become the spearhead of naval military operations, and the enormous
and expensive ships were only being built just because other nations were still making
them.
Vanguard was the last ever British battleship, and the almost 700-million-dollar 815-foot
behemoth was among the most powerful ships of her kind by the end of World War 2.
As a fleet flagship and crown jewel of the British Navy, HMS Vanguard needed nearly 2,000
men to operate.
Built in a whim more than an actual need, the British battleship would represent a turning
point in the history of naval warfare, and the surprising use it would serve would have
nothing to do with the belligerent battleships from the past…
A Rapidly Changing World
By the time the development of HMS Vanguard was ordered in 1939, the role of the battleship
was still essential in maritime warfare.
Waring nations across the globe were swiftly commissioning bigger and more powerful battleships,
and the Royal Navy could not be left behind.
As early as 1937, the Royal Navy projected that if things didn’t change, the combined
forces of Germany’s and Japan’s navies would surpass Britain’s battleship numbers
by 1940.
At this time, battleships were still the backbone of any naval power, and the British had no
reason to think this would change anytime soon.
Thus, to prevent being outdone by the rising fascist powers around the world, the Royal
Navy created the Lion-class battleships, a new generation of colossal ships that would
continue to cement the Royal Navy as the most powerful in the world.
As World War 2 suddenly exploded in Europe, the need for updated naval power became urgent;
however, the production of the highly anticipated Lion-class battleships was lagging.
The reasons came from her own ambition, as the construction of the triple-16-inch turrets
which would make the battleships overwhelmingly powerful could not be finished before 1943.
Regardless, taking that long was inadmissible, as Britain was desperate to maintain maritime
superiority over the English Channel to deter an invasion from Germany.
For that, they needed Lion-class battleships as soon as possible.
The solution was to order the construction of a Lion-class battleship without the unprecedented
triple-16-inch turrets and instead utilize 15-inch guns and turrets that Britain had
plenty of in storage facilities.
A Difficult Development
By using the existing 15-inch mountings, the British Navy was able to bypass the production
bottleneck and build a single Lion-class battleship much earlier than previously anticipated;
however, despite this significant shortcut, the development of HMS Vanguard would be a
strenuous and grueling process.
The 15-inch turrets mounted on Vanguard were initially part of the battlecruisers Courageous
and Glorious, which served during World War 1 and eventually were converted into aircraft
carriers with their turrets removed.
By July of 1939, the design of the Lion-class battleship was modified to accommodate the
four 15-inch turrets while retaining the transom stern that was meant to be a feature of the
Lion-class and allowed vessels to attain greater speeds.
HMS Vanguard would become the only British battleship in history to have a square or
transom stern section.
In September of 1939, the world fell into disarray as World War 2 broke out, and the
development of HMS Vanguard was halted on the 11th as Britain’s high command faced
paralyzing uncertainty around military manufacture priorities and raw material supply.
Still, the development would resume in February of 1940 after First Lord of the Admiralty
Winston Churchill expressed an interest in the ship.
Under Churchill’s supervision, HMS Vanguard’s design was altered to increase defense against
shell splinters on the vulnerable sides of the ship’s hull, and the armor of the secondary
armament was increased to resist 500-pound semi-armor-piercing bombs.
To compensate, the splinter belt’s thickness bow and astern of the main armor belt was
reduced by 0.5 inches.
The war eventually brought more pressing commitments for the Royal Navy, forcing the design work
to be suspended once again in June and continued in October.
Only a few months had passed, but the global conflict had brought drastic changes to the
way naval battles were fought and the technologies that were being implemented.
Consequently, the ship’s design was heavily modified again to update her according to
the most recent war experiences.
Larger fuel capacity was added, and the armor protection improved.
Still, these changes increased the design’s draught to exceed the 34-foot limit of the
Suez Canal.
To address this issue, the beam was increased by 2.5 feet, which allowed safe passage through
the canal but exceeded the width of the docks at Rosyth and Plymouth, severely limiting
the number of ports that could handle the ship.
Still, the changes were approved by the Board of Admiralty on April 17, 1941, and by March,
the battleship’s construction was officially ordered under the 1940 Emergency War Program.
More Lessons to Learn
In December of 1941, the King George V-class battleship Prince of Wales was operating off
the coast of Singapore when it was intercepted by Japanese aircraft.
The numerous anti-aircraft guns mounted on the ship were highly ineffective, and they
could not land a single hit against the attackers.
A single torpedo launched from one of the Japanese planes struck Prince of Wales on
the port side aft, wrecking the outer propeller shafts on that side and destroying bulkheads
along the shaft all the way to Engine Room B.
The electrical system collapsed, and the ship soon flooded at unmanageable rates.
The battleship was sunk by a single aircraft, and all its armor and guns could not do anything
about it.
Other battleships of the time proved to be equally ineffective for modern warfare as
they faced off against submarines and newer aircraft models.
As World War 2 kept evolving, the British had to adjust, and the Vanguard’s design
was revised yet again in 1942.
Historians argue that such setbacks should have been enough to completely halt any battleship
projects; instead, Vanguard went through additional changes in a desperate attempt to avoid the
fate of her sister ships.
The length between the inboard and outboard propellers was incremented from 33.5 to 51.5
feet to reduce the chance of a single projectile wrecking both propeller shafts on one side.
In addition, watertight access trunks were added to all the spaces below the deep waterline
to prevent progressive flooding through open watertight doors and hatches, just as had
happened to Prince of Wales.
The ship’s fuel supply was increased from 4,400-long tons to 4,850-long tons to prevent
the fuel shortage problems King George V and Rodney suffered during their pursuit of the
German battleship Bismarck.
These significant changes completely wrecked the development schedules, and the battleship
that was supposed to be ready for combat as soon as possible was delayed until the last
months of 1944.
When HMS Vanguard was finally launched, there was no question that battleships were becoming
obsolete; thus, the once urgently needed vessel was no longer immediately required to be sent
into battle.
Things went from slow to sluggish after a significant explosion damaged the ship as
she was docked in Clydebank; two yard workers lost their lives and six others were injured,
convincing naval authorities that the ship was not ready to see action.
By September of 1945, Japan surrendered, and the already weak need for additional battleships
all but disappeared.
It would be until May 12, 1946, that HMS Vanguard was finally commissioned, after almost 700
million dollars in today’s currency had been spent on her construction.
From Battleship To Yacht
Soon after being commissioned and with no express need for a battleship, HMS Vanguard
began the necessary adjustments to serve as a royal yacht for the forthcoming royal tour
of South Africa.
Although the ship could not serve a combat role anymore, the sheer size and grandeur
the vessel displayed had to be utilized somehow, especially after investing such a considerable
amount of money in the project.
Thus, HMS Vanguard was repurposed to serve as an icon of Britain’s might and authority
across the globe.
The Admiral’s suite was subsequently modified into fitting accommodations for the Royal
Family and their personal staff, while the anti-aircraft mount on top of turret B was
removed in order to place a saluting platform.
HMS Vanguard arrived in Cape Town on February 17, 1947, escorted by the South African frigates
Good Hope, Transvaal, and Natal on the final part of her voyage.
While the Royal Family toured the country in what constituted the first visit of a reigning
monarch to South Africa, the ship participated in naval exercises with several South African
ships stationed in the area and made port visits to several cities.
Ultimately, what was meant to be the most potent and ambitious battleship in British
naval history became a stalwart vessel where the Royals could travel and salute the crowds
of curious citizens around the world.
Moreover, she became the last battleship to be completed in history, being laid down in
a time when the world no longer needed battleships and in which naval warfare had wholly shifted
its focus towards aircraft and submarine tactics.
Incidentally, she also became the last British battleship to be scrapped, and her demolition
process was completed in Faslane, Scotland, in 1962.
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