HMS Vanguard, a 44,500-ton (standard displacement) battleship, was built at Clydebank, Scotland. The last of the enormous number of British ships of the line, she was laid down in October 1941 with the intention of having a fast battleship in time for World War II employment. To this end, she was armed with old fifteen-inch guns on a hull of thoroughly modern design. Vanguard was completed in April 1946, eight months after the war had ended. In February-May 1947 she carried King George VI to South Africa and would have made another Royal Tour, this time to Australia, had the King's ill health not forced cancellation of the trip. During the first half of 1949 Vanguard served with the Mediterranean Fleet. Thereafter she was employed in the North Atlantic area, alternating as a training ship and as flagship of the Home Fleet. Kept in reserve after the mid-1950s, she was considered for conversion to a guided missile ship, but the great costs and technical uncertainties involved caused rejection of the idea. HMS Vanguard was scrapped beginning in August 1960.
This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have concerning the British battleship Vanguard of 1946.
For more images related to this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.
For more images related to this ship, see:
If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions." |
Page made 12 May 2006