HMS Vanguard was the last of the great Royal navy battleships, built at Clydebank, she was launched on the 30th November 1944, and did not see service during world War Two, She was the biggest British battleship with a displacement of 42.500 tons. she carried eight 15-inch guns (Guns and Turrets originally from HMS Courageous and HMS Glorious) and a secondary armament of 16 x 5.25 inch guns and 71 AA Guns, her compliment was 1600. HMS Vanguard was refitted in 1947 - 1948 and went to the Mediterranean in 1949 for six months. On her return she became a training ship at Portland and then Home Fleet Flagship during exercise before refit at Devonport, becoming the Flagship of the reserve fleet. She finally was scrapped just 15 miles from where she was built at Faslane, 9th August 1960.
HMS Vanguard and HMS Indefatigable by Ivan Berryman Britains last great Battleship HMS Vanguard along with the Carrier HMS Indefatigable lie at anchor in Scapa Flow in July 1951.
HMS Vanguard, Away the Vanguard by Randal Wilson
HMS Vanguard 1944 - 1960 by Neil McCart HMS Vanguard marked the pinnacle of British battleship design. Completed at the end of the second world war, she was too late to see active service and joined the fleet at a time when the battleship had been superceded by the aircraft carrier as the capital ship of the modern navy. Despite her short career the name Vanguard still evokes pride in all those who served on her or who were associated with her. This book details her career from builders yard to shipbreakers, drawing on first hand accounts and many previously unpublished photographs.