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. Thank you for watching our video! Do you think the HMS Vanguard project should
have been canceled altogether? Let us know your thoughts in the comments
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