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HMS Vanguard (23)

1946 COLD WAR WORLD WAR 2

HMS Vanguard (23) History

British battleship HMS Vanguard (23) built in the late WWII (1939-1945), when the war in Europe ended in May 1945, it was decided to complete it as the war occurred in the Pacific (against the Japanese Empire) which lasted until 1946 . Thus, the Pioneer was launched in 1944, but did not officially enter service until August 9, 1946. Compared to the previous King George V-class battleships, she was larger in size - heavier, larger and much more equipped. The King George V-class battleships each had 14-inch guns as their primary armament, and with the development and use of 16-inch guns by the U.S. Navy and the Japanese Navy, the King George V-class battleships suddenly became undervalued. armed.

The British Admiralty considered a 16-inch gun, but the time it took to design and build this new gun made the decision moot.

The UK has a number of 15" guns available, so it seems best suited for the new design as the conflict in the European part is coming to an end. Many publications initially stated that the 15-inch guns had been removed from the HMS Courageous and HMS Glorious, which were subsequently converted into aircraft carriers.

However, the Admiralty maintains strict documentation for each weapon, and new inspections indicate that the weapons came from five battleships and one monitor: two from HMS Queen Elizabeth, two from HMS Ramiris and one from the Royal Sovereign, one from Resolution, one from the last monitoring HMS Erebus and the famous HMS Warspite.

The 15" gun was doubled on four turret positions, two front and two rear mounts. The new Vanguard is equipped with 16 x 5.25 inch close-in secondary guns, arranged as 8 x two-seater, four to port and four to starboard.

With her 73 x 40mm Bofors guns, the Pioneer carried more anti-aircraft guns than any other ship in the British Navy. Despite such an impressive lineup, the Vanguard would never fire in rage for the rest of the war.

In 1947, she became a royal yacht, bringing the royal family of King George VI to South Africa. A bad history for a mighty ship is to place a badminton net on her battle deck for some royal fun. Still, before entering the Reserves, she served on several NATO missions during the Cold War.

Some of her crew requested that the Vanguard be preserved as a museum ship, as she was the last British warship built and the last of its kind in the world. The gesture was not well received, and she was eventually sold as scrap in 1960, ending a rather quiet career for the mighty HMS Vanguard.