HMS Vanguard

HMS Vanguard was a British fast battleship built during the Second World War and commissioned after the war ended. She was the largest and fastest of the Royal Navy's battleships, the only ship of her class, and the last battleship to be built. Overall she was a emergency design but became a masterpiece of British battleship design, however she was not completed in time for WWII. She performed well in post-war actions; however, she was mostly used as a "Royal Yacht". The last British battleship was decommissioned in 1960. Vanguard had an overall length of 248. 2 m, a beam of 32. 8 m and a draught of 11 m at deep load. She displaced 45,200t at standard load and 52,250t at deep load. The ship's main armament consisted of eight 42-calibre BL 15-inch Mk I guns in four twin turrets while the secondary armament consisted of sixteen 50-calibre QF 5. 25-inch Mk I* dual-purpose guns in eight twin gun mounts. She was unique among British battleships in having remote power control (RPC) for her main, secondary and tertiary guns along with the Admiralty Fire Control Table Mk X for surface fire control of the main armament. Her hull was under protection of main armor belt of 330mm and 356 mm abreast the magazines. As a fleet flagship, her complement was 115 officers and 1,860 men in 1947. Air conditioning was provided for many of the ship's control spaces, and asbestos insulation was provided on exposed areas of the ship's sides, decks and bulkheads. An Action Information Centre was fitted below the main armour deck with facilities to track aircraft and ships around her. Fire Platform ———— HMS Vanguard's radar was very well developed, and its main and secondary guns and anti-aircraft guns all have their own long-range FCS for accurate firing. Windsor Yacht ———— Admiral cabin of hers was modified to high level of luxury to satisfy royal family members’ need Rule the waves ———— HMS Vanguard learnt her lessons and was designed to optimise the shape and power of the ship to reduce swel