HMS Vanguard (23) - The Royal Yacht

[ItssLuBu 1,793]

HMS Vanguard (23)

 

 

Background & History

 

HMS Vanguard was the sole ship of her class built during the Second World War for the Royal Navy as a fast battleship and would be the largest to fly the White Ensign. Vangaurd came about as something of a neccessity with the increasing expansion of the Japanese in the Pacific with the fear that the Eastern Fleet could be overwhelmed and outnumbered. In the early 1920's some of the old battlecruisers had been converted to aircraft carriers and the old 15 inch guns originally mounted to them had not been mounted to anything since, the result of which was a battleship designed around the old guns instead of the manufacture of new ones. Initial plans submitted in 1939 would be curtailed with the start of the Second World War and would be revised until approved in 1941 when she would be laid down in October at Clydebank. Around this time Japan would enter the war following the attack on Pearl Harbour and Britain, already with naval balance in the mix in the East, would lose both Repulse and the new Prince of Wales making Vanguard a relatively high priority. Ironically this need for production (second only to the new aircraft carriers) would see her launched during 1944 when the need originally desired had dissapated considerably and she would eventually be commissioned in May 1946 at a cost of over £11 million.

 

In many respects the design (despite attempts to change it) appeared as a larger King George V class with an additional turret and flared bow for increased sea handling. With four screws putting out 130,000shp Vanguard could make a respectable 30 knots placing her over 45,000 tons at standard load. She would feature a 14 inch belt covering the length of the ship to the outer turrets and a deck armour of 6 inch steel supported by a 2.5 inch splinter deck, a lesson learned during the war from the threat of air power. Improved twin gun mounting of 5.25 inch guns bore resemblance to the KGV class however her main guns, despite the improved fire control systems would be something of a hindrance if she was ever to engage some of the more recently commissioned Axis ships such as the Littorio of Yamato classes. 8x 15 inch Mark I guns housed in ancient twin turrets although modernised would be a reverse in idealolgy from the tripple and quadruple turrets of the Nelson and KGV class respectively. These additional gun turrets would present problems as demonstrated throughout the service life of the KGV class battleships. With the age of the battleship over, in a time of nuclear weapons and high speed jet aircraft, Vanguard would effectively be given the role of 'Royal Yacht.'

 

 

'The Royal Family on the deck of Vanguard during the world tour in 1947.'

 

 

'Many describe Vanguard as one of if not the most attractive British battleships ever built.'

 

As Vanguard would be commissioned after the war her service life would sadly not feature any serious military action. The Royal Navy reduced the overall number of service personnel by around 25% following the wars end which presented somewhat of a problem for the newly commissioned battleship too. She would act in training exercises with the Royal Canadian Navy along with what remained of the Home Fleet in 1950 nevertheless with Churchill replaced by Antony Eden later the same decade it was decided to place her into reserve following a refit. Britains mightiest mothball would have one last hurrah for filming in scenes for the new movie 'Sink the Bismarck' yet in 1959 it was decided that the last battleship would be scrapped due to rising repair and maintenance costs, she would be decommissioned in 1960 and sold for just over half a million pounds the same year. In Warthunder Vanguard would serve well as an addition to the game, arguably as one of the stronger battleships in the tech tree with good speed, armour and capable 15 inch guns. Vanguard has the unique design altered several times through war experiences, not many ships have been built with the benefit of hindsight however her time following commission was not where battleships remained ruler of the seas.

 

 

'HMS Vanguard bore many similarities to the preceeding KGV class however the flared bow and additonal aft turret make for quick identification.'

 

 

'HMS Vanguard almost defied the scrapyards a while longer, running aground near the harbour entrance in 1960 infront of a packed crowd.'

 

Armour & Armament

 

As a design the Vanguard combined many ideas, experiences and lessons learned during the Second World War into what would become a very competant fast battleship that would fare well against the stronger capital ships of the Axis powers. She featured a 13 inch thick belt running from A to Y turrets (end to end) tapering over the machinery slightly with and strengthened to 14 inches over the magazines. Deck armour was also particularly strong as a result of the increased awareness of the massive danger posed from air power featuring a 6 inch plate with 5 inches over the machinery. This was identical to the KGV class to resist penetration of a 1,000lb bomb from over 4,000m. Her turrets although atinquated when mounted would be modernised with new faceplates 13 inches thick, 6 inch roofs and sides 7-9 inches. Barbettes would be 13 inches for the main gun turrets tapering to 11 inches around the lower decks. Following the Battle of the Denmark straight an additional splinter protection over the magazines was improved through non-cemented 1.5 inch bulkheads to avoid damage by plunging fire. Again following the losses of Repulse and Prince of Wales underwater defence was improved during alterations to the design in 1942. Overall her armour scheme was good, so it could be argued it should be given the fact Vanguard would only be commissioned post war.

 

Armament aboard Vanguard featured something that will likely be commonplace amongst British capital ships if she comes towards the latter end of the tech tree. Namely 8x 15 inch BL MkI guns upgraded to the (N) variation for increasing elevation ranges up to 30 degrees, two pairs superfiring, one forward and the other aft of the superstructure. This meant she was capable of firing a 879kg projectile over 30km at approx 750m/s for two rounds per minute. Secondary battery comprised 16x QF 5.25 inch MkI Dual Purpose guns (8x2), these improved specification variants claimed to be full auto with assisted radar tracking for approximatley 18 rounds per minute. Each would be capable of firing a 36.3kg shell over 22km at approx 814m/s with a max elevation of 70 degrees. Anti air close range battery would be the excellent Bofors 40mm in various mountings for a total of 73 guns, max elevation was 90 degrees for approximately 120 rounds per minute. Overall the weapons systems on Vanguard should make for a very decent battleship when taking on other capital ships, smaller surface vessels of enemy aircraft.

 

 

 

 

Specifications

 

Length - 814ft 4in

Beam - 108ft

Draught - 31ft standard & 34ft 10in deep

Displacement - 44,500 tons standard and 51,420 at deep load

Speed - 4x Parsons turbines for 130,000shp through 4 screws for 30kts and 8,250nm at 15kts

Main Belt - 14 inches over magazines, 13 inches over machinery

Deck Belt - 6 inch over magazines, 5 inches over machinery

Barbettes - 13 inches

Bulkheads 4-12 inches

Turret Face Armour - 13 inches

Turret Side Armour - 11 inches

Turret Back Armour - 7 inches

Turret Crown Armour - 4 inches

Conning Tower - 2-3 inches

Armament - 8x 15 inch BL MKI guns

Secondary Battery - 16x QF 5.25 inch dual purpose guns

Anti Air Battery - 73 x 40mm bofors (10x6, 1x2, 11x1)

Torpedoes - None

Aircraft - None

 

Sources

 

Antony Preston; Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II, Bracken Books London (ISBN: 9781851701940)

R.A.Burt; British Battleships 1919 - 1945, Seaforth Publishing (ISBN: 8601200795783)

R.A.Burt; The Last British Battleship - HMS Vanguard 1946-1960, Seaforth Publishing (ISBN: 9781526752260)

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_15-42_mk1.php

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNBR_525-50_mk1.php

 

 

 

Edited July 10, 2020 by ItssLuBu

[Miki_Hoshii 2,449]

Open for discussion.

[Milocat 4,842]

+1, the world's last battleship should be in the game if we get batleships.

[random_guy888 23]

great ship, shame really construction, was halted several times through the war, she ran a ground, in the photo,is old Portsmouth, buildings on left is spice island pub, entrance to Portsmouth naval base, HMS dolphin, on right + 1

[super_cacti 1,071]

Bloody hell that is just massive! I would love to see it ingame, but let's first get battleships that are a bit smaller 

[Admiral_Aruon 2,263]

5 hours ago, super_cacti said:

Bloody hell that is just massive! I would love to see it ingame, but let's first get battleships that are a bit smaller 

 

it's a little known fact that there's a subclass between Full Battleship and Super Heavy Battleship- Extra Thiccc Battleship

[super_cacti 1,071]

1 hour ago, Admiral_Aruon said:

it's a little known fact that there's a subclass between Full Battleship and Super Heavy Battleship- Extra Thiccc Battleship

 

He be dummy thicc tho. We need a War Thunder event called: War of the thicc's.

[ZackZooter 55]

Plus this ship might be the only one that have 6-barreled BoFors in the world....

 

If Battleship (Super Dreadnought) of WW2 standard equipped with 14inch guns up to 16inch guns were to be implemented in WT using current game mechanic would have to start from BR 7.0 lowest to BR 8.0 highest including IJN Yamato's 18inch guns as Aviation Jets don't have Anti-Ship Missile YET OR there's no Radar-Guided or Semi one at BR 8.0 if i'm not mistaken....

 

Gun Caliber is not the reason why i suggest such higher BR... ITs the ship using lower caliber guns that don't have enough durability, mobility and survivability to indirectly tank such hits.. Let's say Gaijin put 15inch Bismarck on BR 7.0 in game, players using Baltimore, Graf Spee, Sverdlov, London, Tone & Zara would be its plaything for such player using Bismarck instead which could kill the fun itself... 

 

UNLESS there are Heavy cruisers under 20000ton that have belt armor about 15inch thick OR deck plating of 6inch thick OR conning tower about 10inch thick OR its superstructure as 8inch thick in each naval nation then Bismarck and its rival can be placed at BR 7.3 lowest for 15inch guns...

 

Otherwise... Gaijin needs to raise BR cap even higher to either BR 7.0 for 13inch to 14inch guns for starters or BR 7.3 instead BUT...... it might end up on BR 8.3 or BR 8.7 which means WW2 Battleship would get mince meated by Jets firing guided bombs or Anti-ship missile from 8km high and no one would even notice it UNLESS Gaijin intends to put limitations on applying modern weapons function...

 

FOR Example... to fire Anti-Ship Missile, player needs to get into the range of under 10km and lower than 5km altitude to lock onto a target + Gaijin also makes those Missile can be manually targeted by AI in attempt to shoot it down from a certain distance if that ship has early radar function in exchange... OR manually try to do so

 

Dropping Guided Bombs can only dropped at altitude lower than 5km high and its bombs can be tracked by ships equipped with radar function which allows the bomb to be shot off OR Manually..

 

Then again... its just my opinion... TO Note... HMS Vanguard best placed at BR 7.7 at best unless it's capability are far superior to all other Britain Battleship in term of mobility, armor, firepower, torpedo defense and survivability then it can be BR 8.0... Otherwise its gonna get eaten BY Iowa-class 16inch guns or Yamato 18inch guns OR even modern weapons that have deadly penetration level...

[Headnaught 501]

+1, assuming these kinds of battleships are eventually added, this would be a good counter/counterpart to Bismarck. 5.25 inch secondary mountings with VT shells would give Vanguard a long-range AA capability that would make her one of if not the best AA battleships in the game.

[굴러온 310]

In War Thunder, her only superiority over HMS Hood would be only anti aircraft firepower. So wish she would come out earlier than her

[ZackZooter 55]

On 28/02/2022 at 01:11, 굴러온 said:

In War Thunder, her only superiority over HMS Hood would be only anti aircraft firepower. So wish she would come out earlier than her

Not only that... Its secondary gun helps inflicting serious damage to cruisers with armor weaker than Admiral Hipper level at least and with current game mechanics that allows using main & secondary guns (8 main guns + 8 secondary guns) on any broadside would make anyone not using warship on Scharnhorst level armor at minimum really afraid to fight...

 

PLUS so far, HMS Hood if only initial one would be quite inferior in WW2 battle level BUT IF Gaijin PLANS to add an alternate HMS Hood that survives that era using WW2 refit level (check drachinifel video on HMS HOOD refit), i bet that only Super Battleship like Iowa-class and Yamato-class can fight it and even KMS Bismarck & Tirpitz would have a quite hard time beating HMS HOOD Refit in a one-two shot kill move...

[Fireraid233 4,273]

Good looking ship+1