Perhaps the most noteworthy example is that of the King George V-class battleship HMS Prince of Wales. The latter two were laid-down in 1939, but never completed. HMS Vanguard incorporated improvements to the dreadnoughts of the King George V-class and the Lion and Temeraire. By 1941, the year she was laid down at the Clydebank, the Royal Navy had already lost five capital ships. In addition, Vanguard benefited from the wartime experiences of her predecessors. HMS Vanguard was designed and completed largely in reaction to capital ships built by Japan and Germany in the 1940s. Not only was HMS Vanguard the last British battleship, she was arguably the best. For the first time in almost one hundred years, the Royal Navy had no battleships in its fleets. It was a sad day indeed in 1960 when she was sent to the breakers. She represented the last of a long line of historic ships stretching back at least a century to the ironclad HMS Warrior (1860) if not to HMS Victory (commissioned in 1778) and similar ships of the line. HMS Vanguard was the final battleship built for the Royal Navy.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |