HMS Vanguard (Pennant 23) was the last battleship ever built by the Royal Navy, the last battleship ever launched, & the second-to-last battleship ever completed (only beaten by the French battleship Jean Bart). She was originally ordered as a stopgap, as complications from developing both the 16" guns & triple turrets as designed for the Lion-Class significantly delayed their construction. The Royal Navy decided that a slightly modified Lion, using four twin 15" guns was an acceptable compromise. Several delays meant that she would not be commissioned into the active fleet until 1946, after the war had ended. For much of her early career, she was effectively used as the world's most heavily armed yacht, transporting the Royal Family until King George VI became too ill to travel. Afterwards, she spent much time as part of the NATO fleet conducting various operations & exercises until 1955 when she was put in reserve. After much debate, she was sadly sold for scrap in 1959, & was towed to the breakers yard in 1960, showing defiance by briefly running aground in the harbor, but she was eventually freed by the tugboats. She was the last battleship the Royal Navy ever scrapped.

Vanguard introduced several improvements over all preceeding British battleships. She was built with a significant sheer & flare to the main bow, unlike prior battleships, which helped keep the forward decks drier than previously. The transom stern, unique to completed battleships (the planned G3, N3, & Lion-Classes all featured transom sterns, but none were ever completed), vastly improved water & wake flow improving the ships hydrodynamics. As a result, Vanguard was an incredibly stable ship, & during a rather stormy NATO operation, she was able to maintain near her full speed, whereas other ships like the American Iowa-Class battleships were forced to slow down. In my opinion, she was the most beautiful battleship ever constructed, & it is an absolute shame she (nor any other British battleship) was not preserved.

Be sure to use my texture pack or things will not look right!

Built in version 1.18.1, 1:1 scale.

Hey look been ages since I built something not American! There are plans for all sorts of ships of all nations to come eventually.