HMS Vanguard - Britain's Last Battleship 

Or Duke of York

The British incurred such a large debt to the US for the lend lease program of WW2 that it wasn't financially feasible to operate or maintain them. They did what was necessary, if they hadn't borrowed from the US in WW2 they wouldn't have survived the war. And if they didn't cut post war costs, they would have been bankrupt and possibly had civil uprisings.

Don't worry theres still a British built battleship still exist today but sadly not under the British flag but rather under the Japanese here in Asia still preserve the Battleship Mikasa sadly the Brits don't even tried to at least respect their past (the British were the pioneers of the battleship first by HMS Dreadnought) the Yanks beat the Brits by preserving numerous numbers of battleships examples are the Iowa class battleships,North Carolina class Battleship, South Dakota class battleship, even the 100 year old Battleship Texas still exist today and numerous other ship classes from destroyers cruisers and aircraft carriers and even submarines the British could've preserved this mighty ship but sadly no its so shameful and sad they weren't interested as as the yanks were

@TheBlueHavoc9 true but the British didn't preserved any battleships from its Grand fleet not even the King George or the Grand old lady or any of the large battleships that Britain used to have

uk steel maniac now uk steel industry its dead hahahah

They did keep HMS Victory though.

Mathias Bartl don't forget HMS Belfast!

thats nothing compared to a ww2 era floating fortresses that are battleships

At the end of WW II, the UK was flat broke. She didn't have the money to preserve them.

Yes, would love to walk round a dreadnought.

HMS Belfast This comment doesn’t make any sense.!

I’m not ever British and I’m right there with you.

Seem Nederland understand

@@deathdooddieimmortalbastard Welp America kept the Iowa class battleships since they developed a 16 inch nuclear shell

Reece M Normie

Had the US any brains left in their sockets KMS Prinz Eugen would fetched you a great nr of tourists,

Ironically, your bismark and many other ships remain

@@VicariousReality7 In story and song sure, that is the only legacy the steel clad gun towing titans of the high seas left behind, Granted I KMS Tirpitz would have been captured,

@@VicariousReality7 the Bismark had a bad Commander. Not meaning the Captain.

@@VicariousReality7 The Bismark proudly died in fight against an overpowering Opponent.

Sadly her guns were obsolete when she had launched there would have been better ships to save from scrapping such as warspite etc due to her achievements and due to finnancial issues she had to be scrapped

Ikr!? But blast financial issues, we now don't get to see such beautiful and legendary ships, Vanguard and Warspite would've been nice, I'd like to also add Nelson or Rodney I like them personally, even if they are what they look like.

***** I think they still have the Iowa and the North Carolina as well. Typical of G.B. to discard it's maritime history just as it did with the RMS Queen Mary but also typical it was the Americans who saved her. I think there was another warship of Nelson's fleet that also survived into the 2oth c but that too was scrapped.

cameronpaul We have the Massachusetts, North Carolina, Alabama, and all four Iowas, Utah and the Texas, which is an authentic Dreadnaught.... Technically the Arizona is listed as well.

Paul Holland Great! I remember seeing the Iowa when she came to Portsmouth, England, I think it was around 1988/89. I was very keen to see over her as when I was a kid I built a model of this class. Marvelous ship and congratulations to the U.S. for preserving an important part of their naval history.

***** Anyways.... USS Enterprise was scrapped in 1957, after a long decade with plans to preserve her (starting from 1947). even after pleas of the Secretary of Naval Affairs and Admiral "Bull" Halsey. Scrapping that particular ship is probably the biggest sin against military history ever made.

Paul Holland I hope to visit some of these fine ships when I get the chance. I'm spoilt for choice!

+Ken Standing By 1945 HMS Warspite was worn out. She had been badly damaged off Crete in 1941 and then in 1944 almost sunk off Salerno by several Fritz X guided missiles. Badly damaged she was towed first to Malta then Gibraltar where she was dry docked and the enormous hole in her bottom filled in (with concrete?). She was repaired enough to be a shore bombardment vessel with 6 operational 15 inch guns and finally went aground near Land's End on the way to to be scrapped. She was scrapped in situ.

+Terry Shulky well maybe if Britain STOPPED DRINKING TEA for once in their lives they might do it!

+zach earwood Might do what? Did the point that HMS Warspite was worn out pass you by? Having had to sell assets and borrow vast sums of money to fight the war before the Americans were forced in the UK was broke. The UK had been the richest country in the world in 1914 but two world wars had all but bankrupted her. The last repayment to the States was ten years ago, IIRC. WTF has drinking tea have to do with it? The Yanks drink gallons (US gallons) of coffee. So what!

I wish she had been retired into a museum though, maybe put onto the Thames with Belfast.

She was not fit for even being a museum ship any more and the UK at the time could just not justify it.

Armidas No they would not. It would cost far more to maintain the ship than you would ever get from museum revenue. Far better, more economical and more entertaining to chop this sucker with cutting torches. I enjoyed watching the scrapping.

That's debatable. The Americans manage it with not one but FOUR battleships!

Watch Ryder is right people shell out big money to go see old ships.

He said "One-twentieth of that", so they made 5% back.

I agree it's a real shame to scrap such a beautiful ship, however the things people forget is that Britain was on the bones of her arse after WW2. In financial ruin, her cities flattened and huge debts to the USA. Furthermore Vanguard was scrapped at the height of the Cold War. The money was badly needed elsewhere. Sure it's a pity, but those times called for desperate measures.

I had the exact same expression watching the video. Depressing footage to say the least.

Awm Joeyjoejoe yeah same, hard to watch

what is the logic of cutting up the last set of battleship guns...that would never be reproduced again...the aesthetic lost to the ages

It's Iike giving your toys away back when you were a kid, now you're nostaIgic for those memorabIe items

@@dapperfield595 I enjoyed the video of cutting up this useless obsolete ship which never saw battle anyway. Much useful scrap was produced in the recycling exercise.

Like taking a horse to the knackers yard, it knows where it is going and it will have some final fight in it :/

Certainly feel the pain of Vanguard. I'm sure we could have done without the resources. It would have been better as a memorial

@@alistairdean4393 after WW2 no way which is a shame really but at least the US was able to preserve a fair few

you can add Dreadnought & Q.E. too

Yeah, I can only imagine all the time and memories there. Just joined the US Navy not too long ago myself, and our ship is on its way to Decommissioning in the next 2 years at most.

@@thalmoragent9344 congratulations on your enlistment! There will be challenging times, but you will forever be known as a Sailor. You will have seen and done things others can only imagine. It will be a source of pride for the rest of your life. Fair seas shipmate

@@twrecks4598 Thanks a lot, shipmate, hope your days have fair winds in your future as well 👍🏾

Not a sailor at all, i can feel the pain, too. It's heart breaking to see the guns cut, the mast falling and ship disappearing...

@@twrecks4598 The number of people starting their posts with "I was a sailor in the US Navy".... what do you want, a chufty badge or something? Just get over it, it's nothing to shout about. If anything you should be ashamed you have taken part in the military which is not used for "defence". It is used to subjugate other countries on their own doorsteps.

Probably the worse insult of all.

This was 1960, therefore none. British Leyland didn't come into existence until 1968.

@@noelmajers6369 But the companies that became part of BL were in existence then.

@pencilpauli I always drove Leyland cars. Mini, Maxi, Princess, Rover, Allegro, and so on Never had any problems with any of these cars, just going on and on. The maxi I had for nearly ten years, 370,000 km, lost it in an accident.

@@hans2406 I had three maxis.

+Tom K it should be preserved as a museum ship.

+Tom K I feel ashamed as a Brit to know this happened, she should have taken her place next to Victory :'(

+THESATURNSSC1 At least you still have your Iowa Class battleships for people to see. We scrapped the lot thanks to callous, left wing politicians. All we have left is a comparatively small cruiser, HMS Belfast.

+stuffanthings I agree. Scrapping HMS Vanguard was a criminal act against the national pride of the British people.

+Adrian Larkins Sorry Adrian, but not only left wing politicians. Governments of all colours have been responsible. E.g. It was a Tory Government when Vanguard was scrapped. The sad thing is we will no longer have British steel to produce the materials for future ships. I guess HMS Queen Elizabeth (a Labour Government purchase) will be the last RN major vessel to made from British steel. Who scrapped our last carriers (and the Harriers) and left us with none for now ?

Obsolete, waste of money,in truth should never have been built

Yak 141 Freestyle because they donut deserve and end like that

Hurrah!!!, our ship defeated the enemy!!!. Ok, let's cut her up!!!!.

You saw her in your dreams many times because she would star in a film called Coming Home, or already did.

Because machines and animals are more beautiful then humans

Not just that, the whole of the 5th battle squadron. The mighty dreadnoughts deserved to become museums. I know it's an expensive thing, but they could've been great tourist attractions, now that could pay for itself. Look at the revenue of Hawaii or Florida.

And to hell with the Washington Naval Treaty !

There isn't the demand to see old naval ships like there is in the US.

Don't agree.

Joe Garingan But you have to consider after WW2 Britain was absolutely bankrupt. As for the Americans (not disrespectful to their dead) but the USA came out of WW2 smelling of roses. They were a world super power, huge military and a booming industry. During WW2 the US unemployment rate plummeted, household income soared and the standard of living after WW2 was hugely higher than before. They could afford to keep their ships around. Look at Britain at the same time and you'll see the difference. At the time Vanguard was scrapped it was the height of the cold war. The money was badly needed elsewhere. Britain simply could not afford to keep such a ship sitting around. Either they gave it to a charity (and lost that £560,000 at the time) or paid the upkeep herself. Either way the money was needed elsewhere...badly.

It's always sad to see a ship dismanteled.

Saptono Istiawan was on hms caroline last week well worth a visit

I love seeing a ship smashed up!

Yes heelfan1234 especially a piece of crap ship like this sandpan

+Woody German This ship was outdated. It deserved to be *torched to scrap and melted down* I hope you are not one of these shirtlifter teenage fanboys who thinks every rusty old bucket should be "made into a museum/hotel"

yes, this ship would have made an excellent museum piece as she looked in excellent condition, and would have taught future generations what naval ships were about, and where the designs were came from.

Yes its a shame you didn't keep a few battleships for people to tour. I'm glad we kept a lot of them. My favorites are the USS Alabama and of course the USS Iowa and her sisters.

I'd prefer Dreadnought, but Warspite would have been a good choice as well.

Both would have been better still

Agreed. Vanguard was not an amazing ship and did nothing of note, although I've read that she was incredible seaworthy and rough seas were nothing to her. Warspite or Dreadnought were too much more influential ships and Warspite laid a lot of beatings. If I am not mistaken, aren't the US battleships the only ones left in the world?

wayne burgess I think hms warsphite deserved it more. Plus it would mean she would be over 100 years old and it recipient the most medals of all royal navy ships in ww2

In usa there are several museum battleships, and in europe not even a single is preserved. What a pity!

Completely, fully, utterly agree. She was in bad shape but nothing some restoration couldn't have hopefully fixed, the RN owed her that much at least.

+Mechanotron hms victory is down in Portsmouth

Razor blades; best thing for the old tub...

Bin ganz deiner Meinung! Nur war das öffentliche Interesse an der Erhaltung solcher Schiffe in den 60ern längst nicht so groß wie heute. Zumindest die HMS Warspite hätte erhalten werden sollen - immerhin kämpfte dieses Schiff in beiden Weltkriegen und hätte es verdient gehabt, als Museum erhalten zu bleiben.

Ben Adam775 ze

@@arnddegenhard2278 Stimme dir zu.

I think Goeben was a Battlecruiser not a Battleship. But you are right with the rest =)

E. M. Cioran Britain was broke asf. They needed something called money and resources. It’s not like this is a fantasy world where every ship can be preserved and turned into museums you dumbass

@@Insert-Retarded-Reply-Here Yeah pretty much. After getting their nuts cut off during WW2 Britains economy was completely in the toilet, they probably needed every penny.

i agree,it's disgraceful that i can't take my grandson to see a british battleship.at least one of them deserved better.

@@Insert-Retarded-Reply-Here Please calm yourself. Just because of one person's statement about a topic may not have considered other factors doesn't call on the need for them to be called dumb. Regardless of the situation of Britain at the time it is still a sad occurrence.

@@DrSleazoid what age are you ?10 judging by your views

It isn’t us, its the government

*To the British Government* YOUUUU FOOOOOLLLLSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fully agree!

I think you are forgetting this is the British government were talking about. christ they thought to vote on the leaving the EU and look where that got em.

Preserving it would be a waste of recourses. And we can't preserve every ship.

hayden rogers yeah what a stupid democracy. letting the people decide who rules them! 😂

I would've made a kill to see that. Lucky you!

It really is :(

i bet all the stuff she was turned into is lying in the ground now

Calling it 'disgraceful' is more a little hyperbolic. You have to understand that right after WWII Britain was essentially broke and preserving 10,000+ ton warships for donation costs a lot of money that nobody could spare at the time. There _was_ some lobbying for preservation that I know of in passing, but rebuilding a shattered economy took priority, it's as simple as that. I too am sad that I cannot tour any of the battleships of the era like HMS Warspite or (especially) any of the King George Vs and there's nothing that I can do about that, but getting angry over it is silly.

Shaw Fujikawa why?if people got more angry about it at the time then it wouldn't of happened.are you telling me that me that a few tons of scrap made any difference to the uk economy?

sharkbot25 You really think Vanguard's costs were negligible? She sold for £560,000 at the time, or £11.7 million today, and that doesn't include the costs not incurred from having to maintain her all the time, whether she was in service or as a theoretical museum ship.

I have visited the Missouri. Is there a Iowa Class preserved in its WW2 Armament/ Layout? I enjoyed the Missouri very much but those tommahawk and phalanx systems don't fit in too well

@@markusz4447 no. All were updated over the years. They were left as they were when decommissioned

+ToonandBBfan Hahahaha mine too, I'd get the sack.

Also if you are interested by top 10 battleship’s are: 1: HMS Vanguard 2: HMS Anson 3: HMS Barham 4: USS New Jersey 5: HMS Agincourt (aka turret farm) 6: USS Washington 7: Richelieu 8: HMS Hood (I don’t care that she’s a battlecruiser she is on this list) 9: HMS Ramillies 10: USS Colorado

​@@bigships I'm surprised Warspite isn't in your list

@@gesitwicaksono1284 Ngl I like her it’s just she doesn’t reach the top 10

No, it wouldn't, that's the point. Maintenance of the ship would far exceed income. Also we Brits generally see military exhibits as a niche for military historians whereas in the US they are family days out. If you visit a preserved ship in the US it is covered in families, they are (I'll get flamed for this) a military culture, everyone is born to serve - even if you aren't in the military you are a 100% semper-fi patriot born to defend the capitol building and guns and hardware should excite you or there is something wrong with you. We Brits on the other hand are conservative, if you say "Honey, let's forget about taking the kids to Storybook Glen and instead walk around an aircraft carrier" you would get a funny look. Obviously I'm going to be told this is completely untrue but anyone that can think for a few seconds instead of slapping away blindly and compulsively at a keyboard will agree. We have war exhibits, we are immensely proud of them, but we're not a pay-to-walk-around-them species. The folks who fund the preservation of historical items know this! We have the largest tank museum on Earth with everything from the very first tanks of 1915, it is run by volunteers on a shoestring and barely makes a profit - if it was in America, even in the arse-end of nowhere like North Dakota (sorry ND peeps) it would likely be booked up all year round and have a hotel built near it for vacationers. We are Brits.

I'm an American and that is very true. Well for the less educated patriotic Americans. I myself am pro-Britain, and also unlike the uneducated Americans I know the difference between England, Great Britain, and the U.K. The only American citizen I know that can tell the difference lives maybe 500 miles away at least.

this is the truest statement i have ever read in my entire life.

We only have to look at the four Iowa Class Battle Ships that have seen so many changes. Now all of them are preserved. What would be nice to see is for Great Britain to reclaim the RMS Queen Mary from The City of Long Beach. By the way, Rob. Have you had the opportunity to visit the SS Rotterdam in Holland?

The UK isn't very militaristic. Sure people turn out for airshows and the military museums do alright, but land and air based museums and assets don't cost that much preserve. Naval assets require lots of maintenance. Therefore there are only a few preserved warships. Take Duxford and Bovington. They don't have the issue of the sea ramping up maintenance, but they still need volunteers to keep them going.

+Darth Belal Yeah. It's like a death in slow motion. I watched this video thinking about how this same thing is happening to the Enterprise right now.

The Royal navy has always been unsentimental about its great ships, very sadly.

this ship never did anything of merit, it was literally just a waste of money.

+Ken Standing Also totally unsentimental about the Crews as well.

Yes .... good point. It's always been the same .... back to Elizabeth times.

Murder by slow dismemberment at that! Very sad to see, Chitlika, I agree.

Warspite was too damaged. One of the Nelsons or KGV's would have been good as well.

She was still sea worthy, any battle damage just adds to the history

I think king George v should have be kept

100% its shameful tbh

It wasn't the ball, but the rotten bat, past its useful life. I think the film-makers at Rank set that up as an allegory for the ship coming to the end of its life.

Britain don't have a strong enough economy to maintain so many capital ships. You are talking about a battleship and two carriers. Has nothing to do with PC socialist, don't drag politics in to this. WW2 cost Britain a lot of money. Got to focus on the big picture.

+BMWM3GTRLOVER they needed the money is what im getting out of this, the guy says metal was not plentiful to brittain so they scrapped all of them

Yes but Vanguard didn't really have much history but some of the others really had been through tough action in WW2 ..... Duke of York for one. It would have been fantastic to see a ship like that or better, Warspite in dry dock at Portsmouth now ...... sad.

The 1970's were very anti-war after the American Vietnam fiasco, so I doubt that would have happened, but one never knows.

milwaukeegregg brings a tear to your eyes

+HRHooChicken We have eight Battleship museum ships. Texas (the only surviving Dreadnaught), North Carolina, Massachusetts, Alabama, Iowa (located in Los Angeles), New Jersey, Wisconsin (in Norfolk, Virginia) and Missouri (at Pearl Harbor). So if you're anywhere in the US on the ocean, there is probably a Battleship within a 24 hour drive of you.

+GoaFan77 If you want to reach the extent of technicalities, 9. The USS Midway used the basic hull designs of the cancelled Montanas.

I think that there remainl six of our battleships from that era that the US has kept.

Better to die in battle, to live on in song and tale the scrapped,

Not even close, be lucky to break even once you factor in the cost of looking after it.

But what would be the cost of maintaining it? That doesn't come cheap.

I felt that😢

@@ijnmikasa7604 I see you are a Shikikan of culture.

@@jameshailerthepostmaster4389 hehehe😅 Azur lane

I think peacetime Britain needed the extra tin cans, rebar, and low background steel plating, rather than an obsolete Battleship.

Sad, but true, we were desperate for scraps right up until the mid 90's when we finally paid off our war debts

They have a battleship preserved....the Victory.....that is enough.

@@NJtuber88 Victory ain't a battleship, she was around long before that was even a term. She is a warship but not a battleship, a ship of the line is the correct term I think.

@Defiant Shackleton You are technically correct!!! It was called a "Ship of the Line. Which were the biggest ships in the fleet, designed to line up with other "Ships of the Line" where they would meet the "Ships of the Line" from the enemy. These ships would form in Battle Lines, and they also began to be known as "Ships of the Battle", or "Line of Battle Ships".....later to be simplified as just Battleships. And the HMS Victory was one of the most historically significant of these "Battle Ships of the Line". This "Battle Line" would be the norm for navies until they realized that Carriers, subs and other more modern weapons made them much less important. Thus as I mentioned....the HMS Vanguard was a complete waste of $$$ for the RN.

@@NJtuber88 well whilst Vanguard came into being towards the end of the age of battleships slugging it out against one another I wouldn't say she was a waste of money. Battleships still held a prominent part in most navies nothing says sea power like a big ass gun or 8 of them! She just came too late to see any action.

@Defiant Shackleton I disagree. She was a total waste of time. The RN already had enough Battleships to provide coastal support (most of them mounting the same 15" guns the Vanguard carried). By the time she was finished the only other navy with modern large battleships was the USN. Her guns were of WWI vintage (basically from the same bargain warehouse that stored the guns for the Hood, Renown, Repulse and the last two classes of battleships that the RN launched in WWI.) They were slower than their 15" counterparts in the German and Italian navies. Even the RNs Rodney/Nelson class could put out more firepower with their old 16" guns. And the Vanguard was completely outgunned by the 10 modern Battleships of the USN mounting modern 16" guns (as well as the later two classes of dreadnought the USN launched in the WWI era). She was completely outgunned by the Japanese Yamato class with 18.1". Even the previous IJN class (I think Nagato?) also mounted 16" inch guns. Her armor was also less than that of the Iowas, South Dakotas, and Yamatos. Her speed was nothing special at about 30knots making her a lot slower than the Iowas and not practical in being a protection ship for the fast Carrier task forces. Her AA output was average making her less valuable in the 1940s. All they could say was she was very seaworthy.....which made her ideal in being the most heavily armed yacht in the world when the Royal Family used her to visit its fast disappearing Empire at the end of the war. There was absolutely no role she was suited for by the time she was launched. And by the time she was laid down her main competition in the German and Italian navies were already sunk and/or surrendered to the allies.

The US wasnt in financial ruin after WWII

Rafael Berrios They made a video SO IT WOULDNT BE FORGOTTEN. And Britain scrapped them because they needed something called resources. It’s not like this is a fantasy world where everything can be preserved

And sadly after the war Britain was destroyed and in ruins, we were bankrupt, we needed all the materials we could get. Unlike America who was never bombed and basically profited from that so they can restore there old warships

Samuel Harrison yes and what a fitting legacy to that historic name. It has the power of the entire Royal Navy of the time and then some in one 'boat'. How times have changed.

Vanguard is arguably the deadliest weapon on Earth, the American Trident system is thought to be the most reliable and accurate SLBM in use while our nuclear subs are regarded as superior to the US in regard to stealth characteristics like noise dampening and propulsion - the perfect platform to carry them on.

IF you have permission to fire via the US guidance system that is. ;)

The current preservation ship of the era is the most powerful political statement preservation could make, and inevitably made after 1960, the country could not afford the luxury politically to preserve otherwise.

It's twisted and sick, really! Certainly nothing to be cheerful about, right?

Tele Player Hear! Hear! To remind all Britons that once not too long ago Britannia truly did rule the waves.

+Tony Leeks While what you say may have been the case, that Vanguard would have needed a 'protection' fleet, as has now been realised, an exocet would have simply 'burnt the paint' rather than sink her like the Sheffield, Also, the psychological effect of seeing that massive ship, and the ensuing salvo's on soldiers? I somehow think the Argie's would have folded even quicker.

+GodConsciousness And boy DID WE

Stephen Smith Indeed. In fact, in 1939 the largest most powerful fleet in the world was still the Royal Navy, though the US Navy would soon eclipse her in ships under construction and ships commissioned. During the 19th century, it was a popular notion that the best guarantor of world peace was an all-conquering Royal Navy.

+Tony Leeks While she may have needed protection of a large amount, agreed. Unlike Sheffield, exocets would only have literally 'burnt the paint' of armour plating designed to withstand a shell the weight of a car travelling at 2.5 thousand feet per second. And as WW2 demonstrated, the 'fear factor' a battlewagon could inspire in ground forces just appearing on the horizon, knowing they were going to be subjected to 1+ton 'bricks' raining down on them? But really the saddest thing is that the UK never even saved one of the 'famous' Capital ships from various major engagements for posterity.

Why.....the Mutsu fought....the Vanguard was a waste of $$$ and was used as a yacht.

@@NJtuber88 Mutsu exploded in port. She never got involved in surface combat.

@Stalker of the Week: I never said she was destroyed in combat...but she was active in very dangerous theaters of Operation. Vanguard was just a large heavily armed yacht for the Royals to tour the Commonwealth with. She was a waste of money. She was built because the RN was upset that the US, Germans, Italians, and Japanese all had large 40k + ton BBs....and she didn't. And what did they do.....built a BB that was slower, less armored, mounting old WWI era 15" guns that the RN had in stock. She was worthless. She should have been finished as a carrier....and then might have seen a lot more years in service. But there is no reason to "Honor" her. Warspite would have been a much better ship to preserve. But either way....UK could not afford it..

@@NJtuber88 Warspite might have been able to sustain herself at least partially as a museum given her fame (certainly would attract more visitors than Belfast at least). But as you said, in all likelihood, the armored royal tourism boat would have ended up being scrapped anyways

I do believe they saved two of the 15"/42 cal guns, displayed side by side at the entrance to somewhere I don't recall. FWIW, regardless of their vintage, they were among the finest 15" inch guns ever produced.

thejudge 1897 Exactly fucking correct. It’s not like a damn fantasy world where everything can be preserved