- HMS Vanguard during the Great War -
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HMS Vanguard
HMS Vanguard
HMS Vanguard, the ninth vessel to bear the name, was ordered in 1907 and built at Vickers Barrow-in-Furness, She was laid on the 2nd of April 1908, Launched on the 22nd of February 1909 and Commissioned on 1st of March 1910. Vanguard was a St. Vincent-class dreadnought battleship with a displacement of 19,560 t. Length: 152.4 m (500 ft) Beam: 25.6 m (84 ft) Draught: 8.7 m (28.5 ft). Her propulsion was 4 shaft Parsons turbines, coal-fired boilers, 24,500 shp, giving a top speed of21.7 knots (40.2 km/h) She had a range of 6,900 nautical miles (12,780 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) and her crew complement was 758 officers and ratings. She was armed with:
At the outbreak of World War I, Vanguard joined the First Battle Squadron at Scapa Flow, and fought in the Battle of Jutland as part of the Fourth Battle Squadron. As one of twenty-four dreadnoughts in Jellicoe's Battle Fleet, she did not suffer any damage or casualties.
- 10 × BL 12-inch (304.8 mm) Mk XI guns (5×2)
- 12 × BL 4-inch (101.6 mm) Mk VII guns
- 1 × 4 inch AA gun
- 1 × 3 inch AA gun
- 3 × 18 inch torpedo tubes (submerged)
Just before midnight on 9 July 1917 at Scapa Flow, Vanguard suffered an explosion, probably caused by an unnoticed stokehold fire heating cordite stored against an adjacent bulkhead in one of the two magazines which served the amidships gun turrets 'P' and 'Q'. She sank almost instantly, killing an estimated 804 men and there were only two survivors. One of the casualties of the disaster was Captain Kyōsuke Eto, a military observer from the Imperial Japanese Navy, which was allied with the Royal Navy at the time through the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.
The site is now designated as a controlled site under the Protection of Military Remains Act. In terms of loss of life, the destruction of the Vanguard remains the most catastrophic accidental explosion in the history of the UK, and one of the worst accidental losses of the Royal Navy.
John DoranIf you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
Want to know more about HMS Vanguard?
These include information on officers service records, letters, diaries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
Those known to have served in
HMS Vanguard
during the Great War 1914-1918.
- Abbott Henry William. Stoker 1st Class (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Abrey David Rowland. Able Seaman (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Ackrill Robert. Ordinary Seaman (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Adam Francis. Signal Boy (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Adams John Wilson. Carpenters Crew (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Adlam William Milton. Able Seaman (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Agg James. Able Seaman (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Agnew Thomas Rainey. Stoker 1st Class (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Agnew Thomas Rainey . Stkr1. (d.9th July 1917)
- Alder Joseph. Petty Officer Stoker (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Aldridge Frederick John. Ordinary Seaman (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Allender Frederick. Engineer Sub-Lieutenant (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Allwright James William Ladson. Electrical Artificer 2nd (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Ambler John. Mechanician (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Amor George. Able Seaman (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Antcliffe Henry. Lance Corporal (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Apps Albert George. Petty Officer Stoker (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Archer Wallace Lynes. Stoker 1st Class (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Armitage Harold. Petty Officer Stoker (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Armitage William. Chief Stoker (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Arnold George Arthur. Gunner (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Arnott Alexander. Stoker (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Ashford Leonard John. Stoker 1st Class (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Aspinall John Henry. Artificer Electrical 2nd (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Athroll Arthur Palmer. Able Seaman (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Atkins Ernest Bolton. Leading Stoker (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Atkinson Lance. Able Seaman (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Attwood Walter. Able Seaman (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Austen Thomas Charles Barwick. Boy Telegraphist (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Avis Alfred William. Stoker 2nd Class (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Ayre Abraham. Stoker (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Ayres Jesse. Stoker 2nd Class (d.9 Jul 1917)
- Barton Enoch. Able Sea. (d.9th Jul 1917)
- Brideoake John Thomas. Pte. (d.9th July 1917)
- Lewis Albert Thomas. Stkr1.
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed, please Add a Name to this List
Records of HMS Vanguard from other sources.
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