5 British Warships Britain Should Never Have Destroyed
#RoyalNavy #NavalHistory #Battleship Britain ended World War Two with the most decorated fleet in its history, and preserved almost none of it. Here are 5 British warships Britain should never have scrapped, and the one that got away. HMS Warspite, HMS Rodney, HMS Nelson, HMS Renown and HMS Vanguard were the pride of the Royal Navy, ships that fought at Jutland, sank the Bismarck, drove off Scharnhorst and Gneisenau off Norway, took the Italian surrender and carried the Royal Family across the world. Within fifteen years of victory, every one of them was cut apart for scrap steel. Warspite, the most decorated warship in Royal Navy history, broke her tow in a Cornish gale and drove herself onto the rocks at Prussia Cove rather than reach the breaker's yard. Rodney, the battleship that pounded the Bismarck to a wreck, went to Inverkeithing. Nelson, where Italy signed its armistice, was used as a bombing target before being broken up. Renown, the last battlecruiser in the world, went to the torch. Vanguard, the last and largest battleship Britain ever built, ran aground on her final tow out of Portsmouth as if she too did not want to go. Only one ship survived. HMS Belfast, the Town class cruiser that helped sink Scharnhorst at the Battle of North Cape in 1943 and fired some of the first shots on D-Day, was marked for disposal in 1971 with a scrap value of over £350,000. She was saved not by the government but by a private trust led by her own former captain, Rear-Admiral Sir Morgan Morgan-Giles, who fought her case in the House of Commons. On Trafalgar Day, 21 October 1971, Belfast opened to the public as the first British warship preserved for the nation since HMS Victory. This is the story of British naval austerity, the scrapping of the post-war Royal Navy, and why a country that once ruled the waves kept none of its great battleships, when the United States preserved eight. A tale of loss, and of one remarkable rescue. TOPICS COVERED IN THIS VIDEO Why Britain scrapped its Royal Navy fleet after 1945 HMS Warspite and the grounding at Prussia Cove HMS Rodney and the sinking of the Bismarck HMS Nelson and the Italian and Japanese surrenders HMS Renown, Force H, and the last battlecruiser HMS Vanguard, Britain's last battleship HMS Belfast, the Battle of North Cape and D-Day The 1971 rescue of HMS Belfast and the Morgan-Giles trust Why the United States preserved eight battleships and Britain preserved none RESEARCH SOURCES Imperial War Museum, HMS Belfast collection and archives National Maritime Museum, Royal Museums Greenwich Stephen Roskill, The War at Sea 1939 to 1945 R. A. Burt, British Battleships 1919 to 1945 and The Last British Battleship D. K. Brown, Nelson to Vanguard Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships Hansard, House of Commons debate, 8 March 1971 Historical Research, Oxford Academic, on the demise of the post-war battleship The Mariner's Mirror, on the last days of HMS Warspite in Cornwall FURTHER READING Peter C. Smith, HMS Warspite, the history of a famous battleship Iain Ballantyne, HMS Rodney, Slayer of the Bismarck R. A. Burt, The Last British Battleship, HMS Vanguard 1946 to 1960 The Imperial War Museum guide to HMS Belfast #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory #HMSBelfast #Warspite #Battleship
#RoyalNavy #NavalHistory #Battleship
Britain ended World War Two with the most decorated fleet in its history, and preserved almost none of it. Here are 5 British warships Britain should never have scrapped, and the one that got away.
HMS Warspite, HMS Rodney, HMS Nelson, HMS Renown and HMS Vanguard were the pride of the Royal Navy, ships that fought at Jutland, sank the Bismarck, drove off Scharnhorst and Gneisenau off Norway, took the Italian surrender and carried the Royal Family across the world. Within fifteen years of victory, every one of them was cut apart for scrap steel. Warspite, the most decorated warship in Royal Navy history, broke her tow in a Cornish gale and drove herself onto the rocks at Prussia Cove rather than reach the breaker's yard. Rodney, the battleship that pounded the Bismarck to a wreck, went to Inverkeithing. Nelson, where Italy signed its armistice, was used as a bombing target before being broken up. Renown, the last battlecruiser in the world, went to the torch. Vanguard, the last and largest battleship Britain ever built, ran aground on her final tow out of Portsmouth as if she too did not want to go.
Only one ship survived. HMS Belfast, the Town class cruiser that helped sink Scharnhorst at the Battle of North Cape in 1943 and fired some of the first shots on D-Day, was marked for disposal in 1971 with a scrap value of over £350,000. She was saved not by the government but by a private trust led by her own former captain, Rear-Admiral Sir Morgan Morgan-Giles, who fought her case in the House of Commons. On Trafalgar Day, 21 October 1971, Belfast opened to the public as the first British warship preserved for the nation since HMS Victory.
This is the story of British naval austerity, the scrapping of the post-war Royal Navy, and why a country that once ruled the waves kept none of its great battleships, when the United States preserved eight. A tale of loss, and of one remarkable rescue.
TOPICS COVERED IN THIS VIDEO
Why Britain scrapped its Royal Navy fleet after 1945
HMS Warspite and the grounding at Prussia Cove
HMS Rodney and the sinking of the Bismarck
HMS Nelson and the Italian and Japanese surrenders
HMS Renown, Force H, and the last battlecruiser
HMS Vanguard, Britain's last battleship
HMS Belfast, the Battle of North Cape and D-Day
The 1971 rescue of HMS Belfast and the Morgan-Giles trust
Why the United States preserved eight battleships and Britain preserved none
RESEARCH SOURCES
Imperial War Museum, HMS Belfast collection and archives
National Maritime Museum, Royal Museums Greenwich
Stephen Roskill, The War at Sea 1939 to 1945
R. A. Burt, British Battleships 1919 to 1945 and The Last British Battleship
D. K. Brown, Nelson to Vanguard
Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships
Hansard, House of Commons debate, 8 March 1971
Historical Research, Oxford Academic, on the demise of the post-war battleship
The Mariner's Mirror, on the last days of HMS Warspite in Cornwall
FURTHER READING
Peter C. Smith, HMS Warspite, the history of a famous battleship
Iain Ballantyne, HMS Rodney, Slayer of the Bismarck
R. A. Burt, The Last British Battleship, HMS Vanguard 1946 to 1960
The Imperial War Museum guide to HMS Belfast
#RoyalNavy #NavalHistory #HMSBelfast #Warspite #Battleship
