Launched in April 1909 H.M.S. Vanguard was the eighth Royal Naval vessel to share the name and was the last of three forming the new 'St. Vincent' Class of Battleship known as a "super-Dreadnought" (her sisters H.M.Ship's Collingwood and St. Vincent were launched a year earlier). Improvements included turbine engines giving her a cruising speed of 21 knots and a range of 6,900 miles, which combined with her ten 12-inch, eighteen 4-inch and two 3-inch guns made her a formidable foe. At the outbreak of war she formed part of the 1st Battle Squadron at Scapa Flow 'though she transferred to the 4th at the Battle of Jutland -- miraculously she did not suffer any damage or casualties despite serving from the beginning of the action. Her service was cut short when she blew up at Scapa Flow on the 9th July 1917 at about 10 p.m. -- it is thought due to spontaneous ignition of her cordite. Of her crew of 823, 804 were killed.