Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:46:29-2:48:29

Five museum ships chosen to fill gaps in naval preservation

A preservation thought experiment selects ships that would add a destroyer, armoured carrier, battleship, pre-dreadnought, and wartime sloop to the surviving Royal Navy collection.

Black Swan Class SloopsHMS IllustriousHMS WarspiteMuseum ShipsTribal Class Destroyers (1936)
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Question

Which five Royal Navy ships would be worth saving from scrapping as museum ships?

Short answer

HMS Nubian, HMS Illustrious, HMS Warspite, the pre-dreadnought HMS Renown, and a well-preserved Black Swan-class sloop.

Notes

The first choices are HMS Nubian, HMS Illustrious, and HMS Warspite. Jackie Fisher's pre-dreadnought HMS Renown then represents a poorly preserved generation. With Belfast and Victory already surviving, the final place goes to a Black Swan-class sloop in strong wartime condition. The resulting collection teaches across ship types instead of concentrating on the largest hulls.