Q&A: could Renown have survived as a museum?

Had Renown avoided scrapping, could she have been preserved?

Probably: surviving in reserve to around 1960, alongside Vanguard, could have made Renown a compelling preservation candidate.

Renown's preservation prospects would have improved greatly if she had entered reserve rather than being sold in 1948. Surviving alongside Vanguard into 1960 would have kept veterans and their families closely connected to the ship. Her status as the nearest operational counterpart to Britain's last battleship would also have strengthened the historical case. Reaching that living-memory threshold could have made museum preservation much more politically and publicly attractive.