75th Anniversary of Royal Tour to South Africa in 1947

 Day 102: 12th May 1947 Captains Diary final entry 0915 The Royal Family shook hands with every Officer and said goodbye to them. 1005  The Royal Family left the Ship. Postal Cover dated the 12th May the day of the return to Portsmouth and noted in South Africa The official programme for the Royal Family return Pictures of the return Walking through the streets of Portsmouth Return to London

 Day 101:11th May 1947 Captains Diary HMS Diadem re-joined at 0200. 1000 the King gave a speech to the ship's company on the Quarter Deck and thanked the crew and granted 3 days extra leave to each watch. I then (Captain) presented to the King and the other members of the Royal Family a souvenir gift from the Captain, Officers and Ships Company. Sketches of the HMS Vanguard returning by famous artist Frank Beresford. Sketches A3 in size. Beresford info from Wikipedia Beresford was born in Derby in 1881 and had a long artistic education. He first studied at the  Derby School of Art , then  St John's Wood Art School , and finally at the  Royal Academy Schools . His talent was rewarded with a travel scholarship that took him to Asia. From 1906 he returned to exhibit at the  Royal Academy . In 1936, Beresford made the only painting of the Princes' keeping vigil with their father's body overnight. It was titled  The Princes' Vigil: 12.15am, January 28, 1936 , and it was

 Day 100: 10th May 1947 Captains Diary The Princesses in the morning visited the Engine Room & Boiler Room and then steered the ship from the Lower Steering Position. Later the whole Royal Family visited the Transmitter Station and Forward Computer Room. In the afternoon a photograph of the Royal Family with the ships crew was taken on the Quarter Deck. The Royal Family dined in the Wardroom.  HMS Diadem was detached to Plymouth at 1100 to land an urgent appendicitis case.  A couple of postal covers, one is connected to HMS Vanguard and has the slogan in black and the other one has the slogan in red. Both covers have the slogan Maritime Mail. What happened after the Royal Tour re the dignitaries and aircraft: Captain/Vice Admiral Agnew Agnew was given command of  HMS  Excellent , the Royal Navy's gunnery school in 1943. In 1946 he was given command of  HMS  Vanguard , remained aboard her after his promotion to rear-admiral in January 1947 and was in command during the Royal tou

 Day 99: 9th May 1947 Captains Diary 1700 The Royal Family visited the Arts & Crafts Exhibition in the information room and her majesty the Queen presented the prizes to the winning competitors. More Postal Covers that show HMS Vanguard HMS Vanguard the Final Chapter Part 4 On the 4th August 1960  HMS Vanguard was towed from Portsmouth harbour to the breakers yard at Faslane ,which is near to Glasgow. However as the ship was towed to the harbours entrance the ship slewed across the harbour to the Still & West public house and went aground. Tugs finally pulled the ship clear and 5 days later it was in Faslane. Pictures of HMS Vanguard 5 days later at Faslane and the breakup started. The 15inch guns were first. Come the 2nd April 1962 the remains of the HMS Vanguard (Hull) was breached and the hull broken up and yielded 38000 tons of metal. This small box has the plaque stating that it was made from oak wood that came from fittings of the Chapel on HMS Vanguard.