 George VI was now too ill for travel , and the Royal Tour was indefinitely postponed later that month . Vanguard became the flagship of Admiral Sir Arthur Power , Commander @-@ in @-@ Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet , on 1 March 1949 , and the ship made port visits to Algeria , France , Italy , Cyprus , Libya , Lebanon , Greece and Egypt before she arrived back at Devonport on 21 July . The newly promoted Rear Admiral Parham was relieved by Captain G. V. Gladstone a week later . The ship then became the flagship of the Home Fleet Training Squadron under Rear Admiral Edward Evans @-@ Lombe on 12 November . While returning from a brief training sortie to Gibraltar , Vanguard went to the aid of a small French merchantman whose cargo had shifted in a severe storm on 13 February 1950 . The merchantman , SS <unk> , was taken under tow and the cargo was redistributed . Once the storm had abated , <unk> was able to resume her voyage under her own power . Vanguard reached Weymouth Bay the following day . Later , in March , she fired the salute to Vincent Auriol , the President of France , during his state visit to Great Britain . 
