 Vanguard arrived in Cape Town on 17 February , escorted by the South African frigates Good Hope , Transvaal and Natal on the last leg of her voyage . While the Royal Family toured the country on the first visit by a reigning monarch to South Africa , the ship exercised with ships of the South African and Royal Navies stationed there and made port visits to a number of South African cities . She sailed for home on 22 April and made brief visits to Saint Helena and Ascension Island en route . Vanguard arrived in Portsmouth on 11 May , and Captain F. R. Parham relieved the newly promoted Agnew on 29 May . In July , the ship began an overhaul in Devonport , which lasted until August 1948 . While she was refitting , Vanguard was tasked to carry the Royal Family on a tour of Australia and New Zealand , planned for January 1949 . On 31 August , she began a shakedown cruise to the Mediterranean and returned to Devonport on 12 November . Around this time , Vanguard was considered , along with a number of other large warships , for conversion to carry anti @-@ aircraft missiles , but nothing further was done along these lines . 
