Editing St Vincent-class battleship (section)

===Subsequent activity===
After the battle, ''St Vincent'' and ''Collingwood'' joined ''Vanguard'' in the 4th BS.<ref name=b87/> The Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of communication failures and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from intercepting the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruisers were sunk by German [[U-boat]]s during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide not to risk the major units of the fleet to German submarines and [[naval mine|mines]] south of 55° 30' North. The Admiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions.<ref>[[#Halpern|Halpern]] (1995), pp. 330–332.</ref> The Admiralty order meant that the Grand Fleet spent far less time at sea. In late February 1917, the 4th BS conducted tactical exercises for a few days.<ref name=b20>[[#Brady|Brady]] (2014), p. 20.</ref> In January 1918, ''Collingwood'' and some of the older dreadnoughts cruised off the coast of Norway for several days, possibly to provide distant cover for a convoy to Norway.<ref>[[#Brady|Brady]] (2014), pp. 21–22.</ref> Along with the rest of the Grand Fleet, she sortied on the afternoon of 23 April when radio transmissions revealed that the High Seas Fleet was at sea, after a failed attempt to intercept the regular British convoy to Norway. The Germans were too far ahead of the British to be caught and no shots were fired.<ref>[[#Massie|Massie]] (2003), p. 748.</ref> ''St Vincent'' was under repair at [[Invergordon]], Scotland, and could not sortie, but was present at [[Rosyth]] when the German fleet surrendered on 21 November; ''Collingwood'' was refitting in Invergordon.<ref name=b86/><ref>[[#Brady|Brady]] (2014), p. 23.</ref>

====''Vanguard'' explosion====
[[File:Collingwood at Rosyth, 1917.jpg|thumb|''Collingwood'' entering Rosyth, 25 August 1917]]
In the evening of 9 July 1917, ''Vanguard''{{'}}s magazines exploded while she was anchored in the northern part of Scapa Flow; she sank almost instantly, with only three survivors, one of whom died soon afterwards; 842 men aboard were lost.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Saunders |first1=Jonathan |title=Vanguard's Casualties + Survivors |url=http://www.gwpda.org/naval/vancaslt.htm|publisher=The World War I Document Archive |access-date=29 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.scapaflowwrecks.com/wrecks/vanguard/people.php |title=HMS Vanguard People: Scapa Flow Wrecks |publisher=Scapa Flow Historic Wreck Site|access-date=23 December 2016}}</ref> ''Collingwood''{{'}}s crew recovered the bodies of three men killed in the explosion.<ref name=b20/> The [[Board of Inquiry]] concluded that a fire of unknown origin began in a 4-inch magazine and spread to one or both of the nearby 12-inch magazines, which detonated and sank the ship.<ref>[[#Burt|Burt]] (1986), pp. 84, 86.</ref>