Vincent Black Knight from the saddle and a single damper replaced the twin rear shocks. The frame was also modified with the strong steel 'backbone' was replaced with a single tubular strut bolted to the steering head (which proved much weaker). The Black Knight was launched at the 1954 Earls Court motorcycle show, together with the 998cc Vincent Black Prince (an enclosed version of the Black Shadow ) and the 500cc Vincent Victor (which never went into production as only the prototype was ever built). There was a lot of interest but much of it was critical, and the Black Knight/Black Prince models
HMS Black Prince (81) the modernisation had to be cancelled, and "Black Prince" was placed in reserve until 1953. She returned to service after refitting with simplified secondary armament with a single quad pom pom in Q position and 8 x 1 Mk3 40mm electric Bofors guns. The ship was decommissioned again two years later, and returned to the Royal Navy in 1961. "Black Prince" did not re-enter service, and was towed from Auckland to the Osaka breakage yards for scrapping in 1962. "Black Prince" was a modified "Dido" design, sometimes called "Dido" Group 2, or the "Bellona" subgroup with only four 5.25-inch mounts