"Nelson" was relieved as flagship on 20 September and departed for home on 13 October. She arrived at Portsmouth on 17 November and became the flagship of the Home Fleet a week later. "King George V" replaced her as flagship on 9 April 1946 and "Nelson" became a training ship in July. When the Training Squadron was formed on 14 August, the ship became flagship of the Rear-Admiral that commanded the training battleships. She was relieved as flagship by the battleship in October and became a private ship. "Nelson" was slightly damaged by a collision with the submarine in Portland on 15 April 1947. The ship was placed in reserve on 20 October 1947 at Rosyth and was listed for disposal on 19 May 1948. From 4 June to 23 September she was used as a target ship for armour-piercing aerial bombs to evaluate their ability to penetrate the ship's armoured deck. "Nelson" was turned over to the British Iron & Steel Corporation on 5 January 1949 and was allocated to Thos W Ward for scrapping. The ship arrived at Inverkeithing on 15 March to begin demolition.