HMS Dreadnought (1906)
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HMS ''Dreadnought'' was a
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ...
whose design revolutionised naval power. The ship's entry into service in 1906 represented such an advance in naval technology that her name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships, the "
dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...
s", as well as the class of ships named after her. Likewise, the generation of ships she made obsolete became known as "
pre-dreadnoughts Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, prot ...
". Admiral Sir John "Jacky" Fisher,
First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Fo ...
of the Board of Admiralty, is credited as the father of ''Dreadnought''. Shortly after he assumed office in 1904, he ordered design studies for a battleship armed solely with guns and a speed of . He convened a "Committee on Designs" to evaluate the alternative designs and to assist in the detailed design work. ''Dreadnought'' was the first battleship of her era to have a uniform
main battery A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a gun or group of guns, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, this came to be turreted ...
, rather than having a few large guns complemented by a heavy
secondary armament Secondary armament is a term used to refer to smaller, faster-firing weapons that were typically effective at a shorter range than the main (heavy) weapons on military systems, including battleship- and cruiser-type warships, tanks/armored ...
of smaller guns. She was also the first
capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic im ...
to be powered by steam turbines, making her the fastest battleship in the world at the time of her completion. Her launch helped spark a naval arms race as navies around the world, particularly the
Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
, rushed to match it in the build-up to the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Ironically for a vessel designed to engage enemy battleships, her only significant action was the ramming and sinking of German submarine ; thus she became the only battleship confirmed to have sunk a submarine. ''Dreadnought'' did not participate in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 as she was being refitted. Nor did ''Dreadnought'' participate in any of the other First World War naval battles. In May 1916 she was relegated to
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duties in the
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, before rejoining the
Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the F ...
in 1918. The ship was reduced to
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in 1919 and sold for scrap two years later.


Genesis


Background

Gunnery developments in the late 1890s and the early 1900s, led in the United Kingdom by
Percy Scott Admiral Sir Percy Moreton Scott, 1st Baronet, (10 July 1853 – 18 October 1924) was a British Royal Navy officer and a pioneer in modern naval gunnery. During his career he proved to be an engineer and problem solver of some considerable f ...
and in the United States by
William Sims William Sowden Sims (October 15, 1858 – September 28, 1936) was an admiral in the United States Navy who fought during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to modernize the navy. During World War I, he commanded all United States naval force ...
, were already pushing expected battle ranges out to an unprecedented , a distance great enough to force gunners to wait for the shells to arrive before applying corrections for the next salvo. A related problem was that the shell splashes from the more numerous smaller weapons tended to obscure the splashes from the bigger guns. Either the smaller-
calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...
guns would have to hold their fire to wait for the slower-firing heavies, losing the advantage of their faster rate of fire, or it would be uncertain whether a splash was due to a heavy or a light gun, making ranging and aiming unreliable. Another problem was that longer-range
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
es were expected to soon be in service and these would discourage ships from closing to ranges where the smaller guns' faster rate of fire would become preeminent. Keeping the range open generally negated the threat from torpedoes and further reinforced the need for heavy guns of a uniform calibre. In 1903, the Italian naval architect
Vittorio Cuniberti Vittorio Emilio Cuniberti (1854–1913) was an Italian military officer and naval engineer who envisioned the concept of the all big gun battleship, best exemplified by HMS ''Dreadnought''. Life and career Born in Turin, he joined the Genio Na ...
first articulated in print the concept of an all-big-gun battleship. When the
Italian Navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...
did not pursue his ideas, Cuniberti wrote an article in ''
Jane's Fighting Ships ''Jane's Fighting Ships'' by Janes Information Services is an annual reference book of information on all the world's warships arranged by nation, including information on ships' names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc. Ea ...
'' advocating his concept. He proposed an "ideal" future British battleship of , with a main battery of a dozen 12-inch guns in eight turrets, 12 inches of
belt armour Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from penetrating to ...
, and a speed of . The Royal Navy (RN), the
Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
and the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
all recognised these issues before 1905. The RN modified the design of the to include a secondary armament of guns that could fight at longer ranges than the guns on older ships, but a proposal to arm them solely with 12-inch guns was rejected.This type of battleship with its secondary armament 9.2 inches or greater would become known retroactively as semi-dreadnoughts. See Sturton, p. 11 The was laid down as an all-big-gun battleship, five months before ''Dreadnought'', but gun shortages allowed her to be equipped with only four of the twelve 12-inch guns that had been planned. The Americans began design work on an all-big-gun battleship around the same time in 1904, but progress was leisurely and the two s were not ordered until March 1906, five months after ''Dreadnought'' was laid down, and the month after she was launched. The invention by
Charles Algernon Parsons Sir Charles Algernon Parsons, (13 June 1854 – 11 February 1931) was an Anglo-Irish engineer, best known for his invention of the compound steam turbine, and as the eponym of C. A. Parsons and Company. He worked as an engineer on d ...
of the steam turbine in 1884 led to a significant increase in the speed of ships with his dramatic unauthorised demonstration of his
yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
''
Turbinia ''Turbinia'' was the first steam turbine-powered steamship. Built as an experimental vessel in 1894, and easily the fastest ship in the world at that time, ''Turbinia'' was demonstrated dramatically at the Spithead Navy Review in 1897 and set ...
'' with her speed of up to at Queen Victoria's
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at
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in 1897. After further trials of two turbine-powered
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s, and , coupled with the positive experiences of several small passenger ships with turbines, ''Dreadnought'' was ordered with turbines. The
Battle of the Yellow Sea The Battle of the Yellow Sea ( ja, 黄海海戦, Kōkai kaisen; russian: Бой в Жёлтом море) was a major naval battle of the Russo-Japanese War, fought on 10 August 1904. In the Russian Navy, it was referred to as the Battle of 10 A ...
and Battle of Tsushima were analysed by Fisher's Committee, with Captain William Pakenham's statement that "12-inch gunfire" by both sides demonstrated hitting power and accuracy, whilst 10-inch shells passed unnoticed. Admiral Fisher wanted his board to confirm, refine and implement his ideas of a warship that had both the speed of 21 knots and 12-inch guns, pointing out that at the Battle of Tsushima,
Admiral Togo Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet ...
had been able to cross the Russians' " T" due to speed. The long-range () engagement during the Battle of the Yellow Sea, in particular, although never experienced by any navy prior to the battle, seemed to confirm what the RN already believed.


Development

Admiral Fisher proposed several designs for battleships with a uniform armament in the early 1900s, and he gathered an unofficial group of advisors to assist him in deciding on the ideal characteristics in early 1904. After he was appointed
First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Fo ...
on 20 October 1904, he pushed through the Board of Admiralty a decision to arm the next battleship with 12 inch guns and that it would have a speed no less than 21 knots. In January 1905, he convened a "Committee on Designs", including many members of his informal group, to evaluate the various design proposals and to assist in the detailed design process. While nominally independent it served to deflect criticism of Fisher and the Board of Admiralty as it had no ability to consider options other than those already decided upon by the Admiralty. Fisher appointed all of the members of the committee and he was President of the Committee. The committee decided on the layout of the main armament, rejecting any superfiring arrangements because of concerns about the effects of muzzle blast on the open sighting hoods on the turret roof below, and chose turbine propulsion over reciprocating engines to save in total displacement on 18 January 1905. Before disbanding on 22 February, it decided on a number of other issues, including the number of shafts (up to six were considered), the size of the anti-torpedo boat armament, and most importantly, to add longitudinal bulkheads to protect the
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and shell rooms from underwater explosions. This was deemed necessary after the was thought to have survived a Japanese torpedo hit during the Russo–Japanese War by virtue of her heavy internal bulkhead. To avoid increasing the displacement of the ship, the thickness of her
waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...
belt was reduced by . The Committee completed its deliberations on 22 February 1905 and reported their findings in March of that year. It was decided due to the experimental nature of the design to delay placing orders for any other ships until ''Dreadnought'' and her trials had been completed. Once the design had been finalised the hull form was designed and tested at the Admiralty's experimental ship tank at Gosport. Seven iterations were required before the final hull form was selected. Once the design was finalized, a team of three assistant engineers and 13 draughtsmen produced detailed drawings. To assist in speeding up the ship's construction, the internal hull structure was simplified as much as possible and an attempt was made to standardize on a limited number of standard plates, which varied only in their thickness.


Description


Overview

''Dreadnought'' was significantly larger than the two ships of the ''Lord Nelson'' class, which were under construction at the same time. She had an
overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...
length of , a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of , and a draught of at deep load. She displaced at normal load and at deep load, almost more than the earlier ships.Burt, p. 29 She had a
metacentric height The metacentric height (GM) is a measurement of the initial static stability of a floating body. It is calculated as the distance between the centre of gravity of a ship and its metacentre. A larger metacentric height implies greater initial stabi ...
of at deep load and a complete double bottom. Officers were customarily housed aft, but ''Dreadnought'' reversed the old arrangement, so that the officers were closer to their action stations. This was very unpopular with the officers, not least because they were now berthed near the noisy auxiliary machinery while the turbines made the rear of the ship much quieter than they had been in earlier steamships. This arrangement lasted among the British dreadnoughts until the of 1910. The crew numbered 700 officers and ratings in 1907, but increased to 810 in 1916.


Propulsion

Vickers, Sons & Maxim was the prime contractor for the ship's machinery, but as they had no large turbine experience, they sourced them from
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. ''Dreadnought'' was the first battleship to use turbines in place of the older reciprocating triple-expansion steam engines.Burt, p. 33 She had two paired sets of
direct-drive A direct-drive mechanism is a mechanism design where the force or torque from a prime mover is transmitted directly to the effector device (such as the drive wheels of a vehicle) without involving any intermediate couplings such as a gear train o ...
turbines, each of which drove two diameter, three-bladed propellers using steam provided by 18
Babcock & Wilcox boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...
s that had a working pressure of . The turbines, rated at , were intended to give a maximum speed of 21 knots; the ship reached from during her
sea trials A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and i ...
on 9 October 1906. ''Dreadnought'' carried of coal, and an additional of fuel oil that was to be sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. At full capacity, she could steam for at a speed of .Roberts, p. 25


Armament

''Dreadnought''s main armament consisted of ten 45-
calibre In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the finished bore match ...
BL 12-inch Mark X guns in five twin Mark BVIII
gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...
s. The forward turret ('A') and two aft turrets ('X' and 'Y') were located along the centreline of the ship. Two
wing turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechanism ...
s ('P' and 'Q') were located
port and starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...
of the forward superstructure respectively. ''Dreadnought'' could deliver a
broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...
of eight guns between 60° before the beam and 50°
abaft This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...
the beam. Beyond these limits she could fire six guns aft, and four forward. On bearings 1° ahead or astern she could fire six guns, although she would have inflicted
blast Blast or The Blast may refer to: *Explosion, a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner *Detonation, an exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front Film * ''Blast'' (1997 film), ...
damage on the superstructure.Roberts, p. 28 The guns could be depressed to −3° and
elevated An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a rapid transit railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or bricks ...
to +13.5°. They fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity of , giving a maximum range of with armour-piercing (AP) 2
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shells. Using the more aerodynamic, but slightly heavier, 4 crh AP shells extended the range to . The rate of fire of these guns was about two rounds per minute. The ships carried 80 rounds per gun. The secondary armament initially consisted of twenty-seven 50-calibre, quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder 18 cwt Mark I guns."Cwt" is the abbreviation for
hundredweight The hundredweight (abbreviation: cwt), formerly also known as the centum weight or quintal, is a British imperial and US customary unit of weight or mass. Its value differs between the US and British imperial systems. The two values are distingu ...
, 18 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.
The guns had an elevation range between −10° and +20°. They fired projectiles at a muzzle velocity of . The guns had a rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute. The ship carried three hundred rounds for each gun.Roberts, pp. 29–30 The original plan was to dismount the eight guns on the
forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...
and quarterdeck and stow them on chocks on the deck during daylight to prevent them from being damaged by muzzle blast from the main guns. Gun trials in December 1906 proved that this was more difficult than expected and the two port guns from the forecastle and the outer starboard gun from the quarterdeck were transferred to turret roofs, giving each turret two guns. The remaining forecastle guns and the outer port gun from the quarterdeck were removed by the end of 1907, which reduced the total to twenty-four guns. During her April–May 1915 refit, the two guns from the roof of 'A' turret were reinstalled in the original positions on the starboard side of the quarterdeck. A year later, the two guns at the rear of the superstructure were removed, reducing the ship to twenty-two guns. Two of the quarterdeck guns were given high-angle mounts for anti-aircraft duties and the two guns abreast the conning tower were removed in 1917.Roberts, p. 30 A pair of QF six-pounder () Hotchkiss anti-aircraft guns on high-angle mountings were mounted on the quarterdeck in 1915. They had a maximum depression of −8° and a maximum elevation of +60°. The shell was fired at a muzzle velocity of . They were replaced by a pair of
QF 3-inch 20 cwt The QF 3 inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft gun became the standard anti-aircraft gun used in the home defence of the United Kingdom against German airships and bombers and on the Western Front in World War I. It was also common on British warships i ...
guns on high-angle Mark II mounts in 1916. These guns had a maximum depression of 10° and a maximum elevation of 90°. They fired a 12.5-pound shell at a muzzle velocity of at a rate of 29 rounds per minute. They had a maximum effective ceiling of . ''Dreadnought'' carried five 18-inch (450 mm) submerged
torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s, two on each broadside and one in the stern. Twenty-three torpedoes were carried for them. In addition six torpedoes were carried for her steam
picket boat A picket boat is a type of small naval craft. These are used for harbor patrol and other close inshore work, and have often been carried by larger warships as a ship's boat. They range in size between 30 and 55 feet. Patrol boats, or any craft en ...
s.


Fire control

''Dreadnought'' was one of the first vessels of the Royal Navy to be fitted with instruments for electrically transmitting range, order and
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information to the turrets. The control positions for the main armament were located in the
spotting top Spotting may refer to: Medicine * Vaginal spotting, light bleeding that is not a menstrual period Photography: * Aircraft spotting * Bus spotting * Car spotting * Train spotting Pastimes: * Spots (cannabis), a method of smoking cannabis Phys ...
at the head of the foremast and on a platform on the roof of the signal tower. Data from a Barr and Stroud FQ-2
rangefinder A rangefinder (also rangefinding telemeter, depending on the context) is a device used to measure distances to remote objects. Originally optical devices used in surveying, they soon found applications in other fields, such as photography an ...
located at each control position was input into a
Dumaresq The Dumaresq is a mechanical calculating device invented around 1902 by Lieutenant John Dumaresq of the Royal Navy. It is an analogue computer that relates vital variables of the fire control problem to the movement of one's own ship and that ...
mechanical computer and electrically transmitted to
Vickers range clock The Vickers Range Clock was a clockwork device used by the Royal Navy for continuously calculating the range to an enemy ship. Overview In 1903, Percy Scott described a device he'd invented which was similar to the Vickers clock. In April 1904, ...
s located in the Transmitting Station located beneath each position on the main deck, where it was converted into range and deflection data for use by the guns. Voice pipes were retained for use between the Transmitting Station and the control positions. The target's data was also graphically recorded on a plotting table to assist the gunnery officer in predicting the movement of the target. The turrets, Transmitting Stations, and control positions could be connected in almost any combination. Firing trials against in 1907 revealed this system's vulnerability to gunfire, as its spotting top was hit twice and a large splinter severed the voice pipe and all wiring running along the mast. To guard against this possibility, ''Dreadnought''s fire-control system was comprehensively upgraded during her refits in 1912–13. The rangefinder in the foretop was given a gyro-stabilized Argo mount and 'A' and 'Y' turrets were upgraded to serve as secondary control positions for any portion or all of the main armament. An additional 9-foot rangefinder was installed on the
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. In addition, 'A' turret was fitted with another 9-foot rangefinder at the rear of the turret roof and a Mark I
Dreyer Fire Control Table Admiral Sir Frederic Charles Dreyer, (8 January 1878 – 11 December 1956) was an officer of the Royal Navy. A gunnery expert, he developed a fire control system for British warships, and served as flag captain to Admiral Sir John Jellicoe at ...
was installed in the main Transmitting Station. It combined the functions of the Dumaresq and the range clock.Roberts, p. 31 Fire-control technology advanced quickly during the years immediately preceding the First World War, and the most important development was the director firing system. This consisted of a fire-control director mounted high in the ship which electrically provided data to the turrets via pointers, which the turret crew were to follow. The director layer fired the guns simultaneously which aided in spotting the shell splashes and minimised the effects of the roll on the dispersion of the shells. A prototype was fitted in ''Dreadnought'' in 1909, but it was removed to avoid conflict with her duties as flagship of the Home Fleet. Preparations to install a production director were made during her May–June 1915 refit and every turret received a rangefinder at the same time. The exact date of the installation of the director is not known, other than it was not fitted before the end of 1915, and it was most likely mounted during her April–June 1916 refit.


Armour

''Dreadnought'' used
Krupp cemented armour Krupp armour was a type of steel naval armour used in the construction of capital ships starting shortly before the end of the nineteenth century. It was developed by Germany's Krupp Arms Works in 1893 and quickly replaced Harvey armour as the pr ...
throughout, unless otherwise mentioned. Her waterline belt measured thick, but tapered to at its lower edge. It extended from the rear of 'A' barbette to the centre of 'Y' barbette. Oddly, it was reduced to abreast 'A' barbette. A extension ran from 'A' barbette forward to the bow and a similar 4 inch extension ran aft to the stern. An bulkhead was angled obliquely inwards from the end of the main belt to the side of 'X'
barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protectio ...
to fully enclose the armoured citadel at middle deck level. An 8-inch belt sat above the main belt, but only ran as high as the main deck. One major problem with ''Dreadnought''s armour scheme was that the top of the 11 inch belt was only above the waterline at normal load and it was submerged by over 12 inches at deep load, which meant that the waterline was then protected only by the 8 inch upper belt. The turret faces and sides were protected by 11 inches of armour, while the turret roofs used 3 inches of Krupp non-cemented armour (KNC). The exposed faces of the barbettes were 11 inches thick, but the inner faces were 8 inches thick above the main deck. 'X' barbette's was 8 inches thick all around. Below the main deck, the barbettes' armour thinned to four inches except for 'A' barbette (eight inches) and 'Y' which remained 11 inches thick. The thickness of the main deck ranged from . The middle deck was thick on the flat and where it sloped down to meet the bottom edge of the main belt. Over the magazine for 'A' and 'Y' turrets it was 3 inches thick, on slope and flat both. The lower deck armour was forward and 2 inches aft where it increased to 3 inches to protect the steering gear. The sides of the conning tower were 11 inches thick and it had a 3-inch roof of KNC. It had a communications tube with 8 inch walls of mild steel down to the Transmitting Station on the middle deck. The walls of the signal tower were 8 inches thick while it had a roof of 3 inches of KNC armour. 2 inch
torpedo bulkhead A torpedo bulkhead is a type of naval armour common on the more heavily armored warships, especially battleships and battlecruisers of the early 20th century. It is designed to keep the ship afloat even if the hull is struck underneath the belt ar ...
s were fitted abreast the magazines and shell rooms of 'A', 'X' and 'Y' turrets, but this increased to 4 inches abreast 'P' and 'Q' turrets to compensate for their outboard location. In common with all major warships of her day, ''Dreadnought'' was fitted with
anti-torpedo net Torpedo nets were a passive ship defensive device against torpedoes. They were in common use from the 1890s until the Second World War. They were superseded by the anti-torpedo bulge and torpedo belts. Origins With the introduction of the Whitehe ...
s, but these were removed early in the war, since they caused considerable loss of speed and were easily defeated by torpedoes fitted with net-cutters.


Electrical equipment

Electrical power was provided by three 100 kW, 100 V DC
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
generators, powered by two Brotherhood steam and two Mirrlees diesel engines (which later changed to three steam and one diesel). Among the equipment powered by 100 volt DC and 15 volt DC electrical systems were five lifts (elevators), eight coaling winches, pumps, ventilation fans, lighting and telephone systems.


Construction

''Dreadnought'' was the sixth ship of the RN to bear the name ''
Dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...
'', which means "fear nothing". To meet Admiral Fisher's goal of building the ship in a single year, material was stockpiled in advance and a great deal of prefabrication was done from May 1905 onwards with approximately 6,000 man weeks of work expended before she was formally laid down on 2 October 1905 on No.5 Slip.Brown, Paul; p. 25 In addition, she was built at
HM Dockyard, Portsmouth His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...
which was regarded as the fastest-building shipyard in the world. The slip was screened from prying eyes and attempts made to indicate that the design was no different to other battleships. 1,100 men were already employed by the time she was laid down, but soon this number rose to 3,000. Whereas on previous ships the men had worked a 48-hour week, they were required on ''Dreadnought'' to work a 69-hour, six-day week from 06:00 to 18:00, which included compulsory overtime with only a 30-minute lunch break. While double shifting was considered to ease the long hours which were unpopular with the men, this was not possible due to labour shortages. Day 6 (7 October), the first of the bulkheads and most of the middle-deck beams were in place. By Day 20, the forward part of the bow was in position and the hull plating was well underway. By Day 55 all of the upper-deck beams were in place, and by Day 83 the upper deck plates were in position. By Day 125 (4 February), the hull was finished. ''Dreadnought'' was christened with a bottle of Australian wine by
King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria a ...
on 10 February 1906, after only four months on the ways. The bottle required multiple blows to shatter on a bow that later became famous. Signifying the ship's importance the launch had been planned to be a large elaborate festive event, however as the court was still in mourning for Queen Alexandra's father who had died twelve days before, she did not attend and a more sober event occurred. Following the launch, fitting out of the ship occurred at No.15 Dock. The ship's construction cost £1,785,683. Other sources however state £1,783,883. and £1,672,483.


Trials

On 1 October 1906, steam was raised and she went to sea on 3 October 1906 for two days of
trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribun ...
at Devonport, only a year and a day after construction started. On the 9th she undertook her eight-hour-long full-power contractor trials off
Polperro Polperro ( kw, Porthpyra, meaning ''Pyra's cove'') is a large village, civil parish, and fishing harbour within the Polperro Heritage Coastline in south Cornwall, England. Its population is around 1,554. Polperro, through which runs the River ...
on the Cornwall coast during which she averaged 20.05 knots and 21.6 knots on the measured mile. She returned to Portsmouth for gun and torpedo trials before she completed her final fitting out. She was commissioned into the fleet on 11 December 1906, fifteen months after she was laid down. The suggestion that her building had been sped up by using guns and/or turrets originally designed for the Lord Nelson-class ships which preceded her is not borne out as the guns and turrets were not ordered until July 1905. It seems more likely that ''Dreadnought''s turrets and guns merely received higher priority than those of the earlier ships. ''Dreadnought'' sailed for the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
for extensive trials in December 1906 calling in at Arosa Bay,
Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...
and Golfo d'Aranci before crossing the Atlantic to Port of Spain,
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
in January 1907, returning to Portsmouth on 23 March 1907. During this cruise, her engines and guns were given a thorough workout by Captain
Reginald Bacon Admiral Sir Reginald Hugh Spencer Bacon, (6 September 1863 – 9 June 1947) was an officer in the Royal Navy noted for his technical abilities. He was described by the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Jacky Fisher, as the man "acknowledged to be the ...
, Fisher's former Naval Assistant and a member of the Committee on Designs. His report stated, "No member of the Committee on Designs dared to hope that all the innovations introduced would have turned out as successfully as had been the case." During this time she averaged between Gibraltar and Trinidad and from Trinidad to Portsmouth, an unprecedented high-speed performance. This shakedown cruise revealed several issues that were dealt with in subsequent refits, notably the replacement of her steering engines and the addition of cooling machinery to reduce the temperature levels in her magazines (
cordite Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom since 1889 to replace black powder as a military propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burn ...
degrades more quickly at high temperatures). The most important issue, which was never addressed in her lifetime, was that the placement of her foremast behind the forward funnel put the spotting top right in the plume of hot exhaust gases, much to the detriment of her fighting ability.


Career

From 1907–1911, ''Dreadnought'' served as
flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet. In 1910, she attracted the attention of notorious
hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...
er Horace de Vere Cole, who persuaded the Royal Navy to arrange for a party of Abyssinian royals to be given a tour of a ship. In reality, the "Abyssinian royals" were some of Cole's friends in blackface and disguise, including a young
Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...
and her Bloomsbury Group friends; it became known as the ''Dreadnought'' hoax. Cole had picked ''Dreadnought'' because she was at that time the most prominent and visible symbol of Britain's naval might. She was replaced as flagship of the Home Fleet by in March 1911 and was assigned to the 1st Division of the Home Fleet. She participated in
King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
's Coronation
Fleet Review A fleet review or naval review is an event where a gathering of ships from a particular navy is paraded and reviewed by an incumbent head of state and/or other official civilian and military dignitaries. A number of national navies continue to ...
in June 1911. ''Dreadnought'' became flagship of the 4th Battle Squadron in December 1912 after her transfer from the 1st Battle Squadron, as the 1st Division had been renamed earlier in the year. Between September and December 1913 she was training in the Mediterranean Sea. At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, she was flagship of the 4th Battle Squadron in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
, based at Scapa Flow. She was relieved as flagship on 10 December by . Ironically for a vessel designed to engage enemy battleships, her only significant action was the ramming and sinking of German submarine , skippered by K/Lt
Otto Weddigen Otto Eduard Weddigen (15 September 1882 – 18 March 1915) was an Imperial German Navy U-boat commander during World War I. He was awarded the Pour le Mérite, Germany's highest honour, for sinking four British warships. Biography and car ...
(of fame), on 18 March 1915. ''U-29'' had broken the surface immediately ahead of ''Dreadnought'' after firing a torpedo at ''Neptune'', and ''Dreadnought'' cut the submarine in two after a short chase. She almost collided with who was also attempting to ram the submarine.Burt, p. 41 ''Dreadnought'' thus became the only battleship ever to purposefully sink an enemy submarine. She was refitting at Portsmouth from 18 April–22 June 1916 and missed the Battle of Jutland on 31 May, the most significant fleet engagement of the war. ''Dreadnought'' became flagship of the 3rd Battle Squadron on 9 July, based at Sheerness on the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
, part of a force of pre-dreadnoughts intended to counter the threat of shore bombardment by German battlecruisers. During this time, she fired her AA guns at German aircraft that passed over her headed for London. She returned to the
Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the F ...
in March 1918, resuming her role as flagship of the 4th Battle Squadron, but was paid off on 7 August 1918 at
Rosyth Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440. The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...
. She was recommissioned on 25 February 1919 as the tender ''Hercules'' to act as a parent ship for the Reserve. ''Dreadnought'' was put up for sale on 31 March 1920 and sold for scrap to
Thos. W. Ward Thos. W. Ward Ltd was a Sheffield, Yorkshire, steel, engineering and cement business, which began as coal and coke merchants. It expanded into recycling metal for Sheffield's steel industry, and then the supply and manufacture of machinery. I ...
on 9 May 1921 as one of the 113 ships that the firm purchased at a flat rate of £2. 10/- per ton, later reduced to £2. 4/- per ton. As ''Dreadnought'' was assessed at 16,650 tons, she cost the shipbreaker £36,630 though another source states £44,750. She was broken up at Ward's new premises at
Inverkeithing Inverkeithing ( ; gd, Inbhir Chèitinn) is a port town and parish, in Fife, Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. A town of ancient origin, Inverkeithing was given royal burgh status during the reign of Malcolm IV in the 12th century. It was an imp ...
, Scotland, upon arrival on 2 January 1923. Very few artefacts from ''Dreadnought'' have survived, although a gun tompion is in the
National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unite ...
at
Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
.


Significance

Her design so thoroughly eclipsed earlier types that subsequent battleships of all nations were generically known as "
dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...
s" and older battleships as "
pre-dreadnought Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, protec ...
s". Her very short construction time was intended to demonstrate that Britain could build an unassailable lead in the new type of battleships. Her construction sparked a naval arms race, and soon all major fleets were adding ''Dreadnought''-like ships.Preston, p. 18 In 1960, Britain's first nuclear submarine was named . The name will be used again for the
lead ship The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may ...
of the new
class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
of Trident missile submarines. The modern acoustic guitar developed with a wide, deep body was named the Dreadnought shape after this ship. In 2014, a newly classified genus of
Titanosaurid Lithostrotia is a clade of derived titanosaur sauropods that lived during the Early Cretaceous and Late Cretaceous. The group was defined by Upchurch ''et al.'' in 2004 as the most recent common ancestor of '' Malawisaurus'' and '' Saltasaurus'' ...
sauropod
dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
s was named ''
Dreadnoughtus ''Dreadnoughtus'' is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur containing a single species, ''Dreadnoughtus schrani''. ''D. schrani'' is known from two partial skeletons discovered in Upper Cretaceous (Campanian to Maastrichtian; approximately ...
'' due to its gigantic size making it "virtually impervious" to attack; the name, which means "fear nothing," was inspired by the battleship.


Notes


References


Sources

* * Blyth, Robert J. et al. eds. ''The Dreadnought and the Edwardian Age'' (2011) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Guide to the ''Dreadnoughts distinctive guns

Dreadnought Project
s technical material on the weaponry and fire control of the ship





* ttp://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/great_britain/battleships/dreadnought/hms_dreadnought.htm Maritimequest HMS ''Dreadnought'' photo gallery {{DEFAULTSORT:Dreadnought (1906) 1906 ships Dreadnought-class battleships Ships built in Portsmouth World War I battleships of the United Kingdom British inventions English inventions Dreadnought hoax