Naval History Homepage and Site Search

 

World War 1 at Sea RISE OF THE DREADNOUGHT BATTLESHIP, 1906 to 1914 Note by Gordon Smith, Naval-History.Net

HMS Dreadnought, following her launch (Maritime Quest, click to enlarge)

Note: Dreadnoughts completed after August 1914 (and subsequently lost) are not included here. The summary of ship characteristics are all from "Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921" for consistency as measurements usually vary from source to source. "Maximum" values are in bold as a point of reference. Photos are mainly courtesy Maritime Quest, unless otherwise identified. Some of the photos give an impression of the difficulty of fighting such ships with their dense funnel smoke, gunsmoke, and in heavy seas

Completions Year-by-Year - 1906-14

1906           Britain - First all big-gunned battleship DREADNOUGHT completed for the Royal Navy led to a rapid building race between Britain and Germany, in which other major powers joined.   21,845t deep load 21 knots 11in max belt armour 10-12in main armament 695-773 crew             1908           Britain - 3 Invincible class battlecruisers: INVINCIBLE (right), INDOMITABLE, INFLEXIBLE   20,078t deep load 25 knots 6in max belt armour 8-12in 784 crew             1909           Britain - 3 Bellerophon class: BELLEROPHON (right), SUPERB, TEMERAIRE   22,102t deep load 21 knots 10in max belt armour 10-12in 733 crew           Germany - First German dreadnoughts, 4 Westfalen class: WESTFALEN (right), NASSAU, POSEN, RHEINLAND   21,000t deep load 19 knots 12in max belt armour 12-11in 1008 crew (1124-1139 at Jutland)   large armoured cruiser/battlecruiser BLUCHER (right).   17,250t deep load 24 knots 7in max belt armour 12-8.2in 847 crew (1026 at Dogger Bank)             1910           Austria - 3 Radetzky class pre-Dreadnought battleships, ERZHERZOG FRANZ FERDINAND, with RADETZKY (right) and ZRINYI completed 1911   15,845t deep load 20 knots 9in max belt armour 4-12in and 8-9.4in 876 crew           Britain - 3 St Vincent class: ST VINCENT, COLLINGWOOD (right), VANGUARD     23,030t deep load 21 knots 10in max belt armour 10-12in 718 crew           Germany - battlecruiser VON DER TANN   21,700t deep load 24 knots 10in max belt armour 8-11in 923 crew (1174 at Jutland)           Japan - First Dreadnoughts, 2 Satsuma class: SATSUMA, AKI (right)   19,700t deep load 20 knots 9in max belt armour 4-12in and 12-10in (shortage of 12in guns) 887 crew           U.S.A. - First 4 Dreadnoughts - 2 South Carolina class, SOUTH CAROLINA, MICHIGAN (right - Photo Ships)   17,617t full load 18 knots 10in max belt armour 8-12in 869 crew     2 Delaware class, DELAWARE (right - Photo Ships), NORTH DAKOTA   22,060t full load 21 knots 11 in max belt armour 10-12in 933 crew             1911           Britain - NEPTUNE (Photo Ships)   22,720t deep load 21 knots 10in max belt armour 10-12in 759 crew   2 Colossus class: COLOSSUS (right), HERCULES   23,050t deep load 21 knots 11in max belt armour 10-12in 755 crew   First of 3 Indefatigable class battlecruisers: INDEFATIGABLE (right), NEW ZEALAND completed in 1912, AUSTRALIA in 1913.   22,110t deep load 25 knots 6in max belt armour 8-12in 800 crew           France - 6 Danton class pre-Dreadnought battleships, CONDORCET (right - Photo Ships), DANTON, DIDEROT, MIRABEAU, VERGNIAUD, VOLTAIRE   19,763t full load 19 knots 10in max belt armour 4-12in and 12-9.4in 681 crew, later 921           Germany - 4 Helgoland class: THURINGEN, HELGOLAND, OSTFRIESLAND (right), OLDENBURG   25,200t deep load 20 knots 12in max armour 12-12in 1113 crew (1284-1390 at Jutland)   2 Moltke class battlecruisers: MOLTKE (right), GOEBEN (transferred to Turkey 1914).   25,300t deep load 25 knots 10.7in max belt armour 10-11in 1053 crew (1355 at Jutland)           U.S.A. - 2 Florida class Dreadnoughts, FLORIDA (right - US Naval Historical Center), UTAH   23,033t full load 20 knots 11in max belt armour 10-12in 1001 crew             1912           Austria - First Austro-Hungarian Dreadnoughts, 4 Tegetthoff class: VIRIBUS UNITIS (right, believed firing a forward turret - Photo Ships), TEGETTHOFF completed in 1913, PRINZ EUGEN in 1914, SZENT ISTVAN in 1915.   21,595t deep load 20 knots 11in max belt armour 12-12in 1087 crew           Britain - 4 Orion class: ORION (right - Photo Ships), MONARCH, THUNDERER, CONQUEROR   25,870t deep load 21 knots 12in max belt armour 10-13.5in 752 crew   4 King George V class: KING GEORGE V (right - Photo Ships), CENTURION, AUDACIOUS, AJAX     25,700t deep load 21 knots 12in max belt armour 10-13.5in 782 crew   2 Lion class battlecruisers: LION, PRINCESS ROYAL (right - Photo Ships).   29,680t deep load 27 knots 9in max belt armour 8-13.5in 997 crew           Germany - 5 Kaiser class: KAISER, FRIEDRICH DER GROSSE, KAISERIN, PRINZ REGENT LUITPOLD, KOENIG ALBERT (right).   27,400t deep load 21 knots 14in max belt armour 10-12in 1084 crew (1249-1278 at Jutland)           Japan - 2 Settsu class: SETTSU (right - Photo Ships), KAWACHI     21,443t normal 20 knots 12in max belt armour 12-12in 986 crew           U.S.A. - 2 Wyoming class, WYOMING (right - Photo Ships), ARKANSAS   27,234t full load 20 knots 11 in max belt armour 12-12in 1063 crew             1913           Britain - battlecruiser QUEEN MARY (Photo Ships)   31,650t deep load 27 knots 9in max belt armour 8-13.5in 997 crew           Germany - battlecruiser SEYDLITZ   28,100t deep load 26 knots 12in max belt armour 10-11in 1068 crew (1425 at Jutland)           France - First Dreadnoughts, 4 Courbet class completed in 1913 and 1914: JEAN BART (right - Photo Ships), COURBET, PARIS, FRANCE   25,000t deep load 20 knots 10in max belt armour 12-12in 1085-1108 crew           Italy - First Dreadnought - DANTE ALIGHIERI     21,600t deep load 22 knots 10in max belt armour 12-12in 981 crew           Japan - 4 Kongo class battlecruisers completed through to 1915: KONGO, HIEI, HARUNA (right), KIRISHIMA   32,200t full load 27 knots 8in max belt armour 8-14in (max calibre) 1221 crew             1914           Britain - 4 Iron Duke class: IRON DUKE (right), MARLBOROUGH, BENBOW, EMPEROR OF INDIA   29,560t deep load 21 knots 12in max belt armour 10-13.5in 995-1022 (war) crew   ERIN (ex-Turkish Reshadieh).   25,250t deep load 21 knots 12in max belt armour 10-13.5in 1070 crew   AGINCOURT (ex-Turkish Sultan Osman I).   30,250t deep load (battleship) 22 knots 9in max belt armour 14-12in (max number of main guns) 1115 crew   battlecruiser TIGER   35,710t deep load (battlecruiser) 28 knots (battlecruiser) 9in max belt armour 8-13.5in 1121 crew           Germany - 4 Konig class: GROSSER KURFURST (right), KONIG, MARKGRAF, KRONPRINZ WILHELM   29,200t deep load 21 knots 14in max belt armour 10-12in 1136 crew (1284-1315 at Jutland)   First of 3 Derfflinger class battlecruisers: DERFFLINGER (right) completed in 1914, LUTZOW in 1915, HINDENBURG in 1917.   30,700t deep load 26 knots 12in max belt armour 8-12in 1112 crew (1391 at Jutland)           Italy - 3 Cavour class: GIULIO CESARE (right - Photo Ships), LEONARDO DA VINCI completed, CONTE DI CAVOUR in 1915.   24,250t deep load 22 knots 10in max belt armour 12-12in 1232 crew           Russia (Baltic Fleet) - First Dreadnoughts, 4 Gangut class: GANGUT (right - Photo Ships), PETROPAVLOSK, POLTAVA, SEVASTOPOL (Black Sea Fleet, included IMPERATRITSA MARIYA launched but not completed until 1915)   25,850t full load 23 knots (battleship) 9in max belt armour 12-12in 1126 crew       Turkey - Two Dreadnoughts building in Britain, but seized on outbreak of war   see HMS Erin and Agincourt above         U.S.A. - 2 New York class: NEW YORK, TEXAS (right - US Naval Historical Center)   28,367t full load 21 knots 12in max belt armour 10-14in (max calibre) 1042 crew

Summary - Dreadnought Classes Completed or Completing by August 1914 Countries in order of first dreadnoughts - totals exclude German Blucher, French Dantons and Russian Black Sea Fleet dreadnoughts building.

Britain 34 5 lost Germany 24 (Blucher lost) Japan 8 1 lost U.S.A. 8 - Austria 4 2 lost France 4 (Danton lost) Italy 4 1 lost Russia 4 (1 Black Sea ship lost) Total 90 (50 Allied, 28 Central Powers, 12 later Allies) 9 (plus 3)

back to Naval-History.Net revised  28/7/11

if any ads offend, please contact Naval-History.Net