HMS Dreadnought, the Arms Race, and World War I(2)

“FEAR GOD & DREAD NOUGHT…”

Officially laid down on October 2 1905, HMS Dreadnought would be launched less than five month later. By October of 1906, she was undergoing sea trials. On December 2, 1906 she was placed into commission, after little more than a year of construction,. In the immediate wake of her commissioning all existing battleships were rendered obsolete. [1]

Of the myriad of advancements incorporated into the Dreadnought, the most critical was her propulsion and steering systems. Steam turbines were incorporated into the design, initially as a weight saving measure, replacing the standard triple-expansion engines of previous ships. The primary advantage of steam turbines came with the delivery of more shaft horsepower than contemporary TE engines, resulting in a three-knot (16%) advantage over the fastest pre-dreadnought battleships.[2] Secondary advantages of the turbines were found in the relative simplicity of design, and increased dependability. There were drawbacks in the use of steam turbines; for instance, the engines were extremely inefficient when being used at low RPM. This deficiency would not solved until shortly before the beginning of World War I and modifications to correct this issue were never incorporated into HMS Dreadnought herself.

It must be noted that not all dreadnought type ships incorporated turbines, USS Texas, the last surviving Dreadnought era battleship, used triple expansion engines due to production issues. Instead, new four-cylinder triple expansion engines had to be developed. These engines were capable of powering a warship at high speeds, though not for the same durations that steam turbines allowed.[3]

The advancements in the design of steering gear system, though unassuming to the amateur observer, were a critical innovation. Previous warships utilized a single rudder, the design of which increased in size until reaching critical mass, the point at which the steering gear was prone to structural failure. Dreadnought’s innovative design used dual rudder system that increased her turning rate by as much as 30% over previous vessels.[4]

As impressive as the new propulsion systems were, a battleship is nothing more than a gun platform. Dreadnought would not be found lacking in that department either. Her design called for ten 12-inch guns mounted in pairs on five turrets. Each turret employed 35 crewmen to operate, and could fire a salvo in a little less than a minute. The positioning of the turrets was such that eight of the guns could be trained in any given direction, save directly fore and aft. The impressive level of firepower was noted by experts of the time: “The Dreadnought, therefore, besides having ten 12-inch guns, will have the enormous broadside fire of eight 12-inch guns, which far excels anything in previous ships.”[5]

The mounting of the turrets well above the armor deck was an additional advantage over previous warship designs. The added height allowed the gun captains to maintain visual contact on their targets in significantly rougher seas.

The 12-inch 45-caliber guns developed for Dreadnought were significantly more powerful than the previously employed 12-inch 40-caliber guns. To place the added firepower in perspective, the collective energy of a broadside shot[6] for the preceding King Edward VII class was a mere 270,000 foot-tons, Dreadnought would have up to 480,000 foot-tons. [7] This allowed for increased range and over all kinetic energy, resulting in greater armor penetration and thus killing power.

Bigger guns and greater speed may be an incredible advantage; but they are worthless if the shells fail to hit their mark. Dreadnought’s fire control system utilized advanced range and direction finders, coupled with a mechanical computer to determine the exact elevation and bearing for the guns to be set. All of this equipment was installed at the top of the forward main mast,[8] with the data being sent electronically to the gun turrets. Secondary systems were installed on top of the forward turret in case the primary system was rendered inoperable. The system gave Dreadnought a remarkable level of accuracy for the time. [8]

Thus, the opening of 1907 found the Royal Navy in possession of the most powerful ship in the world. Any vessel that found themselves able to outrun, or even merely keep up with, Dreadnought, found themselves to be horrendously outgunned. In the event that HMS Dreadnought ever found herself outgunned by a squadron of opposing battleships (for no single ship was a true threat), she could easily out pace them.[10] For the moment, the Royal Navy was riding high. Just across the North Sea, however, an opponent was all too happy to find the slate wiped clean and they planned to use the opportunity to challenge the Royal Navy’s dominance of the oceans.

[1] (Hore 2010)

[2] (Bigbadbattleships n.d.) http://www.cityofart.net/bship/engine.html

[3] The Iowa class battleships would eventually achieve 34 knots, nearly 1 and a half times the speed of Dreadnought.

[4] Antiaircraft Journal: Journal of the United States Artillery. "The Dreadnought." 1906 Vol 25: 74-81.

[5] "The Dreadnought." Antiaircraft Journal, 1906: pg77.

[6] In the context of artillery and heavy ship-mounted weaponry, Caliber is used as a measure of length. In the case of this paper a 12 inch 45-caliber has a barrel length of 540 inches (12 x 45 = 540) and a 14 inch 40-caliber has a barrel length of 560 inches (14 x 40 = 560) Barrel diameter = A, Caliber = Y, barrel length = Z (A x Y = Z).

[7] A broadside shot is defined as the firing over one side of a ship with all of the available main weapons

[8] Foot-ton -a traditional unit of work, equal to the work done by a force of one ton acting through a distance of one foot

[9] In most World War 1 era ships this was a very tall, yet fragile looking mast that towered above the ship’s bridge.

[10] Antiaircraft Journal: Journal of the United States Artillery. "The Dreadnought." 1906 Vol 25: 74-81

[11] Post Dreadnought design had two competing theories of implementation that are not discussed in this paper, battleships and battlecruisers. Both types were indistinguishable visually. Weight, armament, and fire control were often the same or very similar between the types. The battleship sacrificed some speed, in lieu of better armor protection. The battlecruiser concept sacrificed armor protection for higher speed, trusting in maneuverability to generate misses.