These new engines allowed HMS Dreadnought to steam at almost twenty-one knots continuously, providing a speed advantage over potential enemy ships that would allow fleets to better close with a retreating enemy, avoid a more numerous enemy, or evade a torpedo threat when present. Other features included turbine steam propulsion - the first use of lighter, dependable and efficient turbine engines in a battleship.
HMS Dreadnought possessed no intermediate battery, making fire control and ammunition storage less difficult. Thus, the arrangement allowed the ship to fire eight heavy guns in a broadside, as compared to contemporary battleships that could answer only with four heavy guns. The turrets were arranged with one at the bow, one on each wing of the ship’s bridge, and two along the centerline to the rear of the superstructure. Chief among HMS Dreadnought’s design characteristics was a main battery of ten 12-inch guns, mounted in five twin-turrets. Led by First Sea Lord, Sir John Fisher (1841-1920), British decision makers designed the HMS Dreadnought to steal the lead on the plans of other navies and launch a battleship that would outfight any ship afloat.įisher’s team produced a design that incorporated a number of innovations into a single hull.
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Also, the steam engines required lengthy periods in port for maintenance overhauls and could not be run at full speed for very long without risking breakdowns.Įarly in the 20 th century, British Admiralty leaders learned of plans by American, Italian and Japanese navies to design and build “all big gun” battleships, a concept publicized by Italian naval engineer Vittorio Cuniberti (1854-1913) in 1903. Major drawbacks of these designs included difficulty in fire control for the different caliber ammunition. Reciprocating steam engines produced enough power to drive the ships to high speeds, typically fifteen to eighteen knots.
By the turn of last century, a typical battleship mounted four 12-inch guns in two twin-turrets and was armed with an assortment of intermediate gun batteries throughout the ship. Technological development during the steamship age pushed 19 th century warship design to its limits, featuring battleships mounting large caliber, turreted guns, driven by high output piston steam engines, and protected by steel armor.
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