Themes

Conflict, change and the Royal Navy, 1900

The beginning of the 20th century is peppered with war in areas such as South Africa, China and the Balkans. However, it was the intense international naval rivalries and extraordinary leaps in technology rather than conflict itself, which drove most of the changes in the Royal Navy in the years leading up to World War One.

Between 1900 and 1914 the Royal Navy grew significantly. In the Crimean War (1854-1856) the Royal Navy had 60 000 men, but in a period of peace, 1898, the figure had leapt to 103 000. This was due to measures such as the Naval Defence Act (1889) which aimed to build 70 new warships and maintain a ‘two power standard’ between the Royal Navy and its rivals.

The ‘two power standard’ meant that the Royal Navy aimed to be as strong as the navies of any two other countries combined, reflecting the concern at the increase of navies such as Russia and Japan. Before the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) the newly emerging technology of naval warfare was relatively untested.

After 1900 it was the naval rivalry with Germany that led to an escalation in shipbuilding and the innovation naval warfare technologies. By June 1914 Britain had 23 dreadnoughts and eight battlecruisers in commission with Germany in possession of 13 dreadnoughts and five battlecruisers at sea.

By 1901, the strength of the Royal Navy stood at 117 000, however following the massive shipbuilding programme in Britain and escalation towards war, that number had increased by 14 000. By the outbreak of World War One the Royal Navy stood at a strength of 146 000 men.

Follow the links to find more about...

War in South Africa and China

The Naval Arms Race

The lessons of the Russo Japanese War 1904 - 1905

Jackie Fisher and the Admiralty

Battleship design 1890 - 1914