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Dreadnoughts and battlecruisers

Leaps in naval technologies and intense rivalry with Germany spurred on massive changes to Britain’s senior service in a century famous for the biggest wars the world has ever seen.

From 1890 to 1914 the increase in size, speed and power was immense. The Royal Sovereign-class ships, built during the 1890s, marked a significant improvement in ship design for its time.

However, the advent of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 heralded a revolution in battleship design with subsequent improvements and technological advances.

By 1914 the Queen Elizabeth-class of dreadnought battleships had made even the original dreadnought obsolete with its superior speed, armour and firepower.

The invention of the battlecruiser, a ship combining the speed of an armoured cruiser with the big guns of a battleship, was also a celebrated leap in ship design. But the use of the battlecruiser in close fire sea battles had dreadful consequences in World War One.

 

Article highlights

• Dreadnoughts and battlecruisers

• Majestic class battleships 1894 – 1896

• HMS Dreadnought, battleship 1906

• Orion class battleships 1910 – 1911

• Queen Elizabeth class battleships 1913 – 1915

• HMS Invincible, battlecruiser 1907

• HMS Tiger, battlecruiser 1913

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The Naval Arms Race

The lessons of the Russo Japanese War 1904 - 1905

Jackie Fisher and the Admiralty

Battleship design 1890 - 1914

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