On Feb. 10, 1906 — 110 years ago this week — the HMS Dreadnought was launched from its dockyard at Portsmouth, England. The vessel was born out of the European naval arms race of the period, and ultimately revolutionized naval warfare.
After the development of the ironclads in the mid-19th century, navies began to build larger battleships with heavier guns in the 1880s, though they were still powered by coal and steam. The United States, Great Britain, Russia, France, Germany and other nations began to use such battleships as the mainstays of their naval fleets. As European nations began to grow closer to their allies in the 1890s and early 1900s, these states began to engage in a naval arms race.
In October 1904, long-serving Adm. John “Jacky” Fisher became Britain's first sea lord, the highest ranking officer in the Royal Navy. The new first sea lord feared the challenge that Germany offered to British naval hegemony, and correctly predicted that war would break out in 1914. Fisher was also reform minded and proved a visionary who desired to bring his service into the 20th century. In the book “The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War, 1890-1914,” historian Barbara Tuchman wrote:
“Admiral Sir John Fisher was a force of nature entirely directed to the renaissance of British sea power through modernization of the Navy. … He demanded oil instead of coal 20 years ahead of his time, substituted training in gunnery for cutlasses, training in engines and engineering for rigging and the handling of sails, introduced destroyers, pioneered in ordnance, armor and battleship design.”
With Fisher's appointment, the new reforms began. He controversially decommissioned many older naval vessels and confirmed reserve status upon 64 more in an effort to cut the Royal Navy's budget. It was the nature of naval warfare itself, however, that Fisher wanted to change most. He watched closely the events in the Russo-Japanese War, and what he learned from the May 1905 battle of Tsushima Strait had only confirmed his views: the ships with the biggest guns and fastest speed would rule the waves.
Already in December 1904, Fisher had created a special committee made up of younger officers who were not adverse to experimentation and change. The committee members' job was to study the validity of Fisher's proposed ideas for a new type of battleship, one that would bring the needed heavy armament and speed to the water.
Bigger guns meant heavier shells that could do more damage to an opponent's vessel. What is more, however, is that bigger guns gave an advantage in range. If a crew could begin raining fire down upon their opponent long before the opponent could return fire, the crew could severely damage or even destroy its opponent's ability to fight back.
Fisher proposed a battleship that could boast 10 12-inch guns, each firing an 850-pound shell. Additionally, the deck would boast many different types of smaller guns as well. At Tsushima Strait, Adm. Count Heihachiro Togo had proven just what heavy guns could do when used effectively at a distance, reinforcing Fisher's views. Further, the question arose of where on the battleship to site the guns.
In the Age of Sail, the vast majority of a ship's guns rested on the broadsides, meaning at best only half of its firepower could come to bear under ideal conditions. Indeed, in virtually every naval engagement of the day, captains in battle longed for the opportunity to “Cross the T,” meaning that they would sail their vessel at a right angle across the bow of the enemy, allowing them the opportunity to fire with all of their broadside's guns while the enemy could return fire with only perhaps two guns mounted on the bow.
For the new battleship, however, Fisher demanded that the guns' arcs allow the ship to bring far more firepower to bear when firing forward or aft, in addition to a heavy broadside.
Fisher supposedly said, “I am an apostle of 'End-on Fire,'” meaning he wanted the ship to fire as much as it could while sailing toward the enemy. Ultimately, the committee set upon a placement system that allowed the ship to fire six 12-inch guns across the bow, eight on its broadsides and six astern.
Speed, however, was just as important as firepower. If the new battleship lumbered slowly toward an enemy vessel, its massive guns would count for little if the opponent was able to sail quickly away. What is more, a swift battleship could decide at what range to open its bombardment while also allowing it, theoretically, to stay out of the enemy's range.
Fisher insisted that the new vessel reach a speed of at least 21 knots, (roughly equivalent to 24 mph), something existing coal-powered ships simply could not attain. Ultimately, the British engineering firm of Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company fitted the new design with two sets of its steam turbine. In 1899, the HMS Viper and HMS Cobra became the first Royal Navy vessels to use turbine engines, though some were skeptical the new technology could handle the much larger and heavier new battleship. Once again, Fisher got his way and the new turbines were agreed to.
When the issue of armor was brought up, Fisher was dismissive, supposedly stating, “Speed is armor.” For Fisher, the ability for the battleship to move quickly and deliver its own deadly salvo quickly was much more important than the traditional means of defense.
After seven weeks of inquiry and design consideration, the committee made its recommendations in February 1905. Construction on the new vessel would begin right away, eclipsing those ships already being built, and it would be named HMS Dreadnought, the sixth Royal Naval vessel to bear the name. The keel was laid in October of that year, with most of its hull completed by Jan. 1, 1906. Thomas Mitchell, who oversaw the Dreadnought's construction at Portsmouth, was knighted for the speed of his efforts.
By early February, the battleship was ready to sail. Fisher accompanied King Edward VII to the dockyard as people from throughout the British Isles arrived to witness the event. In the book “Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War,” historian Robert K. Massie wrote:
“When the last blocks had been knocked away and the Dreadnought was held only by a single, symbolic cable, the King plucked a bottle of Australian wine from a nest of flowers before him and swung it against the bow. The bottle bounced back. Again, His Majesty swung and this time the bottle shattered and the wine splashed down the steel plates. 'I christen you Dreadnought!' cried the King. Then, taking a chisel and a wooden mallet made from the timbers of Nelson's Victory, he went to work on the symbolic rope holding the ship in place. This time, one stroke did the job.”
The new battleship eased into the water as “God Save the King” was played and the assembled crowd cheered. The Dreadnought had cost nearly £2,000,000 and measured nearly 600 feet in length, with a displacement of between 18,000 and 21,000 tons, depending on the load. Its crew consisted of roughly 800 officers and men.
For the better part of the next year, the Dreadnought remained close to shore as crews and engineers tested her systems and prepared her for her new role at sea. Finally, in October, the ship began its first real shakedown cruise and was formally commissioned into the Royal Navy in December. Naysayers continued to question the practicality of the new vessel, especially given its enormous cost. Fisher, however, remained firm in his conviction. The Dreadnought was the future of naval warfare.
The HMS Dreadnought ultimately gave its name to its class of British battleships, and forced other nations around the world to take notice. The advantages of such a powerful ship that could move so quickly could not be ignored. Soon, Germany suspended its own battleship building program in order to study the new British design. For the time being, Britain's ability to project its power throughout the world had become unmatched. It was a military, and therefore diplomatic, revolution not unlike when the United States developed the atomic bomb at the end of World War II.
The HMS Dreadnought saw action in World War I, though missed the epic naval battle of Jutland in 1916. She was decommissioned and sold for scrap shortly after the war.
Cody K. Carlson holds a master's in history from the University of Utah and has taught at SLCC. He is currently a salesman at Doug Smith Subaru in American Fork. Email: ckcarlson76@gmail.com