The torpedo control tower, located on a small tripod mast, was mounted between the aft turrets. Three turrets were located conventionally along the centerline of the ship for weight stabilization with one turret forward and two aft. Dreadnought was outfitted with 5 x 12-inch twin-gun turrets each having a range out to 14.2 miles (25,000 yards). The armament improvements on HMS Dreadnought focused on change of the current design discipline which utilized many calibers guns for offense and defense across the armament scheme. Conversely, all previous steel battleships of the same era became known as 'Pre-Dreadnought' battleships. As such, the British design took center stage and therefore all like-warships appearing soon after would take on the generic name of 'Dreadnought' as their type.

Conversely only 4 of the 12 big guns ordered were shipped to Japan due to the stock on hand at the Armstrong British factory and 10 inch guns were therefore substituted. Laid down five months before Dreadnought, she was intended to have mounted 12 of the Armstrong 12-inch (30cm) main guns and displace 19,700 tons. However, while others pondered, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) began construction of the first all-big-gun ship to become the IJN Satsuma of 1904. British Admiral Jackie Fisher also formulated a like-concept around 1900. In 1903 Vittorio Cuniberti, an Italian naval engineer, wrote of the concept of an 'all-big-gun' ship design. The reason was based simply on her revolutionary armament scheme, an electronic range-finding weapons system and increased speed technology which were brought together in a modern design for the first time.įor some time, many warship engineers were planning a new type of battleship. Dreadnought was anointed the revolutionary ship of the age even when, in World War 1, she did not sink another battleship in combat or even participate in the famous Battle of Jutland. When she was commissioned in 1906, HMS Dreadnought was the dominant battleship class of her era.

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