HMS Dreadnought (1906)

Dreadnought at sea in 1906
Class overview
Name	Dreadnought
Preceded by	Lord Nelson class
Succeeded by	Bellerophon class
Cost	£1,785,683
Built	1905–1906
In service	1906–1919
In commission	1906–1919
Completed	1
Scrapped	1
History
United Kingdom
Name	Dreadnought
Ordered	1905
Builder	HM Dockyard, Portsmouth
Laid down	2 October 1905
Launched	10 February 1906
Commissioned	2 December 1906
Decommissioned	February 1919
Fate	Sold for scrap, 9 May 1921
General characteristics (as completed)
Displacement	18,120 long tons (18,410 t) (normal load) 20,730 long tons (21,060 t) (deep load)
Length	527 ft (160.6 m)
Beam	82 ft 1 in (25 m)
Draught	29 ft 7.5 in (9 m) (deep load)
Installed power	18 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 23,000 shp (17,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × shafts; 2 × steam turbine sets
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range	6,620 nmi (12,260 km; 7,620 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	700 (1907); 810 (1916)
Armament	5 × twin 12 in (305 mm) guns 27 × single 12-pdr (3 in (76 mm)) guns 5 × 18 in (450 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour	Belt: 4–11 in (102–279 mm) Deck: 0.75–3 in (19–76 mm) Barbettes: 4–11 in (102–279 mm) Turrets: 3–12 in (76–305 mm) Conning tower: 11 in (279 mm) Bulkheads: 8 in (203 mm)

HMS Dreadnought was a Royal Navy battleship, the design of which revolutionised naval power. The ship's entry into service in 1906 represented such an advance in naval technology that her name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships, the dreadnoughts, as well as the class of ships named after her. Likewise, the generation of ships she made obsolete became known as pre-dreadnoughts. Admiral Sir John "Jacky" Fisher, First Sea Lord of the Board of Admiralty, is credited as the father of Dreadnought. Shortly after he assumed office in 1904, he ordered design studies for a battleship armed solely with 12 in (305 mm) guns and a speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). He convened a Committee on Designs to evaluate the alternative designs and to assist in the detailed design work.

Dreadnought was the first battleship of her era to have a uniform main battery, rather than having a few large guns complemented by a heavy secondary armament of smaller guns. She was also the first capital ship to be powered by steam turbines, making her the fastest battleship in the world at the time of her completion.^[1] Her launch helped spark a naval arms race as navies around the world, particularly the Imperial German Navy, rushed to match it in the build-up to the First World War.^[2]

Although designed to engage enemy battleships, her only significant action was the ramming and sinking of German submarine SM U-29; thus she became the only battleship confirmed to have sunk a submarine.^[3] Dreadnought did not participate in the Battle of Jutland in 1916 as she was being refitted, nor did she participate in any of the other naval battles in World War I. In July 1916 she was relegated to coastal defence duties in the English Channel, before rejoining the Grand Fleet in 1918. The ship was reduced to reserve in 1919 and sold for scrap two years later.