Dreadnought facts for kids

A dreadnought was a powerful type of battleship used by navies around the world. Battleships are very large ships built for fighting at sea. The first dreadnoughts were built in the early 1900s. They got their name from HMS Dreadnought, a ship of the Royal Navy. This ship was the first of its kind.

The United Kingdom launched the first dreadnought in 1906. It was a brand new design for battleships. These ships had much bigger guns than older ships. Their guns could also shoot much farther. Dreadnoughts were built with thick layers of steel armor. This made them very strong and hard to sink. They were also much faster than earlier battleships.

The Rise of Dreadnoughts

The new design of the dreadnought changed naval warfare forever. Before dreadnoughts, battleships had many guns of different sizes. The dreadnought had an "all-big-gun" design. This meant it mostly used many large guns of the same size. This made them much more powerful.

Why Were Dreadnoughts So Special?

Dreadnoughts were special for several reasons:

• Bigger Guns: They carried more large-caliber guns than any ship before them.
• Longer Range: These guns could fire shells over much longer distances.
• Strong Armor: Thick steel plating protected the ship from enemy fire.
• Faster Speed: New steam turbine engines made them much quicker.

These improvements made older battleships seem outdated. Countries quickly started building their own dreadnoughts. This led to a naval arms race.

Dreadnoughts in World War I

World War I was the first major war where dreadnoughts were used. They played a big role in sea battles. However, many dreadnoughts were sunk by naval mines and torpedoes. This showed that even these powerful ships had weaknesses.

Limiting Battleship Construction

After World War I, countries wanted to prevent another arms race. In 1922, a special agreement was signed in Washington DC. This was called the Washington Naval Treaty. The treaty limited how many battleships each country could build. It also set limits on their size and how many guns they could have.

The treaty helped stop the building of new dreadnoughts. Japan, the UK, France, Italy, and the United States all signed this important treaty.

Images for kids

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  The Royal Navy's revolutionary HMS Dreadnought, launched in 1906, gave its name to the type

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  USS Texas, the only dreadnought still in existence, was launched in 1912 and is now a museum ship

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  HMS Agamemnon, an all-big-gun mixed-calibre ship of the Lord Nelson class. It carried four 12-inch (305 mm) and ten 9.2-inch (234 mm).

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  A plan of HMS Dreadnought, showing the revolutionary design

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  Growth in size of battleship designs from 1905 onwards, showing the dreadnought's rapid growth between 1905 and 1920, prior to the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922

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  A plan of Bellerophon (1907) showing the armament distribution of early British dreadnoughts. The main battery is in twin turrets, with two on the "wings"; the light secondary battery is clustered around the superstructure.

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  Animated diagram of gun turret loading and firing, based on the British 15-inch gun used on super-dreadnoughts

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  12-pounder anti-torpedo boat guns mounted on the roof of a turret on Dreadnought (1906)

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  Paris on speed trials (1914)

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  King George V (left) inspects HMS Neptune

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  USS New York making full steam (1915)

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  The Japanese battleship Settsu (1911)

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  Provence, a Bretagne-class battleship, launched in 1913 (pictured in 1942)

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  The gun trials of the Brazilian dreadnought Minas Geraes in 1910, where all the guns capable of training to the port side were fired, forming what was at that time the heaviest broadside ever fired from a warship

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  Royal Navy Orion-class super-dreadnoughts in line c. 1914

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  The Argentine Rivadavia, first of its class, under construction in 1912

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  HMS Audacious sinks after hitting a mine, October 1914

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  SMS Szent István begins to roll over after being torpedoed in 1918

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  Unfinished Bayern-class battleship Württemberg (right) and the Mackensen-class battlecruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich in Hamburg after the war, in about 1920

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  USS California (BB-44), one of two Tennessee-class battleships, steaming at high speed in 1921

See also

In Spanish: Dreadnought para niños