Sunday, December 23, 2007

HMS Dreadnought

The sixth HMS Dreadnought of the Royal Navy was a revolutionary battleship which entered service in 1906. So advanced was Dreadnought that she gave her name not just to a class but to an entire generation of battleships, the dreadnoughts, whilst the ships she made obsolete became known as "pre-dreadnoughts".
Her introduction helped spark off a major naval arms race as navies around the world rushed to match her, particularly the German navy in the build up to World War I.
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 battery of somewhat 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.

Displacement: 18,420 tons
Length: 527 ft oa (160 m)
Beam: 82 ft (25 m) (25 m)
Draught: 26 ft (8 m)
Propulsion: 18 Babcock & Wilcox 3-drum water-tube boilers
Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbines
22,500 shp (17 MW) on 4 shafts
Speed: 21 kt (39 km/h)
Range: 900/2,900 tons coal, 1,120 tons oil,
6,620 nmi (12 260 km) at 10 kt (19 km/h)
4,910 nmi (9090 km) at 18.4 kt (34 km/h)
Complement: 695–773
Armament:
* 10 x BL 12 in (305 mm) L/45 Mk.X guns, 5 twin B Mk.VIII turrets (one forward, two aft, two wing)
* 27 × QF 12 pdr (3 in / 76.2 mm) 18 cwt L/50 Mk.I guns, single mountings P Mk.IV
* 5 × 18 in (457 mm) submerged torpedo tubes

Armour:
* Belt: 4 to 11 in (100 to 280 mm) midship, 2.5 in (64 mm) at ends
* Deck: up to 3 in (75 mm)
* Turrets: 11 in (280 mm)
* Barbettes: up to 11 in (280 mm)
* Conning tower: 11 in (280 mm)