Pre-dreadnought battleship

Pre-dreadnought battleship is the general term for all of the types of sea going battleships built between the mid-1890s and 1905. Pre-dreadnoughts replaced the ironclad warships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, and protected by hardened steel armour, pre-dreadnought battleships carried a main battery of very heavy guns in turrets supported by one or more secondary batteries of lighter weapons. They were powered by coal-fuelled triple-expansion steam engines.

In contrast to the chaotic development of ironclad warships in preceding decades, the 1890s saw navies worldwide start to build battleships to a common design as dozens of ships worldwide essentially followed the design of the British "Majestic" class. [Roberts, p. 112.] The similarity in appearance of battleships in the 1890s was underlined by the increasing number of ships being built. New naval powers like Germany, Japan and the United States began to establish themselves with fleets of pre-dreadnoughts, while the navies of Britain, France and Russia expanded to meet these new threats. The main clash of pre-dreadnought fleets would be fought between the Russians and Japanese during the Battle of Tsushima on 27 May 1905.

These dozens of battleships were abruptly made obsolete by the arrival of HMS "Dreadnought" in 1906. "Dreadnought" followed the trend in battleship design to heavier, longer-ranged guns by adopting an 'all-big-gun' armament scheme of ten convert|12|in|mm|0|adj=on guns; her innovative steam turbine engines also made her faster. [Massie, "Dreadnought", pp. 474-5.] The existing pre-dreadnoughts were decisively outclassed; new battleships were from then on known as dreadnoughts while the ships laid down previously were designated pre-dreadnoughts. In spite of their obsolescence, the pre-dreadnought battleships played an important role in World War I and could even be found serving in World War II. [Chesneau, p. 200.]

Evolution

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thumb|right|HMS "Dreadnought" shows the low freeboard typical for early ironclad turret-ships. This ship, launched in 1875, should not be confused with her famous namesake, launched in 1906, marking the end of the pre-dreadnought era.

The pre-dreadnought developed from the ironclad battleship. The first ironclads—"La Gloire" and "Warrior"—looked much like a sailing frigate, with three tall masts and broadside battery, when they were commissioned at the start of the 1860s. Only eight years later HMVS Cerberus, the first breastwork monitor was launched followed three years later by HMS "Devastation", a ship which looked more similar to the pre-dreadnought battleship & was the first ocean going breastwork monitor. Mastless, both ships carried four heavy guns in two turrets fore and aft. "Devastation" was a breastwork monitor, built to attack enemy coasts and harbours; because of her very low freeboard, she lacked the seaworthiness needed to fight on the high seas; her decks would be swept by water and spray, interfering with the working of her guns. [Beeler, pp. 93–95; also see p. 169 for a graphic illustration of the problem.] Navies worldwide continued to build masted, turretless battleships which had sufficient freeboard and were good enough sea-boats to fight on the high seas.

The distinction between coast-assault battleship and cruising battleship became blurred with the "Admiral" class, ordered in 1880. These ships reflected developments in ironclad design, being protected by iron-and-steel compound armour rather than wrought iron. Equipped with breech-loading guns of between 12 inch and 16 ¼ inch (305 mm and 413 mm) calibre, the "Admiral"s continued the trend of ironclad warships towards gigantic weapons. The guns were mounted in open barbettes to save weight. Some historians see these ships as a vital step towards pre-dreadnoughts; others view them as a confused and unsuccessful design. [Beeler, pp. 167–168: he cites Oscar Parkes as seeing the similarities between "Admiral"s and "Royal Sovereign"s, but disagrees.]

The subsequent "Royal Sovereign" class of 1889 retained barbettes but were uniformly armed with convert|13.5|in|mm|0|adj=on guns; they were also significantly larger (at 14,000 tons displacement) and faster (due to triple-expansion steam engines) than the "Admiral"s. Just as importantly, the "Royal Sovereign"s had a higher freeboard, making them unequivocally capable of the high-seas battleship role. [Beeler, p. 168.] [Gardiner, p. 116.]

The pre-dreadnought design reached maturity with the "Majestic" class, [Roberts, p. 117: "Many regard them as the first true pre-dreadnoughts..."] of which the lead ship was launched in 1895. These ships were built and armoured entirely of steel, and their guns were mounted in fully-enclosed barbettes, inevitably referred to as turrets. They also adopted a convert|12|in|mm|0|adj=on main gun, which, due to advances in casting and propellant, was lighter and more powerful than the previous guns of larger calibre. The "Majestic"s provided the model for battleship-building in the Royal Navy and many other navies for years to come. [Gardiner, p. 117.]

Armament

Pre-dreadnoughts carried several different calibres of guns for different roles in ship-to-ship combat. The main armament was four heavy guns, mounted in two centreline turrets fore and aft. Very few pre-dreadnoughts deviated from this arrangement. These guns were slow-firing and, initially, of limited accuracy; however they were the only guns heavy enough to penetrate the thick armour which protected the engines, magazines, and main guns of enemy battleships.Sumrall, p. 14.]

The most common calibre for the main armament was 305 mm (12 inches); British battleships from the "Majestic" class onwards carried this calibre, as did French ships from the "Charlemagne" class (laid down 1894). Japan, importing most of its guns from Britain, used 12-inch guns. The United States used both 12- and convert|13|in|mm|0|sing=on guns for most of the 1890s until the "Maine" class, laid down 1899, after which the 12-inch gun was universal. The Russians had either 305 mm or 254 mm (10 inches) as their main armament. The first German pre-dreadnoughts used a convert|240|mm|in|0|sing=on gun, but ships laid down after 1900, starting with the "Braunschweig" class, tended to carry convert|280|mm|in|0|sing=on guns. [Roberts, pp. 117–125.]

While the calibre of the main battery remained quite constant, the performance of the guns improved as longer barrels were introduced. The introduction of slow-burning nitrocellulose and cordite propellant meant a longer barrel offered a higher muzzle velocity and hence range and penetrating power for the same calibre of shell. [Roberts, p. 113.] Between the "Majestic" class and "Dreadnought", the length of the British 12-inch gun increased from 35 calibres to 45 and muzzle velocity increased from 2417 feet per second (737 m/s) to 2725 (830 m/s). [Campbell, p. 169.]

Pre-dreadnoughts also carried a secondary battery. This consisted of smaller guns, typically 150 mm (6 in), though any calibre from 100 mm to 230 mm (4 to 9.2 inches) could be used. Virtually all secondary guns were 'quick firing', employing a number of innovations to increase the rate of fire. The propellant was provided in a brass cartridge, and both the breech mechanism and the mounting were suitable for rapid aiming and reloading. [Campbell, p. 163.]

The role of the secondary battery was to damage the less well-armoured parts of an enemy battleship; while unable to penetrate the main armour belt, it might score hits on lightly armoured areas like the bridge, or start fires. Equally important, the secondary armament was to be used against enemy cruisers, destroyers, and even torpedo boats. A medium-calibre gun could expect to penetrate the light armour of smaller ships, while the rate of fire of the secondary battery was important in scoring a hit against a small, maneuverable target. Secondary guns were mounted in a variety of ways; sometimes carried in turrets, they were just as often positioned in fixed armoured casemates in the side of the hull, or in unarmoured positions on upper decks.

Some of the pre-dreadnoughts carried an 'intermediate' battery, typically of 200 mm (8-inch) to 250 mm (10-inch) calibre. The intermediate battery was a method of packing more heavy firepower into the same battleship, principally of use against battleships or at long ranges. The United States Navy pioneered the intermediate battery concept in the "Indiana", "Iowa" and "Kearsage" classes, but not in the battleships laid down between 1897–1901. [Roberts, p. 122.] Shortly after the USN re-adopted the intermediate battery, the British, Italian, Russian, French and Japanese navies laid down intermediate-battery ships. This later generation of intermediate-battery ships almost without exception finished building after "Dreadnought" and hence were obsolete before completion. [Roberts, pp. 125–126.]

During the ironclad age, the range of engagements increased; in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894–5 battles were fought at around 1 mile (2,000 m), while in the Battle of the Yellow Sea in 1904, the fleets were engaged at 3.5 miles (6,500 m). [Sondhaus, pp. 170, 171, 189.] In part, the increase in engagement range was due to the longer range of torpedoes, and in part due to improved gunnery and fire control. In consequence, shipbuilders tended towards heavier secondary armament, of the same calibre that the 'intermediate' battery had been previously; the Royal Navy's last pre-dreadnought class, the "Lord Nelson" class, carried ten 9.2 (234 mm) in guns as her secondary armament. Ships with a uniform, heavy secondary battery are often referred to as 'semi-dreadnoughts'. [Roberts, pp. 125–6.]

The pre-dreadnought's armament was completed by a tertiary battery of light, rapid-fire guns. These could be of any calibre from 3-inch (76 mm) down to machine guns. Their role was to give short-range protection against torpedo boats, or to rake the deck and superstructure of a battleship.

In addition to their gun armament, many pre-dreadnought battleships were armed with torpedoes, fired from fixed tubes located either above or below the waterline. By the pre-dreadnought era the torpedo was typically 460 mm (18 inches) in diameter and had an effective range of several thousand meters (yards). However, it was virtually unknown for a battleship to score a hit with a torpedo. [Hill, p. 155.]

Protection

Pre-dreadnought battleships carried a considerable weight of steel armour. Experience showed that rather than giving the ship uniform armour protection, it was best to concentrate armour over critical areas. The central section of the hull, which housed the boilers and engines, was protected by the main belt, which ran from just below the waterline to some distance above it. This 'central citadel' was intended to protect the engines from even the most powerful shells. The main armament and the magazines were protected by projections of thick armour from the main belt. The beginning of the pre-dreadnought era was marked by a move from mounting the main armament in open barbettes to an all-enclosed, turret mounting.Roberts, p. 117.]

The main belt armour would normally taper to a lesser thickness along the side of the hull towards bow and stern; it might also taper up from the central citadel towards the superstructure. The deck was typically lightly armoured with 50-100 mm (2 in to 4 in) of steel. [Roberts, pp. 132–133.] This lighter armour was to prevent high-explosive shells from wrecking the superstructure of the ship. ["The Eclipse of the Big Gun", p. 8.]

The battleships of the late 1880s, for instance the "Royal Sovereign" class, were armoured with iron and steel compound armour. This was soon replaced with more effective case hardened steel armour made using the Harvey process developed in the United States. First tested in 1891, Harvey armour was commonplace in ships laid down in 1893–5. However, its reign was brief; in 1895, the German "Kaiser Friedrich III" pioneered the even better Krupp armour; Europe adopted Krupp plate within five years, with only the United States persisting in using Harvey steel into the 20th Century. The improving quality of armour plate meant that new ships could have better protection from a thinner and lighter armour belt. 300 mm (12 inches) of compound armour provided the same protection as just 190 mm (7.5 inches) of Harvey or 145 mm (5.75 inches) of Krupp. [Sondhaus, p. 166.]

Propulsion

All pre-dreadnoughts were powered by reciprocating steam engines. Most were capable of top speeds between 16 and 18 knots (30-33 km/h). [Roberts, p. 132.] The ironclads of the 1880s used compound engines, but by the end of the 1880s the more efficient triple expansion engine was in use. Some fleets, though not the British, adopted the quadruple-expansion steam engine.Roberts, p. 114.]

The main improvement in engine performance during the pre-dreadnought period came from the adoption of increasingly higher pressure steam from the boiler. The early cylindrical fire-tube boilers were superseded by more efficient water-tube boilers, allowing higher-pressure steam to be produced with less fuel consumption. Water-tube boilers were also safer, with less risk of explosion, and more flexible than fire-tube types. The Belleville-type water-tube boiler had been introduced in the French fleet as early as 1879, but it took until 1894 for the Royal Navy to adopt it for armoured cruisers and pre-dreadnoughts; other water-tube boilers followed in navies worldwide. [Griffiths, pp. 176–177.] The engines drove either two or three screw propellors. France and Germany preferred the three-screw approach, which allowed the engines to be shorter and hence more easily protected; they were also more maneuverable and had better resistance to accidental damage. Triple screws were, however, generally larger and heavier than the twin-screw arrangements preferred by most other navies.

Coal was the almost exclusive fuel for the pre-dreadnought period, though navies made the first experiments with oil propulsion in the late 1890s. [Griffiths, p. 177.] An extra knot or two of speed could be gained by applying a 'forced draught' to the furnaces, where air was pumped into the furnaces, but this risked damage to the boilers.

Pre-dreadnought fleets and battles

The pre-dreadnought battleship in its heyday was the core of a very diverse navy. Many older ironclads were still in service. Battleships served alongside cruisers of many descriptions: modern armoured cruisers which were essentially cut-down battleships, lighter protected cruisers, and even older unarmoured cruisers, sloops and frigates whether built out of steel, iron or wood. The battleships were threatened by torpedo boats; it was during the pre-dreadnought era that the first destroyers were constructed to deal with the torpedo-boat threat, though at the same time the first effective submarines were being constructed. [Sondhaus, pp. 155–156, 182–183.]

The pre-dreadnought age saw the beginning of the end of the 19th century naval balance of power in which France and Russia vied for competition against the massive British Royal Navy, and saw the start of the rise of the 'new naval powers' of Germany, Japan and the USA. The new ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy and to a lesser extent the U.S. Navy supported those powers' colonial expansion.

While pre-dreadnoughts were adopted worldwide, there were no clashes between pre-dreadnought battleships until the very end of their period of dominance. The First Sino-Japanese War in 1894–95 influenced pre-dreadnought development, but the largest modern ships involved were cruisers. [Sondhaus, pp. 170–171.] The Spanish-American War of 1898 was a mismatch: with the American pre-dreadnought fleet engaging Spanish cruisers. Not until the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05 did pre-dreadnoughts engage on an equal footing. This happened in two battles: the indecisive Battle of the Yellow Sea on 10 August 1904, and the decisive Japanese victory at the Battle of Tsushima on May 27, 1905.

Gunboat diplomacy was typically conducted by cruisers or smaller warships. A British squadron of three protected cruisers and two gunboats brought about the capitulation of Zanzibar in 1896; and while battleships participated in the combined fleet Western powers deployed during the Boxer rebellion, the naval part of the action was performed by gunboats, destroyers and sloops. [Sondhaus, p. 186.]

Europe

European navies remained dominant in the pre-dreadnought era. The British Royal Navy remained the world's largest fleet, though both Britain's traditional naval rivals and the new European powers increasingly asserted themselves against her supremacy.

In 1889, Britain formally adopted a 'Two Power Standard' committing her to building enough battleships to exceed the two largest other navies combined; at the time, this meant France and Russia, who became formally allied in the early 1890s. [Sondhaus, p. 161.] The "Royal Sovereign" class and "Majestic" class were followed by a regular programme of construction at a much quicker pace than in previous years. The "Canopus", "Formidable", "Duncan" and "King Edward VII" classes appeared in rapid succession from 1897 to 1905. [Sondhaus, pp. 168, 182.] Counting two ships ordered by Chile but taken over by the British, the Royal Navy had 39 pre-dreadnought battleships ready or building by 1904, starting the count from the "Majestics". Over two dozen older battleships remained in service.

The last British pre-dreadnoughts, the "Lord Nelson" class, appeared after "Dreadnought" herself.

France, Britain's traditional naval rival, had paused her battleship building during the 1880s because of the influence of the Jeune Ecole doctrine, which favoured torpedo boats to battleships. After the Jeune Ecole's influence faded, the first French battleship laid down was "Brennus", in 1889. "Brennus" and the ships which followed her were individual, as opposed to the large classes of British ships; they also carried an idiosyncratic arrangement of heavy guns, with "Brennus" carrying three 340 mm (13.4) guns and the ships which followed carrying two 305 mm (12-inch) and two 275 mm (10.8-inch) in single turrets. The "Charlemagne" class, laid down 1894–96, were the first to adopt the standard four convert|305|mm|in|0|sing=on gun heavy armament. [Sondhaus, p. 167.] The Jeune Ecole retained a strong influence on French naval strategy, and by the end of the 19th century France had abandoned competition with Britain in battleships numbers. [Sondhaus, p. 181.] The French suffered the most from the Dreadnought revolution, with four ships of the "Liberté" class still building when "Dreadnought" launched, and a further six of the "Danton" class begun afterwards.

Germany was just beginning to build a navy at the start of the 1890s, but by 1905 was wholeheartedly engaged in an arms race with Britain that would ultimately help cause World War I.Fact|date=March 2008 Germany's first pre-dreadnoughts, the "Brandenburg" class, were laid down in 1890. By 1905, a further 19 battleships were built or under construction, thanks to the sharp increase in naval expenditure justified by the 1898 and 1900 Navy Laws. [Sondhaus, pp. 180–181.] This increase was due to the determination of the navy chief Alfred von Tirpitz and the growing sense of national rivalry with the UK. The German pre-dreadnoughts culminated in the "Deutschland" class which served in both World Wars. On the whole, the German ships were less powerful than their British equivalents but equally robust. [Roberts, p. 125.]

Russia equally entered into a programme of naval expansion in the 1890s; one of Russia's main objectives was to maintain her interests against Japanese expansion in the Far East. The "Petropavlovsk" class begun in 1892 took after the British "Royal Sovereign"s; later ships showed more French influence on their design, such as the"Borodino"-class. The weakness of Russian shipbuilding meant that many ships were built overseas for Russia; the best ship, the "Retvizan", being largely constructed in America. [Roberts, pp. 120–121.] The Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05 had been a disaster for the Russian pre-dreadnoughts; of the 15 battleships completed since "Petropavlovsk", eleven were sunk or captured during the war. One of which, the famous "Potemkin" mutinied and was scuttled, however it was raised and recommisioned. After the war, Russia completed four more pre-dreadnoughts after 1905.

Between 1893 and 1904, Italy laid down eight battleships; the later two classes of ship were remarkably fast, though the "Regina Margherita" class was poorly protected and the "Regina Elena class" lightly armed. In some ways, these ships presaged the concept of the battlecruiser. [Roberts, p. 126.] The Austro-Hungarian Empire also saw a naval renaissance during the 1890s, though of the nine pre-dreadnought battleships ordered only the three of the "Habsburg" class arrived before "Dreadnought" herself made them obsolete.

America and the Pacific

The United States started building its first ever battleships in 1891. These ships were short-range coast-defence battleships that were similar to the British "Hood" except for an innovative intermediate battery of 8-inch (203 mm) guns. The US Navy continued to build ships that were relatively short-range and poor in heavy seas, until the "Virginia" class laid down in 1901–02. [Roberts, p. 122.] Nevertheless, it was these earlier ships that ensured American naval dominance against the antiquated Spanish fleet — which included no pre-dreadnoughts — in the Spanish-American War, most notably at Battle of Santiago de Cuba. "Virginia" and the two pre-dreadnought classes that followed her were completed after the completion of the "Dreadnought" and after the start of design work on the USN's own initial class of dreadnoughts. The US Great White Fleet of 16 pre-dreadnought battleships circumnavigated the world from December 16, 1907, to February 22, 1909. [ [http://www.navy.mil/gwf/battleships/bb-20.htm Great White Fleet - USS Vermont BB-20 ] ]

Japan was involved in both of the major naval wars of the pre-dreadnought era. The first Japanese pre-dreadnought battleships, the "Fuji" class, were still being built at the outbreak of the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95, [Roberts, p. 123.] which saw Japanese armoured cruisers and protected cruisers defeat the Chinese Beiyang Fleet, composed of a mixture of old ironclad battleships and cruisers, at the Battle of the Yalu River. Following their victory, and facing Russian pressure in the region, the Japanese placed orders for four more pre-dreadnoughts; along with the two "Fuji"s these battleships formed the core of the fleet which twice engaged the numerically superior Russian fleets at the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Battle of Tsushima. After capturing eight Russian battleships of various ages, Japan built several more classes of pre-dreadnought after the Russo-Japanese War.

Obsolescence

In 1906, the commissioning of HMS "Dreadnought" brought about the obsolescence of all existing battleships. "Dreadnought", by scrapping the secondary battery, was able to carry ten convert|12|in|mm|0|sing=on guns rather than four. She could fire eight heavy guns broadside, as opposed to four from a pre-dreadnought; and six guns ahead, as opposed to two. [Massie, "Dreadnought", p. 473.] The move to an 'all-big-gun' design was a logical conclusion of the increasingly long engagement ranges and heavier secondary batteries of the last pre-dreadnoughts; Japan and the USA had designed ships with a similar armament before "Dreadnought", but were unable to complete them before the British ship. [Sumrall, p. 15; Jentschura, Jung, Mickel p. 23.] It was felt that only the largest guns were effective in battle, and by mounting more 12-inch (305 mm) guns "Dreadnought" was two to three times more effective in combat than an existing battleship. [Massie, "Dreadnought", pp. 471-3.]

The armament of the new breed of ships was not their only crucial advantage. "Dreadnought" used steam turbines for propulsion, giving her a top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h), against the 18 knots (33 km/h) typical of the pre-dreadnought battleships. Able both to outgun and outmaneuver their opponents, the dreadnought battleships decisively outclassed earlier battleship designs. [Massie, "Dreadnought", pp. 474-5.]

Nevertheless, pre-dreadnoughts continued in active service and saw significant combat use even when obsolete. Dreadnoughts and battlecruisers were believed vital for the decisive naval battles which at the time all nations expected, hence were jealously guarded against the risk of damage by mines or submarine attack, and kept close to home as much as possible. The obsolescence and consequent expendability of the pre-dreadnoughts meant that they could be deployed into more dangerous situations and more far-flung areas. [Massie, "Castles of Steel", p. 433.]

The only pre-dreadnought preserved today is the Japanese Navy's flagship at the Battle of Tsushima, the "Mikasa", which is now located in Yokosuka, where it has been a museum ship since 1925.

World War I

During World War I, a large number of pre-dreadnoughts remained in service. The advances in machinery and armament meant that a pre-dreadnought was not necessarily the equal of even a modern armoured cruiser, and totally outclassed by a modern dreadnought battleship or battlecruiser. Nevertheless, the pre-dreadnought played a major role in the War.

This was first illustrated in the skirmishes between British and German navies around South America in late autumn 1914. As two German cruisers menaced British shipping, the Admiralty insisted that no battlecruisers could be spared from the main fleet and sent to the other side of the world to deal with them. Instead the British dispatched a pre-dreadnought of 1896 vintage, HMS "Canopus". Intended to stiffen the British cruisers in the area, in fact her slow speed meant that she was left behind at the disastrous Battle of Coronel. "Canopus" redeemed herself at the Battle of the Falkland Islands, but only when grounded to act as a harbour-defence vessel; she fired at extreme range (12,300 m; 13,500 yards) on the German cruiser SMS "Gneisenau", and while the only hit was from an inert practice shell which had been left loaded from the previous night (the 'live' shells of the salvo broke up on contact with water; one inert shell ricocheted into one of "Gneisenau"'s funnels), this certainly deterred "Gneisenau" from a potentially damaging raid on a British squadron which was still taking on coal. The subsequent battle was decided by the two "Invincible"-class battlecruisers which had been dispatched after Coronel. [Bennett, G, "Naval Battles of the First World War", p. 114.] This appears to have been the only meaningful engagement of an enemy ship by a British pre-dreadnought.

In November 1914 five Russian pre-dreadnoughts engaged the German battle-cruiser SMS Goeben at Cape Sarych in the Black Sea. The commandig German admiral, who was anxious in putting his irreplacable ship at risk broke off the action, which consequently ended without any result and with minor damage on both sides.

The principle that disposable pre-dreadnoughts could be used where no modern ship could be risked was affirmed by British, French and German navies in subsidiary theatres of war. The German navy used its pre-dreadnoughts frequently in the Baltic campaign. However, the largest number of pre-dreadnoughts was engaged at the Gallipoli campaign. Twelve British and French pre-dreadnoughts formed the bulk of the force which attempted to 'force the Dardanelles' in March 1915. The role of the pre-dreadnoughts was to support the brand-new dreadnought "Queen Elizabeth" engaging the Turkish shore defences. Three of the pre-dreadnoughts were sunk by mines, and several more badly damaged. However, it was not the damage to the pre-dreadnoughts which led to the operation being called off. The two battlecruisers were also damaged; since "Queen Elizabeth" could not be risked in the minefield, and the pre-dreadnoughts would be unable to deal with the Turkish battlecruiser lurking on the other side of the straits, the operation had failed. [Massie, "Castles of Steel", pp. 466–467.] Pre-dreadnoughts were also used to support the Gallipoli landings, with the loss of three more: "Goliath", "Triumph" and "Majestic". [Massie, "Castles of Steel", pp. 483, 492–493.]

A squadron of German pre-dreadnoughts was present at the Battle of Jutland in 1916; German sailors called them the "five minute ships", which was the amount of time they were expected to survive in a pitched battle. [Massie, "Castles of Steel", p. 564.] In spite of their limitations, the pre-dreadnought squadron played a useful role. As the German fleet disengaged from the battle, the pre-dreadnoughts risked themselves by turning on the British battlefleet as dark set. [Massie, "Castles of Steel", p. 634.] Nevertheless, only one of the pre-dreadnoughts was sunk: SMS "Pommern" went down in the confused night action as the battlefleets disengaged. [Massie, "Castles of Steel", p. 648.]

Following the November 1918 Armistice, the U.S. Navy converted fifteen older battleships, eight armoured cruisers and two larger protected cruisers for temporary service as transports. These ships made one to six trans-Atlantic round-trips each, bringing home a total of more than 145,000 passengers. [cite web |url=http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/usnshtp/ap/w1ap-tbc.htm |title=USN Ship Types -- World War I Transports -- Combat Warships employed as Transports |accessdate=2008-03-06 |publisher=History.Navy.Mil]

World War II

After World War I, most battleships, dreadnought and pre-dreadnought alike, were disarmed under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. [Kennedy, p. 275.] Largely this meant the ships being broken up for scrap; others were destroyed in target practice or relegated to training and supply duties. One, "Mikasa", was given a special exemption to the Washington Treaty and was maintained as museum and memorial ship.

Germany, losing most of her fleet under the terms of the Versailles treaty, was allowed to keep six pre-dreadnoughts which were counted as armoured coast-defence ships; two of which soldiered on into World War II. One of these, "Schleswig-Holstein", shelled the Polish Westerplatte peninsula during the opening of the German invasion of Poland. "Schleswig-Holstein" served for most of the War as a training ship; she was sunk while under refit in December 1944, and broken up in situ in January 1945. The other, "Schlesien", was mined and then scuttled in March 1945. [Chesneau, p. 200.]

A number of the inactive or disarmed pre-dreadnoughts were nevertheless sunk in action during World War II, such as the Greek pre-dreadnoughts "Kilkis" and "Limnos", bought from the U.S. Navy in 1914. While neither of the ships was in active service, they were both sunk by German divebombers after the German invasion in 1941. [Chesneau, p. 404.] In the Pacific, the U.S. Navy submarine USS "Salmon" sank the disarmed Japanese pre-dreadnought "Asahi" in May 1942. A veteran of Tsushima, she was serving as a repair-ship. [Jentschura, Jung, Mickel p. 18.]

ee also

* Ironclad warship
* Dreadnought battleships

References

Sources

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* Jentschura Jung & Mickel, "Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy 1869–1946", ISBN 0-85368-151-1
* Keegan, J. "The First World War". Pimlico, London, 1999. ISBN 0-7216-6645-1.
* Kennedy, Paul M. "The Rise and Fall of British Naval Mastery". Macmillan, London, 1983. ISBN 0-333-35094-4
* Massie, Robert K. "Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War". Pimlico, London, 2004. ISBN 978-184-413528-8
* Massie, Robert K. "Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany and the Winning of the Great War at Sea". Pimlico, London, 2005. ISBN 1-844-13411-3
* Sondhaus, Lawrence. "Naval Warfare 1815–1914". Routledge, London, 2001. ISBN 0-415-21478-5

External links

* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/pre-dread.htm British and German Pre-Dreadnoughts]
* [http://www.bobhenneman.info/pdcntry.htm Pre-Dreadnoughts in WWII]
* [http://www.oz.net/~markhow/pre-dred/ Pre-Dreadnought Preservation]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/battleships/us_pd.htm US Pre-Dreadnoughts]
* [http://www.cerberus.com.au Save the Cerberus]