Pre-dreadnought
The term
pre-dreadnought refers to the last type of
battleship before
HMS Dreadnought (1906). They were designed and built between about
1890 and
1908. It should be noted that the term "pre-dreadnought" is very much a retroactive designation; contemporary accounts normally described them simply as battleships.
Pre-dreadnoughts evolved from earlier turret and
barbette ships. A classic example of pre-dreadnought was the
Royal Navy's
Royal Sovereign class. They were characterized by having a main battery of (typically) four 12-inch (305 mm) guns in two
turrets, one fore and one aft, an
intermediate battery of a number of guns in the 8 to 10-inch range placed in the superstructure, and a tertiary battery of light, rapid-fire guns for defence against
torpedo boats. The mixed armament was ideal for the battle ranges of approximately 3,000 yards that pre-dreadnoughts were designed for. The smaller weapons "smothered" (peppered with holes) the "upper works" (superstructure), while the larger, slow-firing weapons could punch through thick armor to the enemy's "vitals" (engines, magazines).
Sailing rigs had been abandoned in the
1880s, as it became clear that masts, sails, rope and rig added much top weight without any corresponding value in endurance. The stays and guys interfered with clear arcs of fire for the guns, and the whole rig was in danger of falling on the guns with the slightest battle damage. Meanwhile, steam engines had become quite reliable, and so pre-dreadnoughts were powered by the latest triple-expansion engines.
The arrival of a reliable
torpedo in the 1890s made short-range battle a hazardous proposition, thus battle ranges perforce increased. At such ranges, hits could be obtained only through slow, deliberate salvo fire in which each salvo was spotted and corrections made. Making spotting corrections from a forest of shell splashes from different calibers was impossible; small projectiles could not penetrate armor at these ranges; and small, rapid-firing guns had to wait for fall of shot (perhaps 15-30 seconds) before firing again, thus giving up their rate of fire advantage. All this pointed to an armament of as many large guns of a single caliber as could be carried.
HMS Dreadnought introduced the concept of the
all big-gun battleship, mounting up to twelve large calibre guns. This design made all earlier battleships obsolete overnight - hence the slightly derogatory term "pre-dreadnoughts" for these older battleships, while new "all big gun" designs were termed
"dreadnoughts". HMS
Dreadnought also introduced the steam turbine into battleship design. In its way this was as revolutionary as the gun layout.
Since dreadnought battleships could engage effectively at two or three times the range of pre-dreadnoughts, these older ships passed rapidly into obsolescence. Even mixed-caliber battleships completed after HMS
Dreadnought were referred to as "pre-dreadnoughts", since this was an accurate reflection of their fighting value. This technological advance effectively negated the Royal Navy's huge numerical superiority and allowed the German Navy to begin construction of a modern battle fleet on level terms with the British, although because of the head-start gained with
Dreadnought, and because the large size of dreadnought battleships required Germany to widen and deepen their canals and naval infrastructure, Britain managed to re-establish a narrow four dreadnought lead. (There is considerable difference in opinion between military historians as to whether the dramatic rush to dreadnought-style vessels was a strategic success or failure.)
Pre-dreadnought battleships saw service during the
Russo-Japanese War of
1904-
1905, notably at the
battle of Tsushima. During
World War I the remaining pre-dreadnoughts were generally used for second-line tasks such as convoy escort and shore bombardment (notably during the
Gallipoli campaign where a number were lost to submarine attack), although a small squadron of German ones were 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).
After World War One most pre-dreadnoughts were broken up along with many dreadnoughts. Germany was allowed to keep eight in service for coastal defence duties under the terms of the
Versailles treaty and two of these soldiered on into
World War II. One of them,
Schleswig-Holstein, shelled the Polish
Westerplatte peninsula just from the first minutes of the war. Greece also had a pair of ex-US Navy pre-dreadnoughts in service at the time; they were sunk in due course when Germany invaded her in 1941.
The only pre-Dreadnought preserved today is the Japanese Navy's flagship at Tsushima,
Mikasa, in
Yokosuka.
*http://www.oz.net/~markhow/pre-dred/ Pre-Dreadnought Preservation
*http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/battleships/us_pd.htm - US Pre-Dreadnoughts
*http://www.bobhenneman.info/pdcntry.htm - Pre-Dreadnoughts in WWII
