Dreadnought facts for kids

A dreadnought is a navy battleship. A battleship is a large ship used in ocean battles between countries. The first dreadnoughts were made in the early 20th century. They were named after HMS Dreadnought, of the Royal Navy, the first ship of that type.

The first dreadnought was launched in 1906 by the United Kingdom, and was a new design of battleship. These ships had bigger guns; they also had guns that could shoot longer distances. Heavy steel layers were built on to the dreadnoughts as protection, which made them very strong and hard to sink. They were also much faster than older battleships. World War 1 was the first war in which dreadnoughts were used. After the war, a treaty was signed in Washington DC to limit the construction of battleships. This treaty helped stop the manufacturing of dreadnoughts. Japan, the UK, France, Italy and the United States signed this 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