The first of these super dreadnoughts entered Once the decision had been made to build this new generation of dreadnoughts around the larger gun, other innovations fell into place, such as the need to mount guns along the centreline, or to reconfigure accommodation within the hull. However, as with everything else during this period, speed of construction outweighed almost every other consideration. The result was the design of a new generation of ‘super dreadnoughts’, armed with 13.5-inch guns. There was nothing else for it – Britain had to build better-armed dreadnoughts, or risk losing her hard-won naval dominance. Admiral Fisher’s dictum of ‘Build first, build fast, each one better than the last’ would no longer be enough. Not only would these new guns have a longer range than British 12-inch dreadnought guns, but they would also be able to penetrate the armour of almost all the dreadnoughts in the British fleet. Then there were the disquieting reports that the Germans were considering arming future dreadnoughts with 35cm (13¾-inch), rather than the 30cm (12-inch) main guns that their navy currently favoured. Naval analysts predicted that by 1914 the German dreadnought fleet would have achieved parity with that of the British. Matters reached a head in March 1908, when the German Reichstag approved the funding for the building of four dreadnoughts a year.
From that moment the gloves were off, as both countries tried to expand their battle fleet as quickly as they could. The German response was to commission its own dreadnoughts, the first of which were laid down in the summer of 1907. Since the completion of HMS Dreadnought in December 1906, the British Admiralty had been eager to expand its dreadnought fleet as rapidly as possible, before its naval rivals could do the same. The viewpoint is from the highest point of the island of Flotta and looks across the main anchorage towards the Orkney mainland around Orphir.īy 1909, Great Britain was in the middle of an arms race. The Grand Fleet at anchor in Scapa Flow, captured by the artist Sir John Lavery in December 1917.
BRITISH BATTLESHIPS 1914–18 (2) The Super Dreadnoughts
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