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 INTRODUCTION.T 0SJPO$MBTT t ,JOH(FPSHF7$MBTT t *SPO%VLF$MBTT t 2VFFO&MJ[BCFUI$MBTT t 3PZBM4PWFSFJHO$MBTT t 0UIFS4VQFS%SFBEOPVHIUT ILLUSTRATED BY PAUL WRIGHT © Osprey Publishing BRITISH BATTLESHIPS 1914–18 (2) The Super Dreadnoughts
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