Naval Gaming Introduction

Common knowledge says that HMS Dreadnought was the first of the dreadnought type of battleship. It certainly was the first to be launched. But was it really the first, or just the first completed?

Which ship was the first dreadnought depends on how you want to count. The Royal Italian Navy, Royal Navy, United States Navy, and Imperial Japanese Navy were all in the running.

The Royal Italian Navy had Colonel Vittorio Cuniberti's design in 1903 (also see Who Conceived the Dreadnought Type of Battleship?). This design had everything required of a dreadnought; an all-big-gun armament of twelve 12-inch guns, no intermediate caliber guns, strong armor, and high speed. Had the Italian Navy acted, they would unquestionably have produced the first dreadnought, and every other navy would have been playing catch-up with them. However, a lack of finances and facilities led them to reject the construction.

HMS Dreadnought came into existence in a whirlwind. Approved on 13 January 1905, design completed by May of 1905, laid down on 2 October 1905, launched on 10 February 1906, and commissioned 1 September 1906. No other dreadnought was to be completed as quickly. It is this quick completion which gives Dreadnought her claim as the "first dreadnought", as she was the first to be launched and the first to be completed.

Five months before Dreadnought was started, the Imperial Japanese Navy laid down the Satsuma. The ship was almost 1,500 tons heavier than Dreadnought. She had notably thinner armor, and a top speed of just over 18 knots due to her reciprocating engines. Her armament was heavier than any other existing or planned ship (not equaled until the USS Delaware in 1907), however, it consisted of two different calibers of guns; four 12-inch and twelve 10-inch. Although some people have claimed this was the first dreadnought to be laid down, it lacked the speed and the all-big-gun armament of a true dreadnought. Because of this, the Satsuma and its near sister the Aki, are often termed "semi-dreadnoughts". Due to a slow down in construction after the end of the Russo-Japanese War, Satsuma was not launched until November of 1906, nor completed until March of 1909.

The South Carolina class (South Carolina and Michigan) of the United States Navy was authorized in March of 1905, just after Dreadnought. Unlike Dreadnought, the plans for the South Carolinas were effectively ready well before the class was authorized. Delays in procurement, however, prevented the class from being laid down until 1906, and slow construction resulted in its launching in 1908.

The design history of the USN's South Carolina class encompasses within itself the evolution of the pre-dreadnoughts into the dreadnoughts. As originally conceived, the class would have been powerful pre-dreadnoughts. The heavy armament consisted of four 12-inch and four 10-inch guns, with the 10-inch guns disposed in four single wing turrets. Another variant, moving toward the all-big-gun concept, replaced the 10-inch guns with single 12-inch guns (this was reported in the 1905 Jane's Fighting Ships, although the information was well out of date by then). Another interim design placed superfiring twin 10-inch gunned turrets above the 12-inch turrets. Next, the 10-inch guns were again replaced by single 12-inch guns. Cuniberti's article in the 1904 Jane's Fighting Ships, plus the USN's traditional desire to maximize firepower eventually led to the final armament of eight 12-inch guns disposed in four centerline twin turrets, with the second turret fore and aft in a superfiring position. This design was also notable as being the first all centerline battleship and having a general layout which would later be adopted by all battleships. Compared to HMS Dreadnought, the South Carolinas lacked only the speed which would come to be expected of dreadnoughts (18.5 verses 21 knots).

The Italian Navy had a chance to define the course of battleship design, but was unable to exploit its advantage. The Imperial Japanese Navy was the first to begin work on a battleship of the size of the dreadnoughts, but the lack of speed and a traditional mixed armament on the Satsuma takes the IJN out of the competition for the first dreadnought. The USN's South Carolina class had everything needed for a dreadnought, except speed of construction. Not only were they the first fully designed all-big-gun battleships, they were also the first centerline main battery battleships, and the first dreadnought type battleships with superfiring guns. Although the South Carolina was clearly advanced over Dreadnought, the speed of Dreadnought's construction, getting it completed long before any of the competitors, gave it the right to be the namesake of the entire type.

Perhaps in the end, having Dreadnought contribute its name to these magnificent battleships is for the best. Somehow calling them "Carolinas" just doesn't have the same ring to it.