« U-18 Sunk in Hoxa Sound | Kitchener's Army » |
The Majestic, Canopus, Formidable, and Duncan class Battleships
Most naval historians rightfully consider the Dreadnought to be the battleship that broke the mold. It was so important for ship design that all later battleships would be classified based on if they incorporated the dreadnought's innovations. Every battleship before became a pre-dreadnought, while everyone after became a dreadnought.
What many people do not know is that before there was the Dreadnought there was a standard setting pre-Dreadnought that many considered the penultimate heavy ship design.
In 1893 the British navy started the Spencer Programme, an ambitious shipbuilding program designed to leave Great Britian stronger than any two of its adversaries. The programme was Codified as the Naval Defense act of of 1889, and the two adversaries that Britian had to face was Russia, Great Britians enemy from the Crimean campaign, and France, its longest term military threat. To meet that threat the Royal Navy laid down first the Majestic class, whose nine ships would make it the largest class of Battleships ever designed. This would lead to a massive heavy ship building programs.
All together 29 ships were commisioned from Majestic - 9 ships Canopus - 6 ships, Formidable - 8 ships, Duncan - 6 ships were designed by Sir William White, and all were largely similar in layout and capability. The super class would be copied by every navy in the world who added battleships to their inventories.
By the Great War of course the pre-dreadnoughts were outclasses and in many ways a waste of displacement and staffing power. Even with the nature of the emergency, Great Britian quickly demobilized as many of them as they felt they could. Heavy guns, torpedoes, mines, and 21 knot powerplants all drove them to the breaking yards early.
Form is loading...
You must be a member of this blog to see the comments. Log in now!