1906 HMS Dreadnought884 viewsThis was the sixth HMS Dreadnought of the British Royal Navy and was the first battleship to have a uniform main battery, rather than having secondary smaller guns. She was also the first large warship to be powered by steam turbines, making her the fastest warship of her size. So advanced was Dreadnought that her name became a generic term for modern battleships; whilst the ships she made obsolete were known as "pre-dreadnoughts".
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HMS Agincourt 1913961 viewsHMS Agincourt was a Dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy.
She was a unique vessel, laid down by Armstrongs at Newcastle upon Tyne as the Brazilian Rio de Janeiro in September 1911. The chief designer of Armstrongs, Eustace d'Eyncourt, produced her outline design in his hotel bedroom in Brazil during the negotiations. Brazil cancelled the order in 1912, but sold the subsequently modified vessel to the Turkish navy for £2,750,000 in January 1914. Renamed the Sultan Osman I, she underwent trials in July 1914 and was completed in August, just as the First World War began.
Agincourt was an unusual ship in having seven main turrets. She had poor armour in comparison with her armament, having just 9 inches (229 mm) maximum belt thickness compared with the 12 inches (305 mm) or more appropriate for her armament. She would have ranked as a battlecruiser but for her low speed. By her completion, her 12-inch (305 mm) guns had started to become obsolete - most capital ships under construction having larger calibres.
The Royal Navy made modifications before commissioning its prize: in particular they removed a flying-off deck for seaplanes. HMS Agincourt formed part of the First Battle Squadron at the Battle of Jutland, which she survived unscathed. She was reallocated to the Second Battle Squadron in 1918 and decommissioned in 1919. After unsuccessful attempts to sell her to the Brazilian Government she was recommissioned as a depot ship before being decommissioned again in 1921 and scrapped in 1924.
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IJN Ibuki 1904940 viewsThe Japanese cruiser Ibuki was a late-generation that was almost a Dreadnought-type battleship in stature, it was the lead ship in the Ibuki class of 1st class heavy cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The Ibuki had one sister ship, the IJN Kurama. The Ibuki is named after Mount Ibuki located between Gifu prefecture and Shiga prefecture in Honshu. The class was planned during the Russo-Japanese War and was authorized under the 1904 Supplemental Naval Budget, at the same time has the IJN Tsukuba, but with heavier guns and with the new geared turbine engines which promised more power and hence, more speed. However, problems with the turbine engines delayed the construction of the Ibuki, and in the end, construction began almost two years later than her sister ship, the Kurama, which used standard reciprocating engines.
Shortly after commissioning, the Ibuki was sent on a voyage to Thailand for the coronation ceremony of the Thai king Rama VI.
On 28 August 1912, the Tsukuba was re-classified as a battlecruiser by the Japanese navy.
It subsequently played an important role in World War I, in protecting British merchant shipping in the South Pacific and in the Indian Ocean, and participating in the hunt for the German East Asiatic Squadron and the SMS Emden. After the war, it felt victim to the Washington Naval Treaty and was scrapped after a short service life of only 15 years.
Afterwards, its guns were salvaged, and used in the shore batteries at Hakodate in Hokkaido and along the Tsugaru Strait separating Honshu and Hokkaido..
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SMS Westfalen 1908809 viewsSMS Westfalen, launched 1908 at AG Weser in Bremen was one of the first dreadnought battleships (ship of the line) built for the Imperial German Navy. There were three other ships in her class: SMS Nassau (launched in 1908 at the Imperial shipyards in Wilhelmshaven), SMS Posen (launched in 1908 at Germania shipyards in Kiel) and SMS Rheinland (launched 1908 at Vulcan in Stettin). The ships were armed with twelve 28 cm guns in double turrets -- one forward, one aft, and two on each side. In addition, they carried twelve 15 cm guns, sixteen 8.8 cm guns and six torpedo tubes. SMS Nassau was 146 m long, displaced 18,873 tons, carried a crew of 1008, and had a top speed of 20 knots. All four ships took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May–1 June 1916.
Following the end of World War I, the ships were surrendered to the victorious powers as war booty. Westfalen was surrendered in 1920 to Great Britain and scrapped in 1924. The other three ships were surrendered to Japan, which sold them to a British wrecking firm which then scrapped them in Dordrecht (Netherlands).
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1908 SMS Rheinland718 viewsLaunched in 1908 at Vulcan in Stettin, SMS Rheinland was was one of four Nassau class battleships that were the first dreadnought battleships built for the Imperial German Navy. There were three other ships in her class: SMS Nassau (launched in 1908 at the Imperial shipyards in Wilhelmshaven), SMS Posen (launched in 1908 at Germania shipyards in Kiel) and SMS Westfalen (launched 1908 at AG Weser in Bremen). The ships were armed with twelve 28 cm guns in double turrets -- one forward, one aft, and two on each side. In addition, they carried twelve 15 cm guns, sixteen 8.8 cm guns and six torpedo tubes. SMS Nassau was 146 m long, displaced 18,873 tons, carried a crew of 1008, and had a top speed of 20 knots. All four ships took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May–1 June 1916. On April 11, 1918, Rheinland ran aground, forcing the removal of the belt armor and all of the guns in order to refloat the ship; it was never repaired.
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Viribus Unitis in 1912765 viewsSMS Viribus Unitis was an Austro-Hungarian dreadnought battleship of the Viribus Unitis class.
Viribus Unitis was built at Stabilmento Tecnico Tristino yard, Trieste.
After Austria-Hungary was defeated in World War I, and it became apparent that the coastal areas will be controlled by the newly-formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, the Austrian government decided to give the ship, along with much of the fleet, to the Croatians.
Viribus Unitis and the rest of the former Austrian fleet was soon targetted by the Italians. She was sunk at anchor at Pola on 1 November 1918 by a mignatta carried by an Italian human torpedo.
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