Editing Battleship (section)

==Development of the modern battleship==
=== Pre-dreadnought battleships ===
[[File:S.M. Linienschiff Brandenburg.jpg|thumb|The German {{SMS|Brandenburg||2}}, which carried six heavy guns, rather than the standard four]]
{{Main|Pre-dreadnought battleship}}

In 1889, the British government passed the [[Naval Defence Act 1889]], which embarked on a major naval construction program aimed at establishing the so-called [[two-power standard]], whereby the Royal Navy would be stronger than the next two largest navies combined.{{sfn|Brown|1997|pp=115–117}} The plan saw the construction of the eight {{sclass|Royal Sovereign|battleship|1}}s, which have been regarded as the first class of battleship that would retrospectively be referred to as "pre-dreadnought battleships". These large battleships incorporated a number of major improvements over earlier vessels like the ''Devastation''s, including a high [[freeboard (nautical)|freeboard]] for true ocean-going capability, more extensive armor protection, heavier [[secondary battery]] guns, and greater speed. The ships were armed with four [[BL 13.5-inch Mk I – IV naval gun|{{cvt|13.5|in}} guns]] in two twin mounts, fore and aft, which established the pattern for subsequent battleships.{{sfn|Chesneau|Kolesnik|1979|p=32}}{{efn|Sondhaus states that the ''Royal Sovereign''s "...set the standard for battleship construction for the next seventeen years, until their general concept was rendered obsolete by the all-big-gun {{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|2}}.{{sfn|Sondhaus|2001|p=162}}}} After building a trio of smaller second class battleships intended for the colonial empire, Britain followed with the nine-strong {{sclass|Majestic|battleship|1}}s in 1893–1895, which improved on the basic ''Royal Sovereign'' design. These ships adopted the [[BL 12-inch Mk VIII naval gun|{{cvt|12|in|0}} gun]], which would become the standard for all subsequent British pre-dreadnoughts.{{sfn|Chesneau|Kolesnik|1979|pp=33–34}}

Foreign navies quickly began pre-dreadnoughts of their own; France began {{ship|French battleship|Brennus||2}} in 1889 and [[German Empire|Germany]] [[keel laying|laid down]] four {{sclass|Brandenburg|battleship|1}}s in 1890. The [[United States Navy]] laid down three {{sclass|Indiana|battleship|1}}s in 1891, the same year work began on the Russian battleship {{ship|Russian battleship|Tri Sviatitelia||2}}. [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] ordered the two {{sclass|Fuji|battleship|1}}s from British yards, to an improved ''Royal Sovereign'' design, in 1894. The [[Austro-Hungarian Navy]] eventually ordered its own pre-dreadnoughts, beginning with the {{sclass|Habsburg|battleship|4}} in 1899. All of these ships carried guns of between {{cvt|11|and|13.4|in}}, save the Austro-Hungarian vessels, which, being significantly smaller than the rest, only carried {{cvt|240|mm|in|order=flip}} guns.{{sfn|Chesneau|Kolesnik|1979|pp=140, 180, 221, 247, 272, 292}}

[[File:HMS Agamemnon (1908) profile drawing.png|left|thumb|Diagram of {{HMS|Agamemnon|1906|6}} (1908), a typical late pre-dreadnought battleship]]

Most pre-dreadnoughts followed the same general pattern, which typically saw a ship armed with four large guns, usually 12-inch weapons, along with a secondary of medium-caliber guns (usually {{cvt|5|to|6|in|0}} guns early in the period), which were also intended for combat at close range with other battleships. They also generally carried a light armament for defense against [[torpedo boat]]s and other light craft. Some ships varied from this general pattern, such as the American ''Indiana''s, which carried a heavier secondary battery of {{convert|8|in|0|adj=on}} guns, and the German ''Brandenburg''s, which had six 11-inch guns for instead of the usual four heavy guns. Many of the early French pre-dreadnoughts, such as {{ship|French battleship|Charles Martel||2}}, carried a mixed heavy armament of two 12-inch and two {{convert|10.8|in|adj=on|0}} guns.{{sfn|Chesneau|Kolesnik|1979|pp=33–37, 140–142, 180–184, 221–222, 247–249, 272–273, 292–297}}

Pre-dreadnoughts continued the technical innovations of the ironclad throughout the 1890s and early 1900s. [[Compound armor]] gave way to much stronger [[Harvey armor]] developed in the United States in 1890, which was in turn superseded by the German [[Krupp armor]] in 1894. As armor became stronger, it could be reduced in thickness considerably, which saved weight that could be allocated to other aspects of the ship design, and generally permitted larger and more capable battleships. At the same time, the advent of [[smokeless powder]] continued the trend begun in the French navy of comparatively smaller guns firing at higher velocities. Early on in the pre-dreadnought era, most navies standardized on the 12-inch gun; only Germany remained the significant outlier, relying on 11-inch and even 9.4-inch guns for its pre-dreadnoughts.{{sfn|Sondhaus|2001|pp=164–166}} Similarly, later in the pre-dreadnought era, the secondary batteries grew in caliber, usually to {{cvt|7|to|8|in|0}} guns.{{sfn|Chesneau|Kolesnik|1979|pp=38–40, 143–144, 184–185, 297}} Some final classes, such as the British {{sclass|Lord Nelson|battleship|4}} with a secondary battery of {{convert|9.2|in|adj=on|0}} guns, or the French {{sclass|Danton|battleship|4}} that had 9.4-inch secondaries, have been subsequently referred to as "semi-dreadnoughts", reflecting their transitional step between classic pre-dreadnought designs and the all-big-gun battleships that would soon appear.{{sfn|Gardiner|Lambert|2001|pp=125–126}}{{sfn|Jordan|2013|pp=48–49}}

In the last years of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th, the escalation in the building of battleships became an arms race between Britain and Germany. The German naval laws of 1890 and 1898 authorized a fleet of 38 battleships, a vital threat to the balance of naval power.{{sfn|Sondhaus|2001|pp=179–181}} Britain answered with further shipbuilding, but by the end of the pre-dreadnought era, British supremacy at sea had markedly weakened. In 1883, the United Kingdom had 38 ironclad battleships, twice as many as France and almost as many as the rest of the world put together. In 1897, Britain's lead was far smaller due to competition from France, Germany, and Russia, as well as the development of pre-dreadnought fleets in Italy, the United States and Japan.{{sfn|Kennedy|1983|p=209}} The Ottoman Empire, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Chile, and Brazil all had second-rate fleets led by [[armored cruiser]]s, [[coastal defence ship]]s or [[monitor (warship)|monitors]].{{sfn|Chesneau|Kolesnik|1979|pp=360–410}}

====Early combat experiences====
[[File:Battle of Tsushima, 1905 by Tōjō Shōtarō.jpg|thumb|Painting of the [[Battle of Tsushima]], 1905]]

Pre-dreadnought battleships received their first test in combat in the [[Spanish-American War]] in 1898 at the [[Battle of Santiago de Cuba]]. An American squadron that included four pre-dreadnoughts had blockaded a Spanish squadron of four armored cruisers in [[Santiago de Cuba]] until 3 July, when the Spanish ships attempted to break through and escape. All four cruisers were destroyed in the ensuing engagement, as were a pair of Spanish [[destroyer]]s, and American ships received little damage in return. The battle seemed to indicate that the mixed batteries of pre-dreadnought battleships were very effective, as the medium-caliber guns had inflicted most of the damage (which reinforced the observations of the [[Battle of Manila Bay]], where only cruisers armed with medium guns had been present). It also led navies around the world to begin working on better solutions for [[rangefinding]] in the hope of improving gunnery at longer ranges.{{sfn|Sondhaus|2001|pp=176–177}}

Conflicting colonial ambitions in Korea and [[Manchuria]] led Russia and Japan to the next major use of pre-dreadnoughts in combat. During the [[Russo-Japanese War]] of 1904–1905, squadrons of battleships engaged in a number of battles, including the [[Battle of the Yellow Sea]] and the [[Battle of Tsushima]]. [[Naval mine]]s also proved to be a deadly threat to battleships on both sides, sinking the Russian {{ship|Russian battleship|Petropavlovsk||2}} in March 1904 and the Japanese battleships {{ship|Japanese battleship|Hatsuse||2}} and {{ship|Japanese battleship|Yashima||2}} on the same day in May. The action in the Yellow Sea began during a Russian attempt to break out of [[Dalian|Port Arthur]], which the Japanese under Admiral [[Tōgō Heihachirō]] had blockaded. The Russians outmaneuvered the Japanese and briefly escaped, but the latter's superior speed allowed them to catch up. A 12-inch shell struck the Russian flagship, killing the squadron commander and causing the Russian ships to fall into disarray and retreat back to Port Arthur. With night falling, the Japanese broke off and reimposed the blockade. At Tsushima, Togo outmaneuvered the Russian Second Pacific Squadron that had been sent to reinforce the Pacific Fleet, and the Japanese battleships quickly inflicted fatal damage with long-range fire from their 12-inch guns.{{sfn|Sondhaus|2001|pp=187–191}}

In both actions during the Russo-Japanese War, the fleets engaged at longer range (as far as {{cvt|11000|m|yd|order=flip}} at the Yellow Sea), where only their 12-inch guns were effective. Only in the final stages of the battle at Tsushima, by which time the Russian fleet had been severely damaged and most of its modern battleships sunk or disabled, did the Japanese fleet close to effective range of their secondary guns, fighting as close as {{cvt|2500|m|yd|order=flip}}. The actions, particularly the decisive engagement at Tsushima, demonstrated that the lessons taken from the Spanish-American War were incorrect, and that the large-caliber gun should be the only offensive weapon carried by battleships.{{sfn|Sondhaus|2001|pp=189–191, 197–198}}

=== Dreadnought battleships ===
[[File:HMS Dreadnought (1911) profile drawing.png|thumb|right|{{HMS|Dreadnought|1906}}]]
{{See also|Dreadnought}}

In the early 1900s, some naval theorists had begun to argue for future battleships to discard the heavy secondary batteries and instead carry only big guns. The first prominent example was [[Vittorio Cuniberti]], the chief engineer of the Italian {{lang|it|[[Regia Marina]]}} (Royal Navy); he published an article in 1903 titled "An Ideal Battleship for the British Navy" in ''Jane's Fighting Ships''. By the time that British Admiral [[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|Sir John ("Jackie") Fisher]] became the [[First Sea Lord]] in late 1904, he had already become convinced that a similar concept—that of a fast capital ship carrying the largest [[quick-firing gun]]s available (which at that time were {{cvt|9.2|in|0}} weapons)—was the path forward. The Japanese Navy was the first to actually order any of these new ships, beginning with the two {{sclass|Satsuma|battleship|1}}s in 1904, though due to shortages of 12-inch guns, they were completed with a mix of 12- and {{convert|10|in|adj=on|0}} guns. By early 1905, Fisher had converted to the 12-inch gun for his proposed new capital ships,{{sfn|Sondhaus|2001|p=198}} and in March that year, the German Navy had decided to build an all-big-gun battleship for the planned {{sclass|Nassau|battleship|4}}.{{sfn|Dodson|2016|pp=73–74}} The American {{sclass|South Carolina|battleship|4}} was authorized in 1905, but work did not begin until December 1906.{{sfn|Grove|2011|pp=179–196}}

[[File:Gangut class diagrams Brasseys 1912.jpg|thumb|Plan and profile of the {{sclass|Gangut|battleship|1}}s as depicted in [[Brassey's Naval Annual]] 1912]]

Though several navies had begun design work on all-big-gun battleships, the first to be completed was the British {{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|2}}, which had been ordered by Fisher. He actually preferred a very large armored cruiser equipped with an all-big-gun armament, which would come to be known as the [[battlecruiser]], and he only included ''Dreadnought'' in his 1905 construction program to appease naval officers who favored continued battleship building. Fisher believed that Britain's security against the French and Russian threats would be better guaranteed by squadrons of fast battlecruisers, three of which were laid down in 1906. Regardless of Fisher's intentions, the rapidly changing strategic calculus invalidated his plans and ensured that when the 1906–1907 program was being debated, Germany would be Britain's primary rival, the Royal Navy chose to build three more dreadnoughts instead of further battlecruisers. Reactions from the other naval powers was immediate; very few pre-dreadnoughts were built afterward, and in the first seven years of the ensuing arms race, all of the major naval powers either had their own dreadnoughts in service or nearing completion. Of these competitions, the [[Anglo–German naval arms race|Anglo-German race]] was the most significant, though others took place, such as the [[South American dreadnought race|South American contest]]. Even naval powers of the second and third rank, such as Spain; Brazil, Chile, and Argentina in South America; and Greece and the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean had begun dreadnought programs, either domestically or ordering abroad.{{sfn|Sondhaus|2001|pp=198–201}}{{sfn|Burr|2006|pp=4–7}}

''Dreadnought'' carried ten 12-inch guns, all in twin turrets: one was forward, two further aft, all on the [[centerline (nautical)|centerline]], and the remaining pair were [[wing turret]]s with more restricted [[Arc of fire|arcs of fire]]. She disposed of the medium-caliber secondary battery and carried only {{convert|3|in|adj=on}} guns for anti-torpedo boat work.{{sfn|Gibbons|1983|pp=170–171}} A variety of experimental arrangements followed, including the "hexagonal" layout adopted by the German ''Nassau''s (which had four of their six twin turrets on the "wings"),{{sfn|Gardiner|Gray|1985|p=145}} or the Italian {{ship|Italian battleship|Dante Alighieri||2}} and Russian {{sclass|Gangut|battleship|1}}s that mounted their guns all on the centerline, but with restricted arcs of fire for half of the guns.{{sfn|Gardiner|Gray|1985|pp=259, 302}} The ''South Carolina''s dispensed with ''Dreadnought''{{'}}s wing turrets, adopting instead a [[superfiring]] arrangement of eight guns in four twin turrets, which gave them the same broadside as ''Dreadnought'', despite having two fewer guns.{{sfn|Grove|2011|pp=179–196}}

Technological development continued over the decade that followed ''Dreadnought''{{'}}s launch. Already by 1910, the British had begun the first of the so-called "super-dreadnoughts" that carried significantly more powerful {{convert|13.5|in|adj=on}} guns, all on the centerline. The United States followed suit in 1911, though increasing the caliber of their guns to {{convert|14|in|0}}. France adopted a {{cvt|13.4|in|0}} gun for its {{sclass|Bretagne|battleship|1}}s, laid down in 1912. That year, Japan laid down the first of its {{sclass|Fusō|battleship|1}}s, also armed with a 14-inch main battery. The Germans waited until 1913, but skipped directly to {{convert|15|in|adj=on|0}} guns. By this time, Britain had led the way to the 15-inch gun with the {{sclass|Queen Elizabeth|battleship|4}} begun in late 1912. But more importantly than the increase of caliber, these were the first completely [[fuel oil|oil]]-fired battleships these were the first [[fast battleship]]s.{{sfn|Gardiner|Gray|1985|pp=28, 33–34, 115, 149, 198, 229}}{{sfn|Greger|1997|p=101}} At around the same time, the United States introduced the next major innovation in battleship design: the [[All or nothing (armor)|all or nothing]] armor system in the {{sclass|Nevada|battleship|4}} laid down in 1912. The heaviest possible armor was used to protect the ship's propulsion machinery and ammunition [[magazine (artillery)|magazines]], but intermediate protection was stripped away from non-essential areas, since this mid-weight armor only served to detonate armor-piercing shells.{{sfn|Gardiner|Gray|1985|p=115}}