Editing Battleship (section)

=== 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}}