Online Library of Selected Images:
SHIPS of the BRITISH NAVY
HMS Dreadnought (Battleship, 1906-1922)
HMS Dreadnought, an 18,110-ton battleship built at Portsmouth Dockyard, England, represented one of the most notable design transformations of the armored warship era. Her "all-big-gun" main battery of ten twelve-inch guns, steam turbine powerplant and 21-knot maximum speed so thoroughly eclipsed earlier types that subsequent battleships were commonly known as "dreadnoughts", and the previous ones disparaged as "pre-dreadnoughts". The swiftness of her construction was equally remarkable. Laid down in October 1905, she was launched in February 1906, after only four months on the ways. Dreadnought was commissioned for trials a year after her keel was laid and was completed in December 1906. Her building, trials and early service were closely watched by the World's naval authorities, including the U.S. Navy's Office of Naval Intelligence, the source of all of our photographs of Dreadnought.
The new battleship served as Flagship of the Home Fleet in 1907-1912 and remained part of that fleet thereafter. Dreadnought served with the 4th Battle Squadron in the North Sea during the first two years of World War I. On 18 March 1915, while so employed, she rammed and sank the German Submarine U-29. From May 1916, Dreadnought was flagship of the 3rd Battle Squadron, based on the Thames to counter the threat of bombardment by German battlecruisers. Placed in reserve in 1919, the once-revolutionary warship was sold for scrapping in 1922.
This page features or provides links to all our images of the British battleship Dreadnought (1906-1922).
For additional images of HMS Dreadnought, see:
Click photograph for larger image.
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Photo #: NH 61005 HMS Dreadnought (British Battleship, 1906) Photographed circa early 1907, while serving as a flagship. U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command Photograph Online Image: 81KB; 700 x 615 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 63367 HMS Dreadnought (British Battleship, 1906) In harbor, with flags flying from both masts and from the sternpost, circa 1906-07. U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command Photograph Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 535 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 63596 HMS Dreadnought (British Battleship, 1906) Underway, with an anchor suspended from the starboard deck edge, circa 1906-07. Note the array of booms used to deploy her anti-torpedo net system. U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command Photograph Online Image: 75KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 61016 HMS Dreadnought (British Battleship, 1906) Photographed circa 1906-07. U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command Photograph Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 505 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 61012 HMS Dreadnought (British Battleship, 1906) After target practice before King Edward VII, July-August 1907. The ship is flying what appear to be Royal Standards at her foremast, and is displaying targets amidships. U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command Photograph Online Image: 60KB; 740 x 490 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 63597 HMS Dreadnought (British Battleship, 1906) Underway, circa 1906-07. U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command Photograph Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 585 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 61017 HMS Dreadnought (British Battleship, 1906) Underway, circa 1906-07. U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command Photograph Online Image: 77KB; 740 x 580 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 61019 HMS Dreadnought (British Battleship, 1906) Underway in a British harbor, circa 1906-07. U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command Photograph Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 595 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 61018 HMS Dreadnought (British Battleship, 1906) In a British harbor, with a paddle tug alongside, circa 1906-07. U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command Photograph Online Image: 68KB; 740 x 540 pixels |
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Photo #: NH 61007 HMS Dreadnought (British Battleship, 1906) Photographed prior to the outbreak of the First World War, possibly while in the Mediterranean. By this time she had been fitted with shields for the 12-pounder guns atop her forward 12-inch gun turret and her main topmast had been eliminated. Small craft in the right foreground appears to be a Mediterranean type. U.S. Naval History & Heritage Command Photograph Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
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