HMS Dreadnought
Four ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Dreadnought in the expectation that they would "dread nought but God."
As quarantine ship, mid-1800s
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2 HMS Dreadnought (1875-1908) 3 HMS Dreadnought (1906-1922) 4 HMS Dreadnought (1960-1980) |
The first HMS Dreadnought, 98, was launched from Portsmouth on midday Saturday, 13 May 1801, after 13 years on the stocks. She was the first man of war launched since the 1801 Act of Union created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and at her head displayed a lion couchant on a scroll bearing the Imperial arms as emblazoned on the Standard.
The launching was a spectacle; it was reported that at least 10,000 people witnessed Commissioner Sir Charles Saxton break a bottle of wine over her stem, and that after the launch Sir Charles gave a most sumptuous cold collation to the nobility and officers of distinction.
After the launch, Dreadnought was brought into dock for coppering, and a great number of people went on board to view her. The following day, due to the exertions of Mr Peake, the builder, and the artificers of the dockyard, she was completely coppered in six hours and on Monday morning she went out of dock for rigging and fitting.
Her first commander was Captain James Vashon. After cruising for some time in the Channel he proceeded off Cadiz and Minorca where he continued until the summer of 1802.
Her first master was Mr. Banks followed by Joseph Foss Dessiou (1769-1853), who was paid off on 15th July 1802.
In 1803, Captain Edward Brace briefly took command as Flag-Captain to Sir William Cornwallis, until he was relieved that same year by Captain John Child Purvis.
Purvis served under the orders of Admiral Cornwallis until he was promoted to Rear Admiral in April 1804. At that time, Captain John Conn assumed command, now as Flag-Captain to Vice Admiral Collingwood. The winter gale weather off the French coast badly damaged five of the major warships maintaining the blockade. Dreadnought lost most of her powder when water poured into the magazine.
In the spring of 1805, Admiral Cornwallis was replaced by an ailing Lord Gardner who allowed the close blockade to be slackened. On 30 March the French fleet escaped from Toulon and reached Cadiz on 9 April. The French and Spanish squadrons sailed separately from there and joined forces in Martinique on 26 May. On 15 May Collingwood and his squadron of seven ships received orders from the Admiralty to sail for Barbados. Before they could depart; however, Horatio Nelson arrived from the Mediterranean Sea in pursuit of the French, and Dreadnought remained off Cadiz. At the beginning of October, Collingwood moved his flag to Royal Sovereign, leaving Conn in command of Dreadnought.
At the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805, Dreadnought was the eighth ship in the lee division to enter the action. She started firing on San Juan at two o'clock and fifteen minutes later ran her on board and forced her to surrender. She then attempted to engage Principe de Asturias but the Spanish ship hauled off. During the battle Dreadnought lost seven killed and 26 wounded.
Dreadnought continued to patrol the Channel and the Baltic for another seven years, until 1812, when she was taken out of commission at Portsmouth. In 1827, she became a lazaretto (quarantine ship) at Milford. HMS Dreadnought was broken up in 1857.
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The second HMS Dreadnought, a turret ironclad battleship, was built at Pembroke Dockyard, England. Begun as Fury in 1870, the original design was recast and the renamed ship was laid down in 1872, launched in March 1875 and finally completed in 1879. She carried her four muzzle-loading guns in two twin turrets, and had a very heavily armored hull, low freeboard, and no sailing rig. Her secondary armament was very light, though it varied in detail throughout her career. Despite their obsolescence, she retained her muzzle-loading big guns to the end of her days.
After completion, Dreadnought remained in reserve until 1884, when she was commissioned for service in the Mediterranean Sea. The battleship returned to British waters in 1894 and, after refit, served in 1895-1897 as a coast guard ship at Bantry Bay, Ireland. Dreadnought was partially modernized in 1897-1899 and took part in British fleet maneuvers in 1900 and 1901 as a second-class battleship. From 1902, she served as a tender and depot ship. She was placed out of service in 1905, and sold for scrapping in July 1908.HMS Dreadnought (1801-1857)
HMS Dreadnought (1875-1908)
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | 1905 |
| Launched: | 1906 |
| Commissioned: | 1906 |
| Decommissioned: | 1919 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1922 |
| Struck: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 21,845 tons |
| Length: | 527 ft (160 m) overall |
| Beam: | 82 ft (25 m) |
| Draught: | 26 ft (8 m) |
| Propulsion: | *Boilers: 18 Babcock & Wilcox 3 drum type
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| Speed: | 21 knots |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 695 to 773 officers and men |
| Armament: | Ten 12 inch guns |
| Aircraft: | |
| Motto: | |
The third HMS Dreadnought was the first battleship to be entirely armed with only the largest guns available, instead of having secondary and sometimes tertiary batteries of smaller guns. She was also the first large warship to be powered by steam turbines. The swiftness of her construction was 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.
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Dreadnought served as flagship of the Home Fleet from 1907 to 1912 and remained part of that fleet thereafter. The new battleship saw only limited action in World War I. For the first two years of the war, she served in the Fourth Battle Squadron in the North Sea. Her most significant action was ramming and sinking the German submarine U-29 on 18 March 1915. 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.
See also: Dreadnought Hoax
See HMS Dreadnought (S101). Was the UK's first nuclear-powered submarine.General characteristics
HMS Dreadnought (1960-1980)