Evolvement of the " Battleships " !

The first iron clad, steam powered warships evolved during the American Civil War of  1861-65.  They clearly demonstrated their superiority over wooden sailing ships and their smooth bore cannons and the world's navies took note.  From there until the start of the new century it was the " steam age " but these ships had limitations.

Steam power required coal as the ship's fuel and this was not readily available in some parts of the world.  Navy chiefs had visions of war ships becoming stranded a long way from home and consequently their new ships still carried masts and spars, and had sail lockers below decks.  This had consequences for the positioning of their guns.

Rifled barrel guns  replaced those old smooth bore cannons, but they were positioned in " pods " protruding from the sides of the ships.  This limited barrel length and consequently the range the guns could reach but navies were reluctant to totally abandon sail for the convenience of steam.

All that changed in the early months of the twentieth century.  The British Royal Navy launched an entirely new warship which they named the " Dreadnought ".   The masts and spars were gone, and the guns were now on deck, in armoured multi weapon turrets which allowed barrel lengths that could project shells for over twenty miles. For safety, the ships magazines were located at the bottom of the ship, directly under those armoured turrets and safe from incoming fire.

This " Dreadnought " design became the template for the world's navies - and in fact naval strength became a count of how many Dreadnoughts each navy possessed.  The largest ships of this design - which carried the heaviest guns - were designated " Battleships " and in those early days of the new century they certainly ruled the seas.

The first world war of 1914-18 brought a challenge to the power of the battleship.  The German fleet lacked the numbers to challenge the British Royal Navy and so they turned to the new medium of submarine warfare.  Battleships were vulnerable to torpedoes launched by an unseen opponent and navies quickly adopted new tactics.  Battleships now travelled with a surrounding escort of Frigates and Destroyers to keep them safe from U-Boats.

This was also the age when air power became a serious development.  The Germans created the concept of " Zeppelins " - giant airships where bags of hydrogen gas was contained within a metal framework and powered by aero engines in exterior pods.   These were capable of making the long journey from Germany to England and began bombing British cities.  Conventional aircraft - with less powerful engines - were unable to rise to the heights necessary to challenge these Zeppelins.  The air ship era came to an end late in the war when the British invented the incendiary bullet that caused the hydrogen gas to explode in flames.

The demise of the air ship coincided with the fast development of aircraft as a means of war.  It was inevitable that naval air cover would result in aircraft being launched from ships providing a flight deck and very quickly aircraft carrying bombs and torpedoes began to challenge battleships as the strength of navies evolved around aircraft carriers.

Today, the battleship era is over.  The last of these leviathans has been withdrawn from service and we are now in the " missile " age.  In the hundred years since the end of the first world war we have seen astonishing changes in how wars are fought.  It seems that the hundred years ahead will be equally challenging.