from an article on the web

Kelley L. Ross,

Dreadnought (2004)

 

Kelley L. Ross Ph.D. is an instructor at the Department of Philosophy, Los Angeles Valley College, USA.

  

 

The first table below compares the building programs of Great Britain [and] Germany ... in "Dreadnought," i.e. all big gun, battleships ... Pre-Dreadnought battleships all had a main battery of four guns. The Dreadnought now had ten (though only a broadside of eight), and it was bigger and faster (21 knots, against 18).

  

In the 1890's Britain had acquired a number of competitors for its supreme status on the seas. ... In 1889, after some war scares over Russia, Britain had adopted a "two power standard," by which the Royal Navy should be at least as large as any other two navies (mainly meaning France and Russia). In 1890, however, Alfred Thayer Mahan's book, The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 was published, examining how the British used the Royal Navy to obtain control of the seas and establish the Pax Britannica dominance that they enjoyed in the 19th century. This inspired several states to invest more seriously in warships than they had previously, most significantly the (Mahan's own) United States, Japan, and Germany. Thus, the United States authorized its first three proper modern battleships in 1890 (BB1 Indiana, BB2 Massachusetts, and BB3 Oregon) ....

  

German advocates of naval power, like Admiral Tirpitz and Kaiser Wilhelm, who wanted to have a navy like his grandmother, Queen Victoria, got a serious building program launched in 1898. Then, because of German identification with and interference in the Boer War (1899-1902), this program was doubled in 1900, with a clearly hostile intent toward Britain. The naval race thus started was therefore only five years old when Britain, with the building of the Dreadnought, reset the whole process to zero. The British simply figured that they could build faster than the Germans, which they could. ... The Dreadnought itself was built in a year.

  

In Jane's Fighting Ships of 1906, Germany was still ranked as only fifth among naval powers. The United States was second, behind Britain, followed by France and Japan. ... By 1914, Germany had indeed vaulted to the second largest navy in the world. The United States was then third. Japan was on the verge of passing France to have the fourth largest navy, and Austria had a larger navy than either Russia or Italy. ...

 

While the British could indeed outbuild the Germans, they stumbled through attempts at economy. The new Liberal government in 1905 cut back on battleship orders. By 1909 it was suddenly realized that the Germans were going to be building 10 Dreadnoughts against the 8 British ones that had been ordered up to then. The "We Want Eight" panic then ensued, and six battleships and two battlecruisers were ordered in the 1909 program. After that, the pace was kept up. Also British ships were consistently more heavily gunned than the Germans. The greatest step in that regard came in 1912. The idea of the battlecruiser was shelved for a while, and the Queen Elizabeth class was built as fast battleships, now with 15 inch guns. They became probably the best ships of World War I, and still quite serviceable in World War II.

 

 

 
Britain

Germany
1905 10 x 12inch guns
Dreadnought
8 x 12inch guns
Invincible BC
Inflexible BC
Indomitable BC
 
1906 10 x 12inch guns
Bellerophon
Superb
Temeraire
12 x 11inch guns
Nassau
Westfalen
1907 10 x 12inch guns
Collingwood
St. Vincent
Vanguard
12 x 11inch guns
Rheinland
Posen

8 x 11inch guns
Von der Tann BC
1908 10 x 12inch guns
Neptune
8 x 12inch guns
Indefatigable BC
12 x 12inch guns
Ostfriesland
Helgoland
Thüringen

10 x11inch guns
Moltke BC
1909 10 x 12inch guns
Hercules
Colossus

10 x 13.5inch guns
Orion
Monarch
Thunderer
Conqueror

8 x 13.5inch guns
Lion BC
Princess Royal BC
12 x 12inch guns
Oldenburg
10 x12inch guns
Friedrich der Grosse
Kaiser

10 x11inch guns
Goeben BC
1910 10 x 13.5inch guns
King George V
Centurion
Audacious
Ajax

8 x 13.5inch guns
Queen Mary BC
8 x 12inch guns
Australia BC
New Zealand BC
10 x 12inch guns
Kaiserin
König Albert
Prinzregent Luitpold

10 x 11inch guns
Seydlitz BC
1911 10 x 13.5inch guns
Iron Duke
Marlborough
Benbow
Emperor of India

8 x 13.5inch guns
Tiger BC
10 x 12inch guns
König
Markgraf
Grosser Kurfürst

8 x 12inch guns
Derfflinger BC
1912 8 x 15inch guns
Queen Elizabeth
Warspite
Valiant
Malaya
Barham
10 x 12inch guns
Kronprinz Wilhelm
8 x 12inch guns
Lützow BC
1913 8 x 15inch guns
Revenge
Ramilles
Royal Sovereign
Royal Oak
Resolution
8 x 15inch guns
Bayern
Baden

@ Württemberg
@ Sachsen
8 x 12inch guns
Hindenburg BC