![]() ![]() Even in spite of their huge firepower and protection, battleships were increasingly vulnerable to much smaller, cheaper weapons: initially the torpedo and the naval mine, and later aircraft and the guided missile. There were few of the decisive fleet battles that battleship proponents expected, and used to justify the vast resources spent on building battlefleets. The value of the battleship has been questioned, even during their heyday. Both the Allied and Axis powers built battleships during World War II, though the increasing importance of the aircraft carrier meant that the battleship played a less important role than had been expected. The Naval Treaties of the 1920s and 1930s limited the number of battleships, though technical innovation in battleship design continued. ![]() Jutland was the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of battleships in the war, and it was the last major battle fought primarily by battleships in world history. Three major fleet actions between steel battleships took place: the decisive battles of the Yellow Sea (1904) and Tsushima (1905) during the Russo-Japanese War, and the inconclusive Battle of Jutland (1916) during the First World War. The launch of Dreadnought in 1906 commenced a new naval arms race. ![]() A global arms race in battleship construction began in Europe in the 1890s and culminated at the decisive Battle of Tsushima in 1905 the outcome of which significantly influenced the design of HMS Dreadnought. Subsequent battleship designs, influenced by HMS Dreadnought, were referred to as “dreadnoughts”.īattleships were a symbol of naval dominance and national might, and for decades the battleship was a major factor in both diplomacy and military strategy. In 1906, the commissioning of HMS Dreadnought heralded a revolution in battleship design. The term came into formal use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ironclad warship, now referred to by historians as pre-dreadnought battleships. The word battleship was coined around 1794 and is a contraction of the phrase line-of-battle ship, the dominant wooden warship during the Age of Sail. ![]()
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