Why is a dreadnought called a dreadnought?

Question

Okay I was set this as a peice of homework from school. All I really need to know is why dreadnoughts were called dreadnoughts...

Answer 1

Dreadnought = fear not.
The first ship named "Dreadnought" was actually launched in 1573, not 1906. It was an improved galleon design, with a longer keel than previous ships. It had trimmed-down fore- and after-castles, which had made previous ships top-heavy. It was one of the first English ships specifically designed to carry heavy guns.
The 1906 version was, as noted in other posts, another new class of battleship. But the original preceded it by 333 years.

Answer 2

A dreadnought was a kind of Battle Cruiser or Battle Ship of the Royal Navy in the late 19th and early 20th century upto and including WW-One [1914-1918] and on into the 1920s.

British Navy Ships--HMS Dreadnought (1906-1922) This page features or provides links to all our views of the British battleship Dreadnought (1906-1922).
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-fornv/uk/uksh-d/drednt9.htm

HMS Dreadnought 1906 : Ships : History : Royal Navy HMS Dreadnought (1906), HMS King Edward VII (1905). Period in service:, 1906 - 1918, 1905 - 1916. Displacement:, 18110 tons, 15630 tons ...
http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/nav.3912

The name Dreadnought became synonymous with a certain kind of warship, big and powerful, a battleship in fact.

Answer 3

A dreadnought was a battleship of the early 20th century, of a type modelled after the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought of 1906. Dreadnoughts were distinguished from previous battleships, known as pre-Dreadnoughts, by an 'all-big-gun' armament and by the use of steam turbines for propulsion.

Within a few years of HMS Dreadnought's launch, all navies were building ships inspired by her design. The product of British technical superiority and the willpower of Admiral Jackie Fisher, Dreadnought was no bolt from the blue. The concept of an all-big-gun ship had been in circulation for several years, and the Japanese had even laid down an all-big-gun battleship in 1904.[1] The arrival of the Dreadnoughts sparked a new arms race, principally between Britain and Germany but reflected worldwide, as the new class of warships became a crucial symbol of national power.

Technical development continued rapidly through the dreadnought era, with step changes in armament, armor and propulsion meaning that ten years after Dreadnought's commissioning much more powerful ships were being built. These more powerful vessels were known as super-dreadnoughts.

The only pitched battle between fleets of dreadnoughts was the Battle of Jutland, an indecisive clash which reflected Britain's continuing strategic dominance. Most of the dreadnoughts were scrapped or scuttled after the end of World War I, though some of the most advanced super-dreadnoughts continued in service through World War II.

Answer 4

Dreadnaught is correctly used here as a bast**disation of the word dread nothing. However the Dreadnaught people are associating the question with was not the first Ship to be called that and records go back to the 16th Century of ships with that name.
Previous to this the namewould have slightly differnet spelling and look and can be traced into numerous early books and texts. I am not sure when the word was first used in the English manner but would have been possibly sometime in the 12th - 13th century when psuedo modern English was being formed.

Answer 5

a dreadnought is or was usually applied to a ship although i suppose it has been applied to other things as well. first there is dread which is to fear. then there is nought which is Elizabethan English for nothing or zero. thusly when you combine the two you arrive at the phrase fear nothing. and that is what the military thought about some of their men of wars in the 16th, 17 and so forth centuries. the problem was that someone always came up with a bigger ship or more guns or bigger guns and etc.

Answer 6

i think of they have been constantly called dreadnoughts after the 1st deliver of this style, the HMS Dreadnought, become equipped. The dreadnought become the significant variety of twentieth-century battleship. The British battleship HMS Dreadnought had such an result whilst released in 1906 that battleships equipped after her have been talked approximately as 'dreadnoughts', and in the previous battleships grew to become primary as pre-dreadnoughts. Her layout had 2 progressive helpful factors; an 'all-great-gun' armament scheme and steam turbine propulsion. the appearance of the dreadnoughts renewed the naval palms race, notably between Britain and Germany yet meditated international, because of the fact the hot variety of warships grew to become a considered necessary image of national potential. The term 'dreadnought' progressively dropped from use after international conflict I, as all battleships shared dreadnought characteristics. 'Dreadnought' can be used to describe battlecruisers, the different variety of deliver consequently of dreadnought revolution.

Answer 7

Dreadnought....means dread nothing...which they didn't

Dread is another word for fear...so feared nothing....but dreadnought is better than fearnought...don't you think.

Answer 8

A dreadnought was a battleship of the early 20th century, of a type modelled after the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought of 1906. Dreadnoughts were distinguished from previous battleships, known as pre-Dreadnoughts, by an 'all-big-gun' armament and by the use of steam turbines for propulsion.

Within a few years of HMS Dreadnought's launch, all navies were building ships inspired by her design. The product of British technical superiority and the willpower of Admiral Jackie Fisher, Dreadnought was no bolt from the blue. The concept of an all-big-gun ship had been in circulation for several years, and the Japanese had even laid down an all-big-gun battleship in 1904.[1] The arrival of the Dreadnoughts sparked a new arms race, principally between Britain and Germany but reflected worldwide, as the new class of warships became a crucial symbol of national power.

Technical development continued rapidly through the dreadnought era, with step changes in armament, armor and propulsion meaning that ten years after Dreadnought's commissioning much more powerful ships were being built. These more powerful vessels were known as super-dreadnoughts.

The only pitched battle between fleets of dreadnoughts was the Battle of Jutland, an indecisive clash which reflected Britain's continuing strategic dominance. Most of the dreadnoughts were scrapped or scuttled after the end of World War I, though some of the most advanced super-dreadnoughts continued in service through World War II.

The sixth HMS Dreadnought of the Royal Navy was a revolutionary battleship which entered service in 1906. So advanced was Dreadnought that her name became a generic term for modern battleships,

Name: HMS Dreadnought
Ordered: 1905
Builder: HM Dockyard, Portsmouth
Laid down: 2 October 1905
Launched: 10 February 1906
Commissioned: 2 December 1906
Decommissioned: 1919
Fate: Scrapped 1923
Displacement: 18,420 tons
Length: 527 ft oa (160 m)
Beam: 82 ft (25 m) (25 m)
Draught: 26 ft (8 m)
Propulsion: 18 Babcock & Wilcox 3-drum water-tube boilers

Parsons single-reduction geared steam turbines


22,500 shp (17 MW) on 4 shafts
Speed: 21 kt (39 km/h)
Range: 900/2,900 tons coal, 1,120 tons oil,
6,620 nmi (12 260 km) at 10 kt (19 km/h)
4,910 nmi (9090 km) at 18.4 kt (34 km/h)
Complement: 695–773
Armament: 10 x BL 12 in (305 mm) L/45 Mk.X guns, 5 twin B Mk.VIII turrets (one forward, two aft, two wing)
27 × QF 12 pdr (3 in / 76.2 mm) 18 cwt L/50 Mk.I guns, single mountings P Mk.IV
5 × 18 in (457 mm) submerged torpedo tubes

Armour: Belt: 4 to 11 in (100 to 280 mm) midship, 2.5 in (64 mm) at ends
Deck: up to 3 in (75 mm)
Turrets: 11 in (280 mm)
Barbettes: up to 11 in (280 mm)
Conning tower: 11 in (280 mm)

Answer 9

As has been said before, dread nothing, this is from the days when The Royal Navy ruled the seas, they and our country feared no one

Answer 10

Because the ship was so heavily armed and armoured that it feared nothing