HMS Dreadnought

HMS Dreadnought is shown driving through lively seas as she appeared in 1907 — her first full year in commission and the moment when she was, without question, the most powerful warship afloat. The viewpoint is intended to emphasise the sheer weight of water she throws aside, while smoke from her twin funnels streams aft in a freshening wind.

Launched at Portsmouth Dockyard in February 1906 after just fourteen months on the slipway — a deliberate demonstration of industrial urgency — Dreadnought introduced the all-big-gun concept to capital ship design. Her main armament of ten 12-inch guns in five turrets, combined with steam turbine propulsion giving 21 knots, made every existing battleship in the world obsolete overnight. The name itself became a generic term: all subsequent capital ships were 'dreadnoughts', and all that came before were merely 'pre-dreadnoughts'. The resulting naval arms race between Britain and Germany dominated the decade before the First World War and shaped the political landscape that led to the conflict.

Ironically, Dreadnought herself saw little major action — her successors had already superseded her by 1914. Her most notable wartime act was ramming and sinking the German submarine U-29 in March 1915, making her the only battleship to sink a submarine by ramming. She was placed in reserve in 1919 and sold for scrapping in 1921. This painting was sold through Marine Artists gallery at the start of 2026.