It was the sixth ship with such a name (dreadnought means dauntless). The first one was built back in 16th century, yet it was this sixth one which made a revolution in maritime affairs. Dreadnought was the first battleship constructed in accordance with principle “all-big-guns.” The Russian-Japanese war showed that different battleships are required for successful combat operations at sea. Further improvement of armor-clad warships was pointless. The predecessor of 6th Dreadnought – Dreadnought-5 – could boast of inconceivable armor thickness of 35.5 mm, and therefore moved with a snail’s pace. The new ships should have thick enough armor, yet feature high speed and main battery guns alone. In case the centralized fire control system for main battery guns operated from the position of chief artillery officer was introduced on board the ship, only the guns of the same caliber could be used. These requirements put forward by a special commission with First Sea Lord John Fisher in charge led to creation of a new type of battleships. Specialists started calling them dreadnoughts by the name of their “ancestor.” The flagship of the British Navy Dreadnought spurred the arms race before the World War I, but took almost no part in combat actions. The fate had no long life in store for this vessel. The ship that costed 1.7 million pounds (without taking account of the armament) was in commission less than 15 years and disassembled. The authorities sold the resulting metal scrap for less than 50,000 pounds.
