HMS Dreadnought adopted a middle course among the advanced options Britain could field. British firms could have supplied triple turrets, centerline superfiring arrangements, and guns larger than 12 inches, potentially producing a faster and more heavily armed ship. Speed of construction and cost favored the conservative design, but building only one compounded the risk. Jacky Fisher appears here as a conservative visionary who preferred the smallest unmistakable advance over the most ambitious design technically possible.
Notable Point · 4:11-6:08
HMS Dreadnought was a deliberately conservative leap
Available triple turrets, superfiring layouts, larger guns, and higher speed show how much more radical HMS Dreadnought might have been.