Q&A ยท 49:17-50:29

What Fisher might call a second Dreadnought

Bellerophon is suggested for a second Dreadnought, then challenged because Fisher disliked the name; Vanguard emerges as another possibility.

Question

What might Admiral Fisher have named a second ship built to Dreadnought's design?

Short answer

Bellerophon is suggested but challenged because Fisher disliked it. Vanguard is the other possibility developed in the exchange.

Notes

Bellerophon is the first suggested name for an immediate sister to Dreadnought. That suggestion is challenged on the grounds that Fisher disliked Bellerophon and accepted it as part of a naming compromise that gave him Invincible for the battlecruisers. Vanguard is then proposed as a better fit with Dreadnought. The later St Vincent-class Vanguard had not yet been launched, so its use in 1909 would not itself prevent the earlier hypothetical choice. The exchange leaves the alternative open.