South Carolina carried an eight-gun broadside, matching HMS Dreadnought and other first-generation dreadnoughts despite being slower. The class therefore just fits the category in this comparison, even though the US Navy moved it out of the modern battleship group relatively quickly. Its limited change from the pre-dreadnought pattern helps show that the all-big-gun ship emerged from ideas already circulating among navies. The larger British ship was itself a cautious step compared with some alternatives. If Dreadnought had established a twelve-gun, turbine-powered, 21-knot baseline, South Carolina would have had only two-thirds of its broadside and less speed. That different starting point could have changed which ships contemporaries regarded as dreadnoughts.
Notable Point · 9:31-11:41
Why South Carolina just fits the dreadnought category
South Carolina's eight-gun broadside matched the first dreadnoughts, but a more heavily armed HMS Dreadnought could have left the American class outside the category.