Dreadnoughts from Around the World (1905-14): 1908

France's 1908 Danton-class order is contrasted with the faster all-big-gun ships already entering British and American programs.

The Helgoland class improves speed and balance but retains a hexagonal battery that pays for twelve guns while bringing only eight onto a broadside.

Ostfriesland's 1921 sinking is presented as a poor test of whether aircraft could defeat an active, crewed warship.

SMS Blucher's 8.3-inch armament marks her as a large armoured cruiser rather than a battlecruiser built around battleship-calibre guns.

Von der Tann's eight 11-inch guns and strong belt are offset by wing turrets whose cross-deck and fore-and-aft fire risk blast damage.

The Moltke-class ships add speed but retain 11-inch guns and the awkward offset turret arrangement inherited from Von der Tann.

German battlecruisers formed a battle-fleet fast wing, while British ships served in trade protection, cruiser hunting, attacks on enemy commerce, convoy support, scouting, and rapid reaction.

The Moltke-class machinery illustrates how turbines, hull form, gearing, and propeller design could make similar power figures produce different speeds.

British-built Brazilian dreadnoughts show how export orders kept shipyards active and preserved capacity for a later emergency program.

Britain fed Dreadnought's early trials into the Bellerophon class, while Germany ordered Helgoland before the Nassau class had entered service.