LATE 19TH CENTURY & WWI

The 19th century witnessed a dramatic change in naval warfare. Whereas navies previously had been dominated by ships that relied upon the wind or oars for movement, the advent of a new technology, steam, made it possible to manoeuvre regardless of the wind, and faster than any human crew might row.

The first steam engines were built into old-style sailing ships, and outwardly, these vessels would not have looked all that different from their purely sail-driven predecessors – but for the smoke emerging from their stacks. This changed with the appearance of the French Gloire and then its British counterpart, HMS Warrior (now docked at Portsmouth, UK).

Steam power also made it possible for ships to be fitted with heavy iron plates for armour. These ‘ironclads’, as the ships were known, quickly proved themselves superior to all-wooden warships. During the American Civil War, the Confederate CSS Virginia ruined wooden Union vessels until it was met by the USS Monitor, another ironclad.

In the early 20th century, it had become clear to forward-thinking naval officers that a brand-new type of battleship was necessary, one that had a main armament of all-big guns. Designs were being floated in various countries, but it was the Royal Navy that deployed the first all-big gun battleship in 1906, with the launch