Where is the line between dreadnaught and super dreadnaught?
Gun size? Tonnage?
That's a good question.
A super dreadnought is usually the refinement of the concept. But the definition can vary from country to country. Generally, these ships started the adoption of superfiring turrets, increased tonnage, and increased diameter of the main guns (14 or 15 inches).
Just like how the British Royal Navy kicked off the naval arms race with HMS Dreadnought, this new chapter was started with the Orion Class.
For the US Navy, it started with the New York Class.
For the Imperial Japanese Navy, it was the Fusō Class.
For the French Navy, Marine Nationale, it was the Bretagne class.
The Argentine Navy, Armada de la República Argentina, with the Rivadavia class. The only South American country to have their super dreadnoughts completed. Though, I would classify them as semi super dreadnoughts based on the turret layout and 12 inch guns.
The Germans were the last to start building super dreadnoughts, this being the Bayern class.
Later, the number of turrets decreased from 6 or 5 turrets to 4, adoption of triple gun turrets to keep the same number guns as previous classes, having the turrets along the centerline and adopting the all or nothing armor scheme, and towards the end of the 1910s, the adoption of 16 inch guns.
After WWI, the super dreadnoughts were slowly being supplant by a new class of battleships. These ships incorporated higher speeds (i.e. 23 to 25 knots), and the lessons learned after the Battle of Jutland. This led to increased size and tonnage, and better subdivision of the interior spaces to increase survivability. These ships would later be called as the fast battleships. But this topic is for another post.
Thanks for the ask.
NHHC: NH 57802, NH 55630
Mariner's Museum and Park: P0008/02-#156
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