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→Ironclads
[[Robert Fulton]] demonstrated in his ''Clermont'' (1807) that steam power can be fitted to a sea-going vessel, freeing the ship from sails and enabling it to go wherever a captain may direct, limited only by the amount of fuel on board. Paddlewheels were a standard means of propultion on many warships in addition to its complement of sails and masts, but the placement of the wheels on the ship's sides reduced the amount of guns in a broadside as well as leaving the wheels and engine vulnerable to enemy fire; this would be changed in the 1840's with the adoption of the screw propeller and the placement of its engines deep within the ship below the waterline.
[[Robert Fulton]] demonstrated in his ''Clermont'' (1807) that steam power can be fitted to a sea-going vessel, freeing the ship from sails and enabling it to go wherever a captain may direct, limited only by the amount of fuel on board. Paddlewheels were a standard means of propultion on many warships in addition to its complement of sails and masts, but the placement of the wheels on the ship's sides reduced the amount of guns in a broadside as well as leaving the wheels and engine vulnerable to enemy fire; this would be changed in the 1840's with the adoption of the screw propeller and the placement of its engines deep within the ship below the waterline.
With the advent of the screw propeller came the idea of cladding warships in iron as a means of protection from enemy gun fire. Metallurgy at the time developed to the point that iron was mass-produced, inexpensive, and readily available. The first actual iron-cladded vessels were floating barges which served as gun platforms, and towed into place in the Black Sea during the Crimean War. The first warship actually armored was the French ''La Gloire'' (1859), a three-masted vessel with a heavy timber frame overlaid with iron plating four inches thick. Not to be outdone, Great Britain launched the steam frigate HMS ''Warrior'' (1860), the first warship built entirely of iron.
==Dreadnought==
==Dreadnought==
The decisive event in the history of the battleship was the launching of the ''Dreadnought'' by the British Royal Navy in 1906. Powered by turbines, the ships had no cluttered array of small-caliber weapons and concentrated all firepower around 13.5-inch guns. It had much better armor and speed than any competitor--it rendered obsolete all other navies and started a new naval arms race. In a departure from Britain's previous reactive response to innovation in naval technology, Admiral [[John Fisher]]'s (1841-1920) dreadnought policy introduced radically new capital ship designs, despite the technical risks inherent in their all-big-gun armament and turbine propulsion. Yet, early in 1905, Britain's strategic position was strong and improving further: only America was, rather slowly, working toward a small all-big-gun battleship, while Germany would not consider designs with more than four 11-inch guns until after news of ''Dreadnought'' was received. Fisher's policy had some successes, but some historians argue it was risky, insufficiently considered, based on inaccurate intelligence, and unnecessary.<ref>John Brooks, "'Dreadnought:' Blunder, or Stroke of Genius?" ''War in History'' 2007 14(2): 157-178, argues for blunder; in [{EBSCO]]
The decisive event in the history of the battleship was the launching of the ''Dreadnought'' by the British Royal Navy in 1906. Powered by turbines, the ships had no cluttered array of small-caliber weapons and concentrated all firepower around 13.5-inch guns. It had much better armor and speed than any competitor--it rendered obsolete all other navies and started a new naval arms race. In a departure from Britain's previous reactive response to innovation in naval technology, Admiral [[John Fisher]]'s (1841-1920) dreadnought policy introduced radically new capital ship designs, despite the technical risks inherent in their all-big-gun armament and turbine propulsion. Yet, early in 1905, Britain's strategic position was strong and improving further: only America was, rather slowly, working toward a small all-big-gun battleship, while Germany would not consider designs with more than four 11-inch guns until after news of ''Dreadnought'' was received. Fisher's policy had some successes, but some historians argue it was risky, insufficiently considered, based on inaccurate intelligence, and unnecessary.<ref>John Brooks, "'Dreadnought:' Blunder, or Stroke of Genius?" ''War in History'' 2007 14(2): 157-178, argues for blunder; in [{EBSCO]]