These ships embody the all-big-gun principle in association with a powerful secondary armament, consisting of a dozen 5·9-inch guns and sixteen 24-pounders. Moreover, whereas the British Dreadnought had been provided with only ten big guns, which was held by the British gunnery experts to be the maximum number which could be carried with advantage on the displacement then considered advisable, the German vessels were given twelve guns, not of the 12-inch but of the 11-inch type. Each of these ships displaces 18,600 tons, and has a nominal speed of twenty knots. Their normal coal capacity is 885 tons, with a maximum storage of 2,655 tons. On the other hand, the early British Dreadnought, with about the same displacement and coal-carrying capacity, attained a speed of one or two knots more, owing to the use of turbines in place of reciprocating engines. The contrast between the armour and armament of the British and German ships, comparing the four Nassaus of the German Fleet[14] with the Superb class of the British Navy, is given in the table on p. 129.

By energetic action the British Admiralty had obtained a lead in the new type of battleship.[15] Moreover, even after the character of the Dreadnought became known, the German authorities remained ignorant of the fact that the "armoured cruisers" of the Invincible class were really swift battleships carrying the same type of battle gun as the Dreadnought, in association with a speed exceeding twenty-five knots, and an armour belt not inferior to that placed on the latest pre-Dreadnought German battleships. By this decisive move, the British authorities had depressed the value of all mixed armament battleships, in which the British Fleet was becoming weak in face of foreign—and particularly German—rivalry, and had started the competition of armaments on an entirely new basis upon terms of advantage.

No sooner was the true inwardness of the Dreadnought policy realized than the German authorities began the preparation of a new German Navy Act. It was eventually decided that the best

Superb Class. Nassau Class.
Armour Krupp: Complete belt, about 16 ft. wide (narrower aft), 11 in. amidships, tapering to 6 in. forward and 4 in. aft; turrets, 8 in.; barbettes, 12 in.; forward conning-tower, 12 in.; after conning-tower, 8 in.; deck, sloping, 2·7 in. Krupp: Complete belt, 12 in. amidships, tapering to 3·9 in. forward, and 3·9 in. aft; lower deck side, 7·9 in. amidships, 3·9 in. narrow belt at ends; turrets and barbettes, 11 in.; battery, 6·1 in.; conning-tower, 11·8 in.; deck, sloping, 2·9 in.
Armament 10 12-in. (45 calibres) in pairs in turrets, 1 forward, 1 on each beam, 2 aft on centre line; 16 4-in. (50 calibres), 2 on each turret (except No. 4), 8 in superstructure; 5 machine; torpedo tubes, 5 18-in., submerged, broadside, and stern. 12 11-in. (45 calibres) in pairs in turrets, 1 forward, 1 aft, and 2 on each beam; 12 5·9 in. (45 calibres) in battery; 16 3·4 in. (24-pounder); torpedo tubes, 6 18-in., submerged, bow, stern, and broadside.

means of accomplishing the end in view—namely, the construction of a larger number of ships of the armoured classes in the next few years than was provided in the Act of 1900, was to reduce the nominal effective age, and legislate for the replacement of all battleships and large cruisers within twenty years. Accordingly, attached to the new Act passed early in 1908, which was over two years after the laying down of the Dreadnought, was a schedule setting forth that four large armoured ships should be laid down annually between 1908 and 1911, both inclusive, and that in 1911 onwards to 1917, two keels annually should be placed in position. By means of this single clause measure, which became law on April 6th, 1908, the construction of ships of the Dreadnought type was accelerated, and whereas the British Admiralty had definitely abandoned the construction of large cruisers of the armoured class—as the German authorities knew by this time—the Marine Office decided that each of the "large cruisers" specified in the Act of 1900 should be swift Dreadnoughts.

This point is an important one. Between 1897 and 1904, Great Britain laid down 27 battleships and 35 armoured cruisers—a total of 62 armoured ships in eight years, or an average of 7·75 ships a year. In this period Germany built 16 battleships and 5 armoured cruisers, or 21 armoured ships—equal to an average of 2·62 ships a year. In 1905 the Admiralty determined to cease building armoured cruisers. In that year they laid down 4 "capital ships"—all of them Dreadnoughts; in the next two years 3 annually, and in 1908, 2 ships only. While the British authorities abandoned the building of armoured cruisers, Germany decided to accelerate her battleship construction, and she also decided that all the "large cruisers" specified in her Law should be swift Dreadnoughts, and thus from 38 battleships and 20 armoured cruisers, she rose to an establishment of 58 battleships.

At the end of 1911, when it was imagined that the German programme would fall from 4 large ships annually to 2 ships, a new Navy Bill was produced.[16] Incidentally this measure added to the establishment 3 battleships and 2 unarmoured cruisers, and made provision for the construction of a maximum of 72 submarines.

The significance of the successive changes in shipbuilding policy in Germany, reflecting in an ascending scale the naval ambitions of the Marineamt, may be realised from the following summary, showing the establishment of large armoured ships fixed under successive measures:

Act.
Establishment of Ships Adopted.
Battleships.Large Cruisers.
1898178
19003814
19063820
Dreadnoughts.
190858
191261