Chapter 6: Dishonor and Suicide for the Kaiser's Navyĭavid Howarth brings to his books a practical knowledge of ships and the sea.

Essay: The Drama of Jutland Through a German's Eyes.

Chapter 5: A Duel of Dreadnoughts: 50 Minutes of Fury.

Chapter 4: A Fierce Skirmish of Scouts at Jutland.

Essay: Mine Warfare: Seeds of Death Planted in the Sea.Chapter 3: The Long Wait for Armageddon.Essay: Artful Appeals To a Nation at War.Chapter 2: The Fabulous Fleet That Jacky Built.Essay: Training for a New Era of Ships Without Sails.

Chapter 1: a Teutonic Challenge To Britannia's Rule.The eight guns had been fired and scores of men between decks had no idea what had happened.” That “bit of a kick” had hurled a total of 21,250 pounds of shell 8,000 yards. Presently there was a muffled roar and a bit of a kick on the ship. “He looked very grave and serious,’’ wrote one officer who was present, “and I am quite sure that he fully expected the decks to come down wholesale. It was a moment that Sir Philip Watts, as director of the Portsmouth shipyards that had turned her out, awaited with trepidation. The most suspenseful moment of the trials came when it was time to fire her 12-inch guns, eight to the broadside. With her turbines she proved fully capable of steaming at her promised top speed of 21 knots even more remarkable, she made the return trip from the West Indies, a total of nearly 7,000 miles on a round-about course, at an average speed of 17.5 knots, with no mechanical breakdown-an achievement no ship with reciprocating engines had ever equaled. From Portsmouth she steamed south to the Mediterranean, then shaped a course across the Atlantic to Trinidad, and back again. The Dreadnought’s performance on sea trials was nothing short of sensational. Mounting eight immense 15-inch guns, she could fire a barrage 15 times heavier than that of Admiral Nelson’s flagship Victory in 1805 at Trafalgar. The apogee of World War I battleship design, the superdreadnought Queen Elizabeth displays her might and majesty in this postwar painting by Oscar Parkes. Front Cover, The Dreadnoughts by David Armine Howarth and the Editors of Time-Life Books, 1979.

Download free ww1 dreadnought