Masada provided an interesting development of the pre-dreadnoughts, and left a big gap between the last semi-dreadnoughts and the last super-dreadnoughts, when most of the ships at Jutland were built. I'll take the opening with a few classes:
The Dreadnought itself, completed 1906:
displacement: 18,000 tons, full load, 21,845 tons.
length overall: 527 feet
ten 12" 45 cal. (5 twin)
20+ 3" 12 lb. quick-firers
5 18" torpedo tubes
side: belt 8-11" ends 4-6"
deck: upper .75" lower 3"
maint turrets: 3-11" barbettes 4-11"
23,000 hp Parsons turbines, 26,500 on trials
speed 21.6 knots max, range 7,870 miles @ 10 knots
crew: 773
The first concentration of design around heavy guns of the same caliber.
To accommodate this, one wing turret was mounted on each beam. This meant 6 guns forward, the emphasis was on speed and end-on fire rather than broadside (crossing the T). With the low rate of fire of these big guns, the 3" quick-firing gun was soon seen to be inadequate as a secondary armament, and the next step up was to 4" on succeeding classes. It was also the first large warship powered by turbines, and very seaworthy. It was completed in 366 days. Never fired her guns in anger, but rammed a submarine. In many ways the contemporary Lord Nelson class were still a match for it, the ability to use speed to choose the range and heavier guns still had to be exploited by better fire control. Some other countries had started to concentrate on a mixed 10" and 12" armament, but most were like the eight (8!) King Edward VII class pre-dreadnoughts that came before the Lord Nelsons.
Simultaneously, Lord Fisher commissioned the first two battlecruisers Invinvible and Inflexible in 1907. They had one less turret making 8 12" guns, and very light armour for their size, but a speed of over 25 knots. They fulfilled their design intent able to catch and destroy the German armoured cruisers at range in the Falklands, which were tough ships but made obsolete in the same way as the pre-dreadnoughts. But the early battlecruisers could not stand the heat of a battle like Jutland where Invincible blew up.
More 12" gun armed dreadnoughts followed: Bellerophons, St. Vincents, Neptune, Collossus, Hercules. All turrets moved to the centerline, in superfiring pairs. The purist vision of big caliber armament was becoming compromised as the secondary armament move up to 6" where it stayed until WWII, and the ships became larger and better protected. The next big increase in firepower were the Orions , King George V, and Iron-Duke classes with 13.5" caliber main armament, the 'super-dreadnoughts'.
laid down 1911 completed 1914: Iron Duke, Marlborough, Benbow, Emperor of India
displacement: 25,820 tons, full load, 30,380 tons.
length overall: 623 feet
ten 13.5" 45 cal. (5 twin), shell weight about 1,400 lb.
12 6" 50 cal. (casemates)
a few 3 pdrs and 12 pdrs.
4 21" torpedo tubes
side: belt 8-12" ends 2.5-6"
deck: upper 1.25-2" middle 1.5" lower 1-2.5"
main turrets: 4-11" barbettes 7-10"
30,000 hp turbines, speed 21 knots range 7,780 miles @ 10 knots
crew: up to 1,022
German development was similar, but there was a reluctance to adopt higher calibers, perfecting the ones they had including the 5.9" and 4.1" secondary armament that appeared on her successful light cruisers. With less design experience, they produced some well balanced and well protected dreadnoughts. They also moved the secondary gun casemates inboard in a central citadel, making them workable in any weather, and easier to protect. The Kaisers were followed by the Konigs:
laid down 1911, completed 1914: Grosser Kurfurst, Konig, Markgraf, Kronprinz
displacement: 25,390 tons, full load, 28,148 tons.
length overall: 576 feet
ten 12" 50 cal. (5 twin) shell about 1,000 lb.
14 5.9" 45 cal. (casemates)
8 3.4", later removed. AA guns added
5 19.7" torpedo tubes
side: belt 7.9-13.8" ends 5.9"
deck: upper 1.2" middle 1.2" lower 1.2-3.9"
main turrets: 3.2-11.8" barbettes 11.8" casemates 7.9"
31-43,000 hp turbines, speed 22.5 knots max, range 10,000 miles @ 10 knots
crew: 1,150
The higher velocity 12" guns had the same range as the British 13.5" but much less broadside weight. The armor race had not yet made them obsolete though.
After the Indefatigables, British battlecruisers illustrated even more the emphasis on firepower and speed at the expense of protection.
laid down 1910 completed 1912: Lion, Princess Royal, Queen Mary
displacement: 26,270 tons, full load, 29,680 tons.
length overall: 700 feet
eight 13.5" 45 cal. (4 twin), shell weight about 1,400 lb.
16 4" (casemates), clustered around 2 central batteries
2 21" torpedo tubes
side: belt 4-9"
deck: upper 1" main 1-2.5"
main turrets: 4-9" barbettes 9"
70-75,000 hp turbines, speed 27 knots, range 5,610 miles @ 10 knots
crew: 997
They were good ships and the larger guns should have made up for fewer chances of a hit, but some of the shells were faulty at the time of Jutland. The demise of Queen Mary was faulty flash protection allowing a hit on the turret roof to explode the magazine below in the barbette. The Tiger that followed again reaffirmed the need to increase protection and move up to a 6" secondary armament. What is apparent is that it took a very large ship to house the machinery necessary to achieve these speeds, and hence harder to adequately protect them, and more fuel to run, while having 1 turret ( 2 guns) less than the battleships. The 15" battlecruisers Renown, Repulse, and Hood (their largest warship in WWII) were the last, except for three odd, lightly armored hybrids with only two turrets each; the 15" Glorious and Courageous, and 18" Furious. All three hybrids were converted to aircraft carriers where there speed was sufficient to operate in WWII, (but tied up Britain's treaty displacement in ships not designed as such, and therefore having small plane complements).
By comparison, a German contemporary to the Lion was the Seydlitz, which followed the Moltkes.
laid down 1911, completed 1913: Seydlitz
displacement: 24,610 tons, full load, 28,550 tons.
length overall: 652 feet
ten 11" 50 cal. (5 twin) shell about 725 lb.
12 5.9" 45 cal. (casemates)
14 3.4", later removed. AA guns added
4 19.7" torpedo tubes
side: belt 5.9-13.8" ends 3.9"
deck: upper 1.2-3.1" armour 1.2-3.1"
main turrets: 2.8-9.8" barbettes 3.9-7.9" casemates 5.9"
67-90,000 hp turbines, speed 26.5-29 knots max, range 4,200 miles @ 10 knots
crew: 1,068
The Seydlitz and earlier battlecruisers were similarly arranged as the German battleships, with only 2" less armour in the thickest places, and a lighter 11" main armament. They would have been challenged by the armour of bigger dreadnoughts, but were sufficient for the British battlecruisers and any other ship that could catch them. The sacrifice in firepower was compensated by well distributed protection and underwater sub-compartments. On 3 occasions Seydlitz took heavy shell and torpedo hits. At Dogger Bank two turrets burned out but did not explode due to slower cordite. At Jutland, she survived 21 heavy and 2 medium shell hits, 1 torpedo, and limped back home with 5,300 tons of water in the hull, with the loss of 98 men killed. The 3 Derfflingers followed this with 12" guns, and the Germans planned but never completed the 13.8" Mackensen class.
The best design compromise in WWI was the British Queen Elizabeth class:
laid down 1912, completed 1915: Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, Warspite, Barham, Malaya
displacement: 27,500 tons, full load, 33,020 tons.
length overall: 646 feet
eight 15" 42 cal. (4 twin), shell weight about 1,900 lb.
16 6" (casemates), clustered around 2 central batteries
4 21" torpedo tubes
side: belt 6-13"
deck: upper 1.25-2" main 1.25" middle 1" lower 1-3"
main turrets: 5-13" babettes 4-10" casemates 4-6"
75-80,000 hp turbines, speed 25 knots, range 8,600 miles @ 12.5 knots
crew: 925
Contemporaries of the heavy Royal Sovereign class Masada mentioned, and the Germans tried to match this with a few Baden class ships, but were not as successful. They were the ancestors of the fast battleship, strongly influencing the later Japanese Nagatos. Whereas the older dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts were scrapped, all 5 of these ships were modernized before and during WWII, getting superbulges, efficient engines, heavy deck armor, and a dual purpose secondary and AA armament similar to US designs. They had an active service career, and HMS Warspite was one of the most successful battleships in both wars. Only Barham was lost, to U-boat torpedoes, and both survived heavy damage at Jutland. Though Valiant and Queen Elizabeth both spent time in dry-dock after Italian 'human torpedoes' holed their hulls.
The Japanese had also adopted battlecruisers, the only other country to do so, and they liked the Kongo class so much they converted them to fast battleships for WWII, and their service career was every bit as exciting:
laid down 1912, completed 1915: Kongo, Hiei, Haruna, Kirishima
displacement: 27,900 tons.
length overall: 705 feet
eight 14" 40 cal. (4 twin), shell weight about 1,485 lb.
16 6" 50 cal. (casemates), clustered around central battery
8 21" torpedo tubes
side: belt 6-8" ends 3"
deck: upper 1.5" lower 0.75"
main turrets: 3-9" barbettes 10" casemates 6"
64,000 hp turbines, speed 27.5 knots, range 9,520 miles @ 14 knots
crew: 1,221
In 1937:
displacement: 32,156 tons, full load, 36,610 tons.
length overall: 723 feet
eight 14" 40 cal. (4 twin), shell weight about 1,485 lb.
14 6" 50 cal. (casemates), clustered around central battery
8 5" dual purpsoe, light AA
no torpedo tubes, 3 aircraft
side: belt 6-8" ends 3"
deck: upper 1.5" armour 0.75-4.75"
main turrets: 6-9" barbettes 11" casemates 6"
136,000 hp turbines, speed 30 knots, range 11,660 miles @ 18 knots
crew: 1,437
With new machinery and armour these were virtually new ships, with an obvious increase in deck armour against armor piercing bombs and later radar and AA guns. All 4 had active lives before falling prey to US submarines or aircraft except Haruna which was reduced to a hulk in Japanese home waters at war's end.
