Pre-Dreadnought Battleships Part II Quiz

Answer: They were designed for service abroad.

The "Centurion" class of 1890 mounted four 10-inch guns and ten 4.7-inch guns on a displacement of 10,800 tons. These ships were designed to serve on foreign stations, and not to be part of the main battle line. "Centurion" and "Barfleur" were both scrapped in 1910.

Answer: Four 10-inch guns

Laid down in 1893, "Renown" was not designed to be part of the battle line, but as a cruiser leader. She carried four 10-inch and ten 6-inch guns on a displacement of 13,100 tons. In 1905, she served as a royal yacht and took the Prince and Princess of Wales on a tour of India. She was scrapped in 1914.

Answer: Three

The "Charlemagne" class was the first French pre-dreadnought class of ships, her previous six vessels being single ships built to a similar design. "Gaulois"
was sunk by a German U-boat in 1916,
"St. Louis" was hulked in 1920 and scrapped in 1933, and "Charlemagne" was scrapped in 1923.

Answer: Iena

The "Iena" of 1897 was the first French pre-dreadnought to adopt the same main gun layout that had become standard on the ships of foreign navies.
"Iena" carried 4 12-inch and eight 6.5-inch guns on a displacement of 11,700 tons. She was wrecked by a magazine explosion in 1907 and sunk as a target in 1909.

Answer: The higher rate of fire of the smaller gun

The German "Kaiser Friedrich III" class of four ships reverted to the 9.4-inch gun because the German high command believed that the higher rate of fire of the smaller calibre weapon would be an advantage in battle. All four ships in the class were scrapped by 1920.

Answer: Five

The "Wittelsbach" class consisted of the nameship, the "Wettin", "Zahringen",
"Schwaben", and "Mecklenburg". The "Zahringen" was converted into a target ship in 1920 and was sunk in 1944. All of the others were scrapped in 1922.

Answer: Austria-Hungary

The "Erzherzog Karl" class of three ships were the second pre-dreadnought class built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy. The "Erzherzog Karl", "Erzherzog Friedrich", and "Erzherzog Ferdinand Max" carried four 9.4-inch and 12 7.5- inch guns on a displacement of 10,650 tons. All three units were scrapped in 1921.

Answer: Regina Margherita

The "Regina Margherita" and her sister ship "Benedetto Brin" were laid down in 1898. They carried a main armament of four 12-inch guns and a secondary battery of four 8-inch guns. The "Benedetto Brin" was destroyed by a magazine explosion in 1915, while the "Regina Margherita" was mined and sunk in 1916.

Answer: Tri Sviatitelia

The "Tri Sviatitelia" was assigned to the Black Sea fleet, which did not participate in the Battle of Tsushima. Both the "Navarin" and the "Sissoi Veliky" were lost in the battle.

Answer: Poltava

The "Petropavlosk" class of 1892 weighed 12,000 tons and carried four 12-inch guns and twelve 6-inch guns. The "Poltava" was sunk at the 1904 siege of Port Arthur. She was salvaged by the Japanese and renamed "Tango". The ship was then sold back to Russia in 1916 and renamed "Tchesma". She was scrapped in 1924.

Answer: Four 12-inch guns

The "Shikishima" and "Hatsuse" of 1898 displaced 15,200 tons and carried four 12-Inch and fourteen 6-inch guns. Both ships were built in the U.K. "Hatsuse" was mined and sunk off Port Arthur in 1904, "Shikishima" was hulked in 1923 and broken up in 1948.

Answer: USS Iowa

The USS "Iowa" of 1893 displaced 12,850 tons and carried four 12-inch and eight 8-inch guns. She had a higher freeboard than the three "Indianas" that preceded her, making her much more seaworthy. Only one "Iowa" was built due to the reluctance of the U.S. Congress to fund a large navy. "Iowa" was sunk as a target ship in 1923.

Answer: USS Kearsarge

The "Kearsarge" and her sister ship the "Kentucky" were laid down in 1896. They carried four 13-inch and four 8-inch guns in a unique turret design, where the smaller gun was superimposed on the larger. The "Kearsarge" was named after a famous Union vessel from the US Civil War.

Answer: Germany

The Ottoman Empire laid down the "Abdul Kadir" in 1890. Designed to carry four 11-inch and six 5.9-inch guns, she was never finished and was scrapped in 1909. The Turks then purchased the German "Kurfurst Friedrich Wilhelm" and the "Weissenburg" in 1910, renaming them the "Barbaros Hayreddin" and the "Turgut Reis".

Answer: United States

The Greek navy had ordered two Dreadnought battleships from Germany and France respectively, but both went unfinished due to the outbreak of World War I. The Greeks then purchased the "Mississippi" and the "Idaho" from the USA in 1914, renaming them the "Kilkis" and "Lemnos". Both units became training ships in 1932 and they were both sunk in World War II.