Dreadnought was the earliest class of battleship. It is also spelled dreadnaught. The British Navy launched the first craft in the class, also called the Dreadnought, in 1906. It had heavy armor plate and batteries of big guns in turrets. The Dreadnought was more powerfully armed and more heavily armored than any earlier warship. Shipbuilders later developed the more powerful superdreadnought. See also Battleship (The modern battleship) ; Navy (Engineering advances) ; Warship .
