History Main / TheDreadedDreadnought

In fiction, however, the Dreadnought designation lives on, due in part to the game-changing nature of the original HMS ''Dreadnought'', and partly to the [[GoodNameForARockBand undeniably metal]] [[RuleOfCool nature of the word]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Dreadnought."]] ("Dreadnought" is simply a contraction of "dread nought" -- that is, literally, "[[MeaningfulName fear nothing]].")

In fiction, however, the Dreadnought designation lives on, due in part to the game-changing nature of the original HMS ''Dreadnought'', and partly to the [[GoodNameForARockBand undeniably metal]] [[RuleOfCool nature of the word]] [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Dreadnought."]] (Dreadnought, roughly, means "[[MeaningfulName Fear Nothing]].")

** Also worth mentioning is that the concept was originally Italian (having been elaborated by Italian naval engineering colonel Vittorio Cuniberti as early as 1893, and pushed for it for the Regina Elena-class), and that Japan and the United States both started on battleships that applied the Dreadnought principle (all main battery guns are the maximum caliber) before ''Dreadnought'' was laid down, with the Americans in particular having already cottoned on to the concept of superfiring turrets on the centerline, as opposed to ''Dreadnought'''s wing turret design, allowing ''South Carolina'' to have the same broadside at a significantly lower weight in guns and with superior armor. Italy however did not try and build the ships as Cuniberti wanted, instead building them as pre-Dreadnoughts and allowing him to publish the concept in 1903[[note]]Cuniberti specifically recommended the concept to the British Empire, as unlike Italy at the time their budget was large enough to afford such ships. While the nations were not formally allies (and wouldn't be until 1915), but they were on friendly terms and more importantly, Britain was hostile to Italy's main regional rival Austria-Hungary. Fisher on the other hand insisted for the rest of his life that Dreadnought was a purely British invention, in no way inspired by Cuniberti's designs despite the incredibly obvious similarities and the fact that Cuniberti published his article (title "An Ideal Battleship for the British Fleet") in English, in famous the British publication ''Jane's Fighting Ships'', making it unlikely that Fisher never read the article.[[/note]], and Fisher pushed the ship builders (and comandeered guns and turrets intended for other ships) so Dreadnought was completed first. Had Italy actually built the ships first or Fisher not pushed, this trope could have been [[{{Narm}} The Righteous Regina Elena]][[note]]While this was the name of the next pre-dreadnought built by Italy, chosen instead of the more expensive "Ideal Battleship", Cunibrerti's own proposed name was ''Colosso'' ("Colossus").[[/note]] or [[{{Narm}} The Scary Satsuma]] [[note]]However Japan also ran out of money for Satsuma and had to complete her as a pre-dreadnought[[/note]]or the Super South Carolina. Or the Menacing Michigan, since USS ''Michigan'' was actually completed 2 months ahead of her "lead ship" USS ''South Carolina''.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]

* ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'': Season 2 Episode 10 introduces the Irken battleship known as the ''Dreadnut'' (and no, that's not a typo -- Tallest Red wanted to call it the ''Dreadnought'', but Tallest Purple wanted to call it the ''Donut'', so eventually they compromised and combined the two names). The ship is stated to be second only to the ''[[TheMothership Massive]]'' in size and armament, and it's meant to act as a secondary flagship to the Armada.

* ''Film/SinkTheBismarck'' might as well be TheMovie of this trope, [[BasedOnATrueStory as it's a fictionalization]] of the hunt for one of history's most infamous dreadnoughts, the German battleship ''Bismarck''.

* ''[[Literature/ClockworkCentury Dreadnought]]'' by Cherie Priest involves a SteamPunk armoured train of that name.

* Zig-zagged in the ''Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark'' series, where the human mercenaries of the [[SpaceElves Lo'ona Aeo]] refer to heavy Dromi warships as dreadnoughts because it's nearly certain suicide to face one of these monsters and their heavy plasma cannons in one of the patrol craft provided by the Lo'ona Aeo. On the other hand, a Dromi dreadnought is comparable to a human frigate in terms of firepower, while a cruiser can blast a dozen dreadnoughts with ease.

* ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'' has the ''Siege Perilous'' class, the largest and most destructive type of warship in the High Guard navy, although less than half a dozen were constructed before the fall of the Commonwealth. Despite this, when the ''Andromeda'' encounters the ''Balance of Judgment'' (of the ''Siege Perilous'' class), everyone gives a massive OhCrap, and they're described as "fleet-killers". However, examination of the specs reveals that they're actually more like artillery ships than true dreadnoughts. Their massive offensive firepower comes at the cost of significantly reduced defenses, which is pretty obviously hinted at its official classification as a "Deep Stand-off Attack Ship". Its purpose is to jump in, launch a MacrossMissileMassacre at extreme ranges, and then jump out before the enemy has a chance to close the distance or counter-attack. At close range, a heavy cruiser like the ''Andromeda'' can actually take out a ''Siege Perilous''-class ship.

* ''TabletopGame/StarFleetBattles'': Dreadnoughts tend to be the largest and most powerful ''effective'' ships a player can field. Battleships, which are even bigger and more powerful, exist, but are either "conjectural" (i.e., they don't actually exist within the universe the game is set in, but stats are provided [[RuleOfCool just because]]) or AwesomeButImpractical, because their "do a little bit of everything" approach means they aren't actually ''good'' at anything.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Alternity}}'': Dreadnoughts are among the largest warships available, second only to Star Carriers, aka "Supercarriers", but can withstand more damage than the latter, and dwarf battleships. There're "super dreadnought", still larger than a Star Carrier, but above them you've the "Fortress ship", that combines [[TheBattlestar both firepower and the ability to act as mothership]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'' has the Dreadnaught, an extremely {{eldritch starship}} helmed by the [[HumanoidAbomination equally eldritch]] Oryx, foremost god of the Hive. Built from {{magitek}}, a dead [[EldritchAbomination Worm God]], and Oryx's personal pocket dimension, it's at least three ''thousand'' kilometers long and has an interior that looks more like a ruined, moon-sized cathedral than a spaceship. It only has one weapon, but it's the only weapon it ever needs, generating an expanding SphereOfDestruction centered on the Dreadnaught that annihilates everything else it touches.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', features the "Dreadnaught", one of the meanest airships of the more fantasy-oriented games; Capable of assaulting the majority of the towns in the world on its own before needing to refuel and large enough to qualify as a [[BattleshipRaid dungeon]] in its own right. It's [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in the actual game as the only other airship in ''II'' is Cid's airship, but a cutscene added in later ports emphasizes [[https://youtu.be/eWv0gGkJ390?t=10 just how heavily the Dreadnought dwarfs it]].

* In ''VideoGame/EveOnline'' Dreadnoughts are one of the Capital class ships players are capable of flying. Despite being massive DPS machines optimised for siege warfare, they're actually in the lower tier of Capitals (along with their [[{{TheBattlestar}} battlestar]] counterparts, Carriers, and their healer variant, Force Auxiliaries), being massively outweighed by the much larger Titans and Supercarriers, but are much less costly and easier to fly than the ''phenomenally'' expensive supercapitals.
* In ''VideoGame/StarlinkBattleForAtlas'', Legion Dreadnoughts are large battleships that drop Primes onto planets to harvest Electrum for the Legion.
* Averted in the ''Franchise/StarFox'' franchise. Though ''VideoGame/StarFox64'' calls the Great Fox a Dreadnaught class heavy cruiser, it's actually a low-level Battlestar that's less useful than the four Arwing [[SpaceFighter Space Fighters]] that it houses.
* ''VideoGame/TreasurePlanetBattleAtProcyon'' has the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin aptly named]] Dreadnought class Ironclad. Befitting this trope, it is the largest, most powerful, most heavily armed, and most technologically advanced ship in the game, [[TheJuggernaut with armor so thick that lighter projectiles will almost always bounce off harmlessly.]]
* Building and fighting with your own Dreadnoughts (and pre-dreadnoughts, and super-dreadnoughts, and any other kind of battleship) is the premise and core mechanic of the appropriately named ''VideoGame/UltimateAdmiralDreadnoughts''.
* ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity Override'': One of the United Earth mission strings centers on uncovering a Voinian Empire secret project, which turns out to be the development of a Dreadnaught, a massive juggernaut of a ship. The final mission in that string is a desperate scramble to destroy it ''before'' it leaves Voinian space, and while it isn't exactly speedy or manoeuvrable, the sheer armor of the thing and unusually strong shields for a Voinian ship allows it to shrug off barrages that would devastate the largest ships in the normal Voinian armada, the cruiser, while its armament can reduce pretty much anything that it ''does'' get in front of its guns to ash. While no more are seen after that, it ''is'' pointed out the Voinians could make more of them -- it'd just take such an investment of resources and effort that time has been bought to figure out ways to counter them a bit more efficiently. The Voinian storyline does ''not'' directly feature the Dreadnaught, although WordOfGod confirms the mysterious project that's "sure to bring humanity to its knees" mentioned at the end (and brushed off as too important to bring a human in on) was the Dreadnaught.
* In ''VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}}'', super-dreadnoughts are the largest, rarest, and most heavily armed ships in the setting.
** The PACT super-dreadnought Legion is a three-kilometer juggernaut boasting enough firepower to destroy entire fleets by itself, and everyone who goes up against the Legion quickly learns to fear it. Naturally, it acts as the BigBad's flagship.
** Omega's dreadnought, the Cathedral, has enough durability, firepower, and [[HumongousMecha ryders]] to hold its own against ten thousand enemy ships at once for an extended period of time.

* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2'' and ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'' both feature dreadnoughts as the Soviet Union's naval siege unit, and the heaviest armored naval ship in both games. In both games they launch long-range missiles which don't have much in the way of area damage - but [[CatchPhrase woe unto the hapless foe]] who finds themselves directly impacted, because these things ''hurt''.

* In the universe of ''FanFic/{{Fractured}}'' (''Star Wars''/''Mass Effect'') and its sequels, the Dreadnought concept is embodied in "Star Dreadnoughts." As drawn from ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' these are basically TheBattlestar meets BiggerIsBetter in a LensmanArmsRace of SummonBiggerFish and TakesOneToKillOne (faction with largest dreadnought wins battle barring lucky shots).

->''"No, General... We can do this! We have a chance to take down a dreadnought! These things are fleet killers! We can't let it get away!"''

-->-- '''Poe Dameron''', ''Film/StarWarsTheLastJedi''

* ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity Override'': One of the United Earth mission strings centers on uncovering a Voinian Empire secret project, which turns out to be the development of a Dreadnaught, a massive juggernaut of a ship. The final mission in that string is a desperate scramble to destroy it ''before'' it leaves Voinian space, and while it isn't exactly speedy or manoeuvrable, the sheer armor of the thing allows it to shrug off barrages that would devastate the largest ships in the normal Voinian armada, the cruiser, while its armament can reduce pretty much anything that it ''does'' get in front of its guns to ash. While no more are seen after that, it ''is'' pointed out the Voinians could make more of them -- it'd just take such an investment of resources and effort that time has been bought to figure out ways to counter them a bit more efficiently. The Voinian storyline does ''not'' directly feature the Dreadnaught, although WordOfGod confirms the mysterious project that's "sure to bring humanity to its knees" mentioned at the end (and brushed off as too important to bring a human in on) was the Dreadnaught.

* In the YuGiOhZexal anime, one VillainOfTheWeek used a deck full of trains, and her ace was [[https://yugipedia.com/wiki/Superdreadnought_Rail_Cannon_Gustav_Max Superdreadnought Rail Cannon Gustav Max]]. The train was big, but the gun is even bigger.

** Also worth mentioning is that the concept was originally Italian (having been elaborated by Italian naval engineering colonel Vittorio Cuniberti as early as 1893, and pushed for it for the Regina Elena-class), and that Japan and the United States both started on battleships that applied the Dreadnought principle (all main battery guns are the maximum caliber) before ''Dreadnought'' was laid down. Italy however did not try and build the ships as Cuniberti wanted, instead building them as pre-Dreadnoughts and allowing him to publish the concept in 1903[[note]]Cuniberti specifically recommended the concept to the British Empire, as unlike Italy at the time their budget was large enough to afford such ships. While the nations were not formally allies (and wouldn't be until 1915), but they were on friendly terms and more importantly, Britain was hostile to Italy's main regional rival Austria-Hungary. Fisher on the other hand insisted for the rest of his life that Dreadnought was a purely British invention, in no way inspired by Cuniberti's designs despite the incredibly obvious similarities and the fact that Cuniberti published his article (title "An Ideal Battleship for the British Fleet") in English, in famous the British publication ''Jane's Fighting Ships'', making it unlikely that Fisher never read the article.[[/note]], and Fisher pushed the ship builders (and comandeered guns and turrets intended for other ships) so Dreadnought was completed first. Had Italy actually built the ships first or Fisher not pushed, this trope could have been [[{{Narm}} The Righteous Regina Elena]][[note]]While this was the name of the next pre-dreadnought built by Italy, chosen instead of the more expensive "Ideal Battleship", Cunibrerti's own proposed name was ''Colosso'' ("Colossus").[[/note]] or [[{{Narm}} The Scary Satsuma]] [[note]]However Japan also ran out of money for Satsuma and had to complete her as a pre-dreadnought[[/note]]or the Super South Carolina. Or the Menacing Michigan, since USS ''Michigan'' was actually completed 2 months ahead of her "lead ship" USS ''South Carolina''.

* ''Music/{{Sabaton}}'': The song "Dreadnought", about the Dreadnought class of battleships, portrays them as unstoppable steel titans intimidating their foes with their size and firepower.

This has strong roots in RealLife [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfNavalWarfare naval history]], specifically [[UsefulNotes/BritsWithBattleships HMS]] ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Dreadnought_(1906) Dreadnought]]'', a British battleship which revolutionized naval warfare for decades to come. Combining heavy armor, high speed, and a relatively small battery of [[{{BFG}} relatively large guns]], ''Dreadnought'' rendered every other battleship afloat, henceforth known as [[OvershadowedByAwesome Pre-Dreadnought Battleships]], obsolete. Ironically, ''Dreadnought'' was bordering on obsolescence by 1914 and the outbreak of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI due to rapid advances in shipbuilding, leading to bigger, more powerful, and more heavily armed Dreadnoughts (with later examples known as ''[[UpToEleven Super]]'' Dreadnoughts).

*** The same movie later introduces the ''Supremacy'', a ''Mega''-class Star Dreadnought and the First Order's mobile capital that is ''sixty kilometers wide'' and boasts extremely powerful turbolasers and huge numbers of troops and equipment. [[AllThereInTheManual According to source material]], it's also a MobileFactory for building war machines, [[UpToEleven including other dreadnoughts]].

* A species of sauropod in Argentina was given the name ''Dreadnoughtus'' after its discovery. It weighed over 38 metric tons, making it one of the heaviest land animals ever discovered. There are several sauropod species that are ''probably'' larger than ''Dreadnoughtus'' (in some cases significantly so), but it's the largest land animal whose fossil was complete enough estimate the size with a high degree of certainty. (And the fossil is believed to have been of a ''Dreadnoughtus'' that wasn't fully grown, so adults could have been even bigger.) The name was chosen because it was so big it would've had nothing to fear from any predator.

* A species of sauropod in Argentina was given the name ''Dreadnoughtus'' after it's discovery, the main reason was that it weighed over 38 metric tons, making it one of the heaviest land animals ever discovered. There are several sauropod species that are ''probably'' larger than ''Dreadnoughtus'' (in some cases significantly so), but it's the largest land animal whose fossil was complete enough estimate the size with a high degree of certainty. (And the fossil is believed to have been of a ''Dreadnoughtus'' that wasn't fully grown, so adults could have been even bigger.) The name was chosen because it was so big it would've had nothing to fear from any predator.

* In ''VideoGame/EveOnline'' Dreadnoughts are one of the Capital class ships players are capable of flying. Despite being massive DPS machines optimised for siege warfare, they're actually in the lower tier of Capitals (along with their [[{{TheBattlestar}} battlestar]] counterparts, Carriers), being massively outweighed by the much larger Titans and Motherships, but are much less costly and easier to fly than the ''phenomenally'' expensive supercapitals.

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'': Averted. Even at the beginning of the series, the LensmanArmsRace means Dreadnoughts are only the second-biggest ship class, with the biggest being called superdreadnoughts. By the current book, nobody's building dreadnoughts because [[ArmoredCoffins they can't survive]] against a wall of battle populated by [=SDs=] anymore, especially with the advent of the [[MacrossMissileMassacre podnought]].

* In ''VideoGame/SinsOfASolarEmpire'', the Marza Dreadnought is the capital ship with heaviest firepower for the [=TEC=] faction. It can drop radiation bombs and unleash a torrent of missiles in addition to its big guns.

This has strong roots in RealLife [[UsefulNotes/HistoryOfNavalWarfare naval history]], specifically HMS ''Dreadnought'', a British battleship which revolutionized naval warfare for decades to come. Combining heavy armor, high speed, and a relatively small battery of [[{{BFG}} relatively large guns]], ''Dreadnought'' rendered every other battleship afloat, henceforth known as [[OvershadowedByAwesome Pre-Dreadnought Battleships]], obsolete. Ironically, ''Dreadnought'' was bordering on obsolescence by 1914 and the outbreak of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI due to rapid advances in shipbuilding, leading to bigger, more powerful, and more heavily armed Dreadnoughts (with later examples known as ''[[UpToEleven Super]]'' Dreadnoughts).