page_title: List of dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy
section_title: Bellerophon class
hierarchical_section_title: List of dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy / Bellerophon class
caption_attribution_description: HMS Bellerophon
context_page_description: This is a list of dreadnought battleships of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom.
  In 1907, before the revolution in design brought about by HMS Dreadnought of 1906, the United Kingdom had 62 battleships in commission or building, a lead of 26 over France and 50 over the German Empire. The launch of Dreadnought in 1906 prompted an arms race with major strategic consequences, as countries built their own dreadnoughts. Possession of modern battleships was not only vital to naval power, but also represented a nation's standing in the world. Germany, France, the Russian Empire, Japan, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and the United States all began dreadnought programmes; second-rank powers including the Ottoman Empire, Argentina, Brazil, and Chile commissioned dreadnoughts to be built in British and American shipyards.
  The Royal Navy at the start of the First World War was the largest navy in the world due, in the most part, to The Naval Defence Act 1889 and the two-power standard which called for the navy to maintain a number of battleships at least equal to the combined strength of the next two largest navies.
context_section_description: The Bellerophon-class battleships, HMS Bellerophon, HMS Superb, and HMS Temeraire, were the first Royal Navy dreadnoughts to be built after Dreadnought, from 1906–1909. The sisters retained much of HMS Dreadnought's design, such as her 45-calibre Mk X 12-inch (304.8 mm) guns and their arrangement, but had changes like the relocation of the foremast behind the forward funnel and an improved secondary armament. The Bellerophon sisters were 526-foot (160 m) long and displaced 18,596 long tons (18,894 t) and retained Dreadnought's means of propulsion, two steam turbines powering four shafts, and her speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). The thickness of the Bellerophon's belt armour, 10 inches (254 mm) at its thickest, was an inch thinner than that of Dreadnought's at her thickest.
  Upon commissioning, all three ships were assigned to the 1st division of the Home Fleet, later the 1st Battle Squadron, and took part in the Coronation Review for King George V. From 17–20 July 1914, all three took part in the mobilisation and review of the Royal Navy during the July Crisis following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. Bellerophon and Superb joined the Home Fleet but Temeraire did not until 1915. All three ships participated in the Battle of Jutland, firing no more than 62 shells at the battleships SMS Wiesbaden and SMS Derfflinger, but without success. Later, Bellerophon served as the junior flagship of the 4th Squadron from June to September 1917 while its usual flagship (HMS Colossus) was being refitted. Superb and Temeraire were transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet, where Superb served as fleet flagship until the armistice. After the war, the now obsolete ships were placed in reserve. Temeraire became a training vessel until decommissioned and scrapped in 1921, Bellerophon was made a gunnery ship in March 1919 at The Nore and was sold for scrap 8 November 1921 and broken up 14 September 1922, and Superb relieved Bellerophon as a gunnery training vessel and then served briefly as a target ship before sold for scrapping in December 1923.
caption: HMS Bellerophon
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