United States

The American South Carolina-class battleships were the first all-big-gun ships completed by one of the United Kingdom’s rivals. The planning for the type had begun before Dreadnought was launched. While there is some speculation the U.S Navy design was influenced by informal contacts with sympathetic Royal Navy officials,[98] the American ship was very different.

The U.S. Congress authorized the Navy to build two battleships, but of only 16,000 tons or lower displacement. As a result, the South Carolina class were built to much tighter limits than Dreadnought. To make best use of the weight available for armament, all eight 12-inch (305 mm) guns were mounted along the centerline, in superfiring pairs fore and aft. This arrangement gave a broadside equal to Dreadnought, but with fewer guns; this was the most efficient distribution of weapons and was a precursor of the standard practice of future generations of battleships. The principal economy of displacement compared to Dreadnought was in propulsion; South Carolina retained triple-expansion steam engines, and could manage only 18.5 kn (34.3 km/h) compared to 22.5 kn (41.7 km/h) for Dreadnought.[99] It was for this reason that the later Delaware class would be described by some as the U.S. Navy’s first dreadnoughts;[100][101] only a few years after their commissioning, the South Carolina class could not operate tactically with the newer dreadnoughts due to their low speed, and were forced to operate with the older pre-dreadnoughts.[102][103]

The two ships of the Delaware class were the first U.S. battleships to match the speed of British dreadnoughts. The decision to use a 10-gun 20,500 ton ship over a 12-gun 24,000 ton in this class was criticized, because the secondary battery was ‘wet’ (suffering from spray) and the bow was low in the water. The alternative 12-gun design had many disadvantages as well; the extra two guns and a lower casemate had ‘hidden costs’—the two wing turrets planned would weaken the upper deck, be almost impossible to be adequately protected against underwater attack, and force magazines to be located too close to the sides of the ship.[100][104]

The U.S. Navy continued to expand its battlefleet, laying down two ships in most subsequent years until 1920. The U.S. continued to use reciprocating engines as an alternative to turbines until the Nevada class, laid down in 1912. In part this reflected a cautious approach to battleship-building, and in part a preference for long endurance over high maximum speed.[105]