The battle cruiser was conceived as a faster version of the dreadnought. Quite successful at protecting and raiding merchant shipping, it is risky for a battle cruiser to engage enemy dreadnoughts due to the cruiser’s lighter armor.
Efficient steam turbines allowed dreadnoughts to boast greater speed and heavier armor. H.M.S. Dreadnought made all other battleships obsolete. Its armament of ten 12 inch guns could hit from a long range and with a heavier weight than earlier ships.
Great Powers evolved armored cruisers in the late 19th century to protect or attack merchant shipping. Inexpensive to build, they are highly efficient. Armored cruisers can sink raiders or early ironclads by remaining out of their range.
Freighter are large steam-powered merchant vessels constructed mainly of iron. With their enormous carrying capacity, these ships represent the most efficient means of sea transport in the nineteenth century.
New long range guns allowed ironclad battleships to achieve command of the seas. Armed with four 80 ton guns in two huge rotating turrets, the H.M.S. Inflexible revolutionized naval warfare and remained the strongest ship afloat throughout the 1880s.
Conservative thinking and ship instability prevented the construction of sea-going ironclads until the 1850s. The H.M.S. Warrior (1859), for example, included both sails and a screw (propeller), and was armed with both smoothbore cannons and rifled guns.
By using steam engines to drive paddle wheels, these wooden vessels are fast scouts and commerce raiders. Their few cannon are rifled breech loaders. Too weak to fight in the line of battle, they use reliable steam power to escape larger vessels.
Early scientific studies of hull design led to the clipper ships that revolutionized world trade with their amazing speed. Clippers are more likely than other merchant ships to run a blockade successfully or to escape from hostile fleets.
A paddle wheel driven by early steam engines powers this fairly large and efficient merchant vessel. Although faster than earlier sailing vessels, these early steamers could not compete with a clipper for speed.
Bristling with up to 130 smoothbore cannons arranged on two or three gun decks, they were the most powerful vessels in the world until the middle of the 19th Century. The most famous example is the H.M.S. Victory, Nelson’s flagship at Trafalgar (1805).
Constructed with one deck of cannons, frigates were used as scouts, raiders, and escorts. One frigate, the 44-gun U.S.S. Constitution, defeated two British ships during the War of 1812, earning the nickname “Old Ironsides”.
These large slow ships transported trade goods and important passengers between Europe and the Far East. Armed with a few cannons to fend off a weak pirate, they are incapable of defending themselves against a ship of the line or a frigate.
These ships represent a wide variety of early 19th century wooden merchant vessels. Traders are fairly slow, defenseless, and have a small carrying capacity. Their one virtue is their extremely low price.
