Dreadnought launched at Portsmouth

December 10, 1906

King Edward VII smashed a bottle of Australian wine across the bow of the biggest, fastest warship ever built. With its steam turbines and uniform big guns, HMS Dreadnought rendered every other battleship in the world obsolete overnight, including Britain's own considerable fleet. A naval arms race with Germany, one that would help poison European diplomacy for the next decade, now became inevitable.