The Pursuit of Power. Technology, Armed Force, and Society since A.D. 1000

(Brent) #1

Technology Takes Command
The photograph on the left shows H.M.S. Dreadnought, the speedy, heavy-gunned
battleship that altered the basts of naval competition between Britain and Germany
when it was launched in 1906. Insets show views from bow and stern. But sub­
marines already constituted a threat to even the most heavily armed and armored
battleships, as the artist’s drawing (upper right) suggests. Note the periscope, in­
vented only three years before. Airplanes were also developing rapidly as shown in the
1906 photograph of a French aviator (lower right) who seems to be flying backward
in his push-prop plane.
Illustrated London News, 1906, pp. 548 (20 Oct.), 301 (1 Sept.), and 841 (8 Dec.)

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