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| | Battleship - Article from FactBug.org - the fast Wikipedia mirror site (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21) |
 | | The name "battleship" was initially given to first-, second-, and third-rate ships of the line during the age of sail. |
 | | The main battleship nations during this period were Britain, France and Russia, plus newcomers Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy, while Turkey and Spain built small numbers of armoured frigates and cruisers, and Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands built smaller "coastal battleships" (pantserschip) of up to 5,000 tons. |
 | | The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom had ruled the seas for several centuries, but the German emperor Kaiser Wilhelm and his naval minister, Alfred von Tirpitz, set out to change that, in part for strategic reasons, but mainly due to a simple desire to challenge Britain. |
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