How to Dynamically Create a Grid in C# Windows Form Application

Try this code in the form on which you want the grid:

EDIT: I added a way to put 12 rows of 12 columns in the grid via the new BattleShipRow class. You can add data to a grid in numerous ways, but this binds a list of those objects to the grid.

You will likely have to tweak the sizes to make the display the way you would like.

Finally, I made the battleShipGrid list that is defined in LoadGridData a public member. You can modify the data in this list of BattleShipRow objects as needed for the game as clicks occur.

    private System.Windows.Forms.DataGridView myNewGrid;  // Declare a grid for this form
    private List<BattleShipRow> battleShipGrid; // Declare this here so that you can use it later to manipulate the cell contents

    private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        myNewGrid = new System.Windows.Forms.DataGridView();
        ((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(myNewGrid)).BeginInit();
        this.SuspendLayout();
        myNewGrid.Parent = this;  // You have to set the parent manually so that the grid is displayed on the form
        myNewGrid.ColumnHeadersHeightSizeMode = System.Windows.Forms.DataGridViewColumnHeadersHeightSizeMode.AutoSize;
        myNewGrid.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(10, 10);  // You will need to calculate this postion based on your other controls.  
        myNewGrid.Name = "myNewGrid";
        myNewGrid.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(400, 400);  // You said you need the grid to be 12x12.  You can change the size here.
        myNewGrid.TabIndex = 0;
        myNewGrid.ColumnHeadersVisible = false; // You could turn this back on if you wanted, but this hides the headers that would say, "Cell1, Cell2...."
        myNewGrid.RowHeadersVisible = false;
        myNewGrid.AutoSizeColumnsMode = DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnsMode.Fill;
        myNewGrid.AutoSizeRowsMode = DataGridViewAutoSizeRowsMode.DisplayedCells;
        myNewGrid.CellClick += MyNewGrid_CellClick;  // Set up an event handler for CellClick.  You handle this in the MyNewGrid_CellClick method, below
        ((System.ComponentModel.ISupportInitialize)(myNewGrid)).EndInit();
        this.ResumeLayout(false);
        myNewGrid.Visible = true;
        LoadGridData();
    }

    public class BattleShipRow
    {
        public string Cell1 { get; set; }
        public string Cell2 { get; set; }
        public string Cell3 { get; set; }
        public string Cell4 { get; set; }
        public string Cell5 { get; set; }
        public string Cell6 { get; set; }
        public string Cell7 { get; set; }
        public string Cell8 { get; set; }
        public string Cell9 { get; set; }
        public string Cell10 { get; set; }
        public string Cell11 { get; set; }
        public string Cell12 { get; set; }
    }

    private void LoadGridData()
    {
        battleShipGrid = new List<BattleShipRow>();
        for (var i = 0; i < 12; i++)
        {
            battleShipGrid.Add(new BattleShipRow());
        }
        myNewGrid.DataSource = battleShipGrid;
    }

    private void MyNewGrid_CellClick(object sender, DataGridViewCellEventArgs e)
    {
        throw new NotImplementedException();
    }