Armour
The main waterline belt was of armour ten inches thick, and ran from a point level with the forward point of "A" barbette to a point level with the after point of "Y" barbette. The lower edge extended, at normal draught, to four feet eleven inches below the waterline. Above the main deck, and running for the same length, was an upper belt of eight inches thickness which reached to a height of eight feet seven inches above the normal draught waterline. Forward of "A" barbette the main belt was extended, with armour seven inches thick, approximately one third of the distance to the bow. From this point, and from the after end of the belt to the stern, the waterline was protected by two-inch armour only.
A transverse bulkhead of five-inch armour ran from beam to beam across the forward part of the ship from the ends of the seven-inch part of the armour belt: it extended from the level of the lower deck to the maindeck. The after bulkhead ran straight across the ship from the after ends of the ten-inch main belt. It also extended from lower deck to maindeck level, and was eight inches thick.
There were three armoured decks. The maindeck had armour varying between three-quarters of an inch and one and a half inches; the middle deck was one and three-quarters inches; and the lower deck was one and a half to three inches thick. The thickness of the decks was determined by the presence or absence of nearby armoured structures, and by the relative importance of structures being protected. Maximum protection was given to magazines and machinery.
The main turret faces were protected by armour eleven inches thick, and their barbettes by armour of five inches to nine inches. Protection here varied according to the degree of protection afforded by surrounding structures and by the armoured decks.
The conning tower received armour of eight inches to eleven inches, the more vulnerable aspect again getting the greater protection.
Read more about this topic: HMS Collingwood (1908)
Famous quotes containing the word armour:
“Saint, do you weep? I hear amid the thunder
The Fenian horses; armour torn asunder;
Laughter and cries. The armies clash and shock,
And now the daylight-darkening ravens flock.
Cease, cease, O mournful, laughing Fenian horn!”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“The man whose silent days
In harmless joys are spent,
Whom hopes cannot delude,
Nor sorrow discontent:
That man needs neither towers
Nor armour for defence,
Nor secret vaults to fly
From thunder’s violence.”
—Thomas Campion (1567–1620)
“Seven to eleven is a huge chunk of life, full of dulling and forgetting. It is fabled that we slowly lose the gift of speech with animals, that birds no longer visit our windowsills to converse. As our eyes grow accustomed to sight they armour themselves against wonder.”
—Leonard Cohen (b. 1934)