Armour
The armour protection in this ship was greater than that of the preceding three classes, all of which had had thinner armour than HMS Dreadnought. The main belt, which ran from a position on the forecastle to the quarterdeck at the level of the main armament muzzles, was eleven inches thick. The upper belt was the same overall length, being eight inches thick amidships over the machinery spaces and magazines, tapering down to two and a half inches forward and two inches aft.
Over the length of the citadel the upper deck was 1.5 inches thick, while the lower deck was 1.75 inches. Aft of "X" turret the lower deck thickness was three inches, and this deck was increased to four inches over the extreme stern as a protection for the rudder and screws.
The forward bulkhead, which was positioned immediately before "A" turret, was ten inches at the top, tapering to five inches below armoured deck level. The after bulkhead, immediately astern of "Y" turret was eight inches tapering to four.
The turret faces were eleven inches thick, tapering to seven inches on the sides. The turret roofs were four inches thick. The armour of the barbettes varied from eleven inches to four inches, varying according to the degree of protection afforded by surrounding armour: the other barbette, the adjacent side armour and overlying deck armour.
The conning tower was protected by eleven inch armour, and its communication tube by five inch thickness.
The total weight of armour in the ship was 5,474 tons, of which the armoured belt accounted for 1,610 tons.
Read more about this topic: HMS Colossus (1910)
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)
“How happy is he born and taught
That serveth not another’s will;
Whose armour is his honest thought,
And simple truth his utmost skill!”
—Sir Henry Wotton (1568–1639)
“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)