Armour
The waterline armour ran in a continuous belt from stem to stern of the ship. The portion protecting the citadel, running from a point level with the centre of "A" barbette to a point level with the centre of "Y" barbette, was ten inches thick and seven foot six inches deep. At normal load five foot two inches of this belt was below the waterline. An upper belt of eight inches thickness ran immediately above the main belt and for the same extent. The top edge was eight feet six inches above the waterline in normal load conditions. Both upper and main belts extended forward to the bow, the thickness of this extension being seven inches tapering to six. At the after end of the ship the main belt continued to the stern in a strake of five inch thickness; the upper belt did not extend past "Y" barbette.
The barbettes were protected by nine-inch armour above the armour deck, and five-inch below. The outer sides of "P" and "Q" barbettes, which were seen to be at greater risk by being situated immediately adjacent to the hull, received ten-inch armour plate. The turret faces had the strongest armour of any part of the ship, being eleven inches thick. The turret roofs were three-inch plate.
There were three armoured decks. The upper, known as the maindeck, was only lightly armoured with between one half and three-quarter inch protection. The middle deck was one and three-quarters inches thick, increased over the after magazines to three inches. The lower deck, which was below the waterline, was one and a half inches thick, increasing to four inches over the magazines and machinery spaces.
A transverse bulkhead of eight-inch armour ran obliquely across the after end of the ship, extending from the end of the main belt to the after extent of the armour of "Y" turret. There was no forward transverse bulkhead.
The conning tower was protected by armour eleven inches thick on the forward aspect and eight inches elsewhere.
Superb' and her sisters were the first battleships to be designed and built with an anti-torpedo bulkhead as an integral part of the design. These bulkheads, one on either side, ran continuously from the fore to aft magazines, and extended from the lower deck down to the double bottom of the hull of the ship. The thickness varied from one inches to three, being greatest at the level of the more vulnerable magazines. It had been reported during the war between Russia and Japan of 1905 that major warships hit by either torpedo or mine were only sunk as a result of these strikes if the magazines exploded. These bulkheads were designed to minimise this risk.
Read more about this topic: HMS Superb (1907)
Famous quotes containing the word armour:
“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)
“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)