Re: Canopus Class pre-dreadnought armour


Andrew Robert Breen wrote:
In article <1158244211.576932.273180@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
guy <guyswettenham@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

B F Lake wrote:
<kenney@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:Q6ednVouAZOnDJXYRVnyqQ@xxxxxxxxxxxx
In article <ee6mh6$2h4g$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, azb@xxxxxxxxxx
(Andrew Robert Breen) wrote:

Flat decks were probably not cemented.

Deck armour was never cemented at least IIRC. It was steel, mild
at first then HTS and finally uncemented armour plate.

Decks needed to have steel that could be "worked" ie to install fittings of
various kinds, while the hardened surface of side armour couldn't be
"worked."

There is something about they way shells strike the deck too. They sort of
dig a longish gouge until they break through to the space below. So decks
do not need to be so thick as the sides to run out the shell's time for the
burst charge to go off. Also there was something about softer steel being
better for some armour applications (was that in Nathan O's thing?) maybe
that was for decks??

Remember, with predreadnoughts the horizontal part of the deck was not
expected to be hit by intact AP rounds, it was there to protect the
ship from those nasty horible big chunks of AP or common shell after
they had gone off.
This was especially true of ships with a relatively deep belt, which
would stop intact shells hitting the deck anyway

It's important to distinguish between the flat decks and the slopes
- at least for ships with a Renown-like armour scheme, where the belt
was backed by coal bunkers between the side and a sloping section of
armoured deck

|/-------\|
| |

That flat deck should actually sit on top of the slopes, of course.

The idea was that any heavy AP shell which penetrated the belt would
then have to get through the coal bunker without bursting, then
penetrate the sloping deck without bursting, fragmenting or
being diverted out and up if it was to penetrate to the vitals of
the ship. It meant the belt could be thinner for the same protection,
and thus could cover more of the ship.

I //think// I've seen cites to the effect that Krupp steel was
used for the slopes, but I can't recall where (& so can't judge
accuracy!)

--
Andy Breen ~ Not speaking on behalf of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Feng Shui: an ancient oriental art for extracting
money from the gullible (Martin Sinclair)


exactly my point,

well put!

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: -Crawl- 2 Runes, and still alive! YACD
    ... >>> experimenting with that deck some more? ... they prevent much more agony (unless you LIKE clearing the Hells' ... > either the robe or resistance or the ice dragon armour. ... Hmm, the ice dragon armour... ...
    (rec.games.roguelike.misc)
  • Re: Canopus Class pre-dreadnought armour
    ... Deck armour was never cemented at least IIRC. ... It was steel, mild ... There is something about they way shells strike the deck too. ... ship from those nasty horible big chunks of AP or common shell after ...
    (sci.military.naval)
  • Re: gasoline in the sea of time
    ... carrier - on impact. ... Still damage control should make the attempt to put things back ... however modern aircraft carriers have more deck armor than ... structural (not armour) steel; that's thicker than the deck armour of ...
    (sci.military.naval)
  • Re: Name of Robotrix in Metropolis
    ... In so doing the British carriers ... The "steel" referred to there was actually armour. ... It means the main structural deck is the flight deck, ...
    (rec.arts.sf.fandom)
  • Re: Battleships...again......
    ... of british carrier design including lighter deck armour. ... deck was the flight deck? ...
    (sci.military.naval)