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The belt armor (A) is on the exterior, at the waterline. Also indicated is the main deck (B), the sloping deck armor (C), and the torpedo bulkhead (D). Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers.
Naval armor refers to the various protections schemes employed by warships. The first ironclad warship was created in 1859, and the pace of armour advancement accelerated quickly thereafter. The emergence of battleships around the turn of the 20th century saw ships become increasingly large and well armoured.
The belt armor (A) is on the exterior, at the waterline. Also indicated is the main deck (B), the sloping deck armor (C), and the torpedo bulkhead (D). A torpedo bulkhead is a type of naval armor common on the more heavily armored warships , especially battleships and battlecruisers of the early 20th century.
The belt consists of a 70 mm (2.8 in) homogeneous armor outer plate and the 280 mm (11 in) cemented armor belt placed 250 mm (9.8 in) behind the outer plate; the 250 mm gap was filed with a cement foam called "Cellulite" to keep the water out of the gap and assist in de-capping armor piercing shells.
Homogeneous armour was typically used for deck armour, which is subject to more high-obliquity impacts and, on some warships such as Yamato class and Iowa class battleships, for lower belt armour below the waterline to protect against shells that land short and dive underwater.
Traditionally, a warship's armor system was designed both separately from, and after, the design layout. The design and location of various component subsystems (propulsion, steering, fuel storage and management, communications, range-finding, etc.) were laid out and designed in a manner that presented the most efficient and economical utilization of the hull's displacement.
Armored warships (dreadnought battleships, armored cruisers and later light and heavy cruisers) of the early 20th century carried their main protective armor above the waterline – the "main belt" – which was intended to stop flat-trajectory gunfire from piercing the hull. Below the belt, the armor generally tapered away, to reduce overall ...
The ships had an armored belt that was 30 cm (12 in) thick at its strongest points, where it protected the ship's vitals, and as thin as 8 cm (3.1 in) in less critical areas, such as the bow and stern. Behind the main belt was a torpedo bulkhead 3 cm (1.2 in) thick. The ships' decks were armored, between 5.5 and 8 cm (2.2 and 3.1 in) thick.