Lower deck: 1 in. forward, 2 in. aft; slope to middle deck forward, 2 in. In all the above ships back to the Majestic the secondary armament of 6-in. guns are carried in isolated casemates having 6-in. fronts and 2-in. backs. “King Edward VII." (1902).—Of this class there are eight building at the present time, viz. King Edward VII., Commonwealth, Hindustan, Dominion, Hibernia, Britannia, Africa, New Zealand. The particulars are: length, 425 ft.; breadth, 78 ft.; draught, 26 ft. 9 in.; displacement, 16,350 tons; I.H.P., 18,000; speed, 18 knots; armament, 4 12-in., 4 9.2-in., 10 6-in. In these ships. the casemate system of protecting the secondary armament has been adandoned, and a battery, 7 in. thick, has been worked between the main and upper decks to take the 6-in. guns (see Figs. 13 and 135). The battery is covered in with 1-in. plating at the top, and this battery also performs the function of protecting the funnel casings, etc., to the upper deck. The armour belt is 9 in. at the waterline, 8 in. above to main deck. This belt is carried in reduced thicknesses to the bow, as shown in Fig. 135. A bulkhead is worked at the after end of citadel as usual. In this ship also the after end is protected by 2 in. worked on doubled plating. The decks are as follows: Upper deck over battery, 1 in. Main deck, forward of battery, 2 to 11⁄2 in. Middle deck, 1 in. flat, 2 in. slope. Lower deck, forward, 1 in., aft 21 in. The barbettes for the 12-in. guns have a maximum thickness of 12 in., reductions being possible where the battery, etc., would also have to be pierced before reaching the barbette. The shallow barbettes for the 9-2-in guns are 4 in. thick. Fig. 131 gives an interesting comparison of the armoured sides of British battle-ships from Royal Sovereign to King Edward VII. Protection of Cruisers.-The essential quality to be obtained in cruisers is high speed and large coal supply, and as much protection is given as the limited weight available will allow. In the belted cruisers of the Orlando class, protection was obtained by a narrow belt, 5 in. wide, 10 in. thick, extending over about twothirds the length. There was a level deck 2 in. over the belt, and decks at the ends 3 in. thick. Some disadvantages of a narrow belt have already been noticed, and since the Orlando until the time of Cressy class (1897) large cruisers were "protected,"1 i.e. they had the vitals covered in with a thick deck, and this thick deck, in conjunction with the coal stowed above it, was depended upon to give protection. We shall see in Chapter XVII. how important this coal is, not only in offering direct resistance to penetration, but in preserving stability when the side is riddled. Examples of large protected cruisers are given in Figs. 21 and 22, and the smaller cruisers of the second and third classes are still constructed on this system (Figs. 24, 26, 27). The side bunkers are also well subdivided by watertight bulkheads in order to localize any damage at the waterline (see Fig. 54). "Cressy" (1897).-The ships of Cressy class represent a distinct departure in the design of large cruisers. There were six ships of this class, all being sheathed with teak and copper (Cressy, Aboukir, Hogue, Sutlej, Bacchante, Euryalus), 440 ft. long, 12,000 tons. Advantage was taken of the improved quality of armour obtained by the Krupp process to armour the side for about half 1 Edgar class; Blake, Blenheim, Powerful, Terrible, Diadem class. The length and a depth of 11 ft. with 6-in. armour, closing in the ends with bulkheads 5 in. thick (Figs. 136, 137). Two-in. protective plating was worked to the bow directly on the ship's plating. middle deck is 1 in., and main deck 1 in. in way of armoured side. The lower deck forward is 1 in., and aft 2 in. In a cruiser, armoured in this way, the height of the middle deck above water can be made less than in a protected cruiser, because of the presence of the armoured side (compare Figs. 22 and 23). "Drake” (1899).—The four cruisers of Drake class (Drake, King Alfred, Leviathan, Good Hope) are unsheathed, and are 500 ft. long, 14,100 tons, and with 30,000 I.H.P. were designed for the high speed of 23 knots. The protection is similar to the Cressy, with a 6-in. armour belt and 2-in. protection forward. "Monmouth" (1899).—The first cruisers of this class (Monmouth, Bedford, Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Cornwall, Cumberland, Berwick, Lancaster, Donegal) are 440 ft. and 9800 tons, 22,000 I.H.P., 23 knots. They are armoured with a 4-in. belt, with middle deck in., and main deck 14 in., as Fig. 23. The later cruisers have a 6-in. belt, and are somewhat larger, viz. 450 ft. long and 10,700 tons, 21,000 I.H.P., 224 knots (Devonshire, Antrim, Roxburgh, Carnarvon, Hampshire, Argyll). 'Duke of Edinburgh" (1903).—The first class cruisers (Duke of Edinburgh, Black Prince), are 480 ft. long and 13,550 tons, 23,500 I.H.P., 22 knots. They are similar to King Edward VII. in having an armoured battery (Fig. 138). This battery contains the ten 6-in. guns of the secondary armament, and is 6 in. thick. The main armament consists of six 9.2-in. guns on the upper deck and forecastle in barbettes. The belt is worked over the whole length, 6 in. thick amidships, 4 in. forward, and 3 ft. aft. The upper deck over battery is 1 in., the main deck forward and aft is 1 in., the lower protective deck is in., being thickened up to 3 in. over the steering gear. The later ships of the classWarrior, Achilles, Natal, Cochrane are being considerably modified in respect to armament. Second and Third Class Cruisers.-As mentioned above, these cruisers are still being built on the deck-protected system, Fig. 24 showing a typical sheathed second class cruiser, Fig. 27 showing a third class cruiser. The new class of Scouts now building are also protected in the same way. Sloops. In these vessels (Fig. 29) no attempt is made at protection, except that in the bunkers a sloping or level partition |