Thread by @mpwarwick

A short thread on the evolution of British battleship armour.

Detail is in the images!

(1/10)

HMS Dreadnought, laid down 1905. This layout was typical of the early British 12-inch armed battleships, although of course there are some detail differences.

(2/10)

HMS Orion, laid down 1909. This layout is typical of the 13.5-inch armed 'super-dreadnoughts', although there are some improvements in later classes.

(3/10)

HMS Revenge, laid down 1913. Chose the R class over the Queen Elizabeths as they are more noteworthy in terms of armour scheme development.

(The Queen Elizabeths are a bit of a cross between this and the 13.5-inch design!)

(4/10)

HMS Hood. Despite her unfortunate end, she was the best protected British capital ship yet built when she completed. Perhaps the ultimate example of an incremental armour scheme in Royal Navy service.

(5/10)

HMS Nelson, laid down in 1922. Somewhat of a revolution in armour scheme, with the full scale adoption of an 'All or Nothing' scheme after the advances of the First World War.

(6/10)

Battleship 1929. Never built, as the 1930 London Naval Treaty extended the battleship building holiday. But an importance piece of the puzzle.

(7/10)

Option A of a new design presented in 1933. A design study rather than a final design, this attempts to combine a new torpedo defence system with the inclined belt.

(8/10)

Option B of the 1933 design study. This works the armour externally. This was the option chosen.

(9/10)

HMS King George V, laid down 1937. This is Option B above, but further developed and refined. This would be the template for the Royal Navy's last generation of battleship.

(10/10)

All 9 cross-sections in the same image.