Capital Ship Armor Ratios

[jma286]

I thought it would be interesting to see what everyone does for this. By armor ratios I mean how much armor you put in different areas of the ship, especially the Belt, turrets, and CT. I usually have equal belt and CT armor with a bit more on the turrets because of my fear of flash fires. For a mid-1910s, 32000 ton BB I might have 11.5" belt, 11.5" CT, and 12.5-13" turrets. Does everyone make their ships like this, or do you favor having a different part be thicker?

[gornik]

My typical standards are:
Legacy B: 9" Turrets, 2" Deck & Turret Tops, 8"-9" Belt, 4"-5" Secondaries, 10" Conning Tower
Heavy secondaries' pre-BB: 9"-10" T & B, 2" D, 2,5" TT, 5"-6" Sec, 10" CT
Early BB: 10"-12" T & B, 2,5" D, 2,5"-3" TT, 3" Sec, 11" CT
Late BB: no standards, depends on dock size and gun development combination, only not changed ones are 3" deck and 4" TT

For first 5 years I tend to design ships, fully protected from medium secondaries, then only deck, belt and turrets are taken into account, all other armour are usually very thin.

[jma286]

Aug 15, 2015 15:53:29 GMT -6 gornik said:

My typical standards are:
Legacy B: 9" Turrets, 2" Deck & Turret Tops, 8"-9" Belt, 4"-5" Secondaries, 10" Conning Tower
Heavy secondaries' pre-BB: 9"-10" T & B, 2" D, 2,5" TT, 5"-6" Sec, 10" CT
Early BB: 10"-12" T & B, 2,5" D, 2,5"-3" TT, 3" Sec, 11" CT
Late BB: no standards, depends on dock size and gun development combination, only not changed ones are 3" deck and 4" TT

For first 5 years I tend to design ships, fully protected from medium secondaries, then only deck, belt and turrets are taken into account, all other armour are usually very thin.

Interesting. I generally have slightly thicker turret tops and only a 2" deck on my first few dreadnought classes, increasing to 2.5" once I start making 35000 ton+ designs. I've also experimented with 3" deck armor on AON armor ships, but never consistently.

I also try to have 6" secondary armor on early BB designs, so that they're protected from enemy secondaries and cruisers. Late in the game I decrease secondary armor because anything short of DD guns can damage them anyway and the weight would be better used elsewhere.

[gornik]

Aug 15, 2015 16:10:15 GMT -6 jma286 said:

Aug 15, 2015 15:53:29 GMT -6 gornik said:

My typical standards are:
Legacy B: 9" Turrets, 2" Deck & Turret Tops, 8"-9" Belt, 4"-5" Secondaries, 10" Conning Tower
Heavy secondaries' pre-BB: 9"-10" T & B, 2" D, 2,5" TT, 5"-6" Sec, 10" CT
Early BB: 10"-12" T & B, 2,5" D, 2,5"-3" TT, 3" Sec, 11" CT
Late BB: no standards, depends on dock size and gun development combination, only not changed ones are 3" deck and 4" TT

For first 5 years I tend to design ships, fully protected from medium secondaries, then only deck, belt and turrets are taken into account, all other armour are usually very thin.

Interesting. I generally have slightly thicker turret tops and only a 2" deck on my first few dreadnought classes, increasing to 2.5" once I start making 35000 ton+ designs. I've also experimented with 3" deck armor on AON armor ships, but never consistently.

I also try to have 6" secondary armor on early BB designs, so that they're protected from enemy secondaries and cruisers. Late in the game I decrease secondary armor because anything short of DD guns can damage them anyway and the weight would be better used elsewhere.

Thick deck of first BB (as well as their 22-23 knot speed) is preparation for future: I always try to keep them active till the end of game, adding bulkheads, changing guns, refitting machinery e.t.c But deck can't be refitted, so it should be solid enough from start. (Thanks Ccip for good point in "Quality vs Quantity" theme)

Turret tops usually don't add many weight, so I just use "free" tons stayed after everything also. Their minimal thickness is 3"

And secondary armour is so thin because if you need to stop medium shells after 1905 this usually means two variants:
1) It's CL/DD at range of their guns, which means torpedo attack, so your problems are much more complex
2) It's BB/BC/B at close range (usually in night), so it's time to call your DD and turn away

[elouda]

I have a few general rules;

Turrets get armour equal to their caliber on all capital ships. For triples/quads maybe a little more. Turret tops are 2.5in initially, 1/4 of turret frontal after around 1910 (so 4in TT on 16in turrets).

Conning tower equal to turret protection.

Secondaries almost always 2in, unless building a B/early BC with heavier (8in+) secondaries, in which case half of weapon caliber.

Belt end is generally 1/4 of main belt, main belt depends on how much weight is left etc, but generally aim for atleast 10in on BC and 11in on BB, increasing with time. Generally by the time AON rolls around, looking at 13-13.5in for most designs.

Deck protection is 1.5in/1.5in on early B designs, 2in/1.5in on later ones and early dreads, and 2.5in/1.5in around 1910 or so. With AON I try to get atleast 3in, preferably 3.5in.

[brucesim2003]

Wow you guys with your deck armour make me look paranoid. By 1915 or so my deck is 4"...by 1920 or so it is 5". At that time the turret tops are 6". Then again my BB's rarely if ever exceed 24kts, but they can (and have, repeatedly) taken 5-10 16" hits with comparatively little damage. None of my late game dreadnoughts have ever lost a turret.

My BC's are more in line with German than British doctrine. They are quite capable of standing in the line for a while if they have to.

I do notice however that the dreadnoughts that I build tend to escalate in size very rapidly.

Cheers


Bruce