“At the outset it is important to remark that in the most recent designs of armored ships for all navies, increase in speed, armament, and thickness of armor has been associated with a decrease in the area of the broadside protected by armor. Further, it has been considered important in most cases to distribute the armored positions of the heavy guns in the ships in order to reduce the risks of complete disablement of the principal armament by one or two lucky shots which may happen when the heavy guns are concentrated in a single citadel or battery. This distribution of the heavy guns also gives greater efficiency to the auxiliary armament of lighter guns, and enables these heavy guns to be placed at a considerably greater height above water than was usual in former days, so that the chances of the guns being prevented from being fought in heavy weather are diminished, and their power as compared with the lower guns in earlier ships is increased, especially when firing with depression. “The days of the ‘completely protected iron-clad,’ with the broadside armored throughout the length from the upper deck down to five or six feet below the water-line, have long gone by. The ‘central battery and belt’ system has also been practically dropped, whether the battery contained broadside guns or formed a citadel protecting the bases of the turrets. In short, on modern battle-ships there now remains only a narrow belt of armor, rising from five or six feet below the load-line to two or three feet above it. This narrow strip of armor in the French ships extends from end to end, and is associated with a protective deck worked at the height of the top of the belt, and forming a strong roof to the hold spaces beneath. In the English ships of the _Admiral_ class the belt of armor extends somewhat less than half the total length, protecting one hundred and forty to one hundred and fifty feet of the central portion of the ship (in which are situate the engines and boilers), and protecting also the communications from the barbette towers to the magazines. At the extremities of the belt strong armored bulkheads are built across the ships. The protected deck is fitted at the upper edge of the belt over the central portion. Before and abaft the bulkheads, where there is no side armor, the protection consists of a strong steel deck, situated from four to five feet below water, and extending to the bow and stern respectively. Upon this under-water deck are placed coal-bunkers, chain-lockers, fresh-water tanks, store-rooms, etc., the spaces between it and the deck next above being subdivided into a large number of water-tight compartments or cells by means of longitudinal and transverse bulkheads. A water-tight top or roof to these compartments is formed by plating over the main deck-beams with thin steel at the same height above water as the top of the armor-belt.