Perspective

[Sapper740]

[/QUOTE]Bismarck was a heavy cruiser. Her citadel was protected by 7-8" armor, for instance.[/QUOTE]

The Bismarck was every bit a battleship with 12.5" of armor on her conning tower (citadel) and 13.8" belts and turret faces.

Information

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[Bob Womack]

The Bismarck was every bit a battleship with 12.5" of armor on her conning tower (citadel) and 13.8" belts and turret faces.

I'm sorry, I was quoting the figures for the transverse bulkheads at the for and aft ends of the citadel lower, which were in fact 8" thick. The upper citadel transverse bulkheads were 4"-5.71" thick. While the conning tower had thicker armor, the rest of the citadel did not. The German designers put more stock in the horizontal armor to protect from vertically-arriving shot than the vertical armor to protect from raking fire, apparently thinking her long guns would prevent her from getting into a knife fight with any other large ship.

Bob