The machinery arrangement alternated boiler rooms and engine rooms instead of concentrating the entire plant in one vulnerable block. Separating spaces further reduced the chance that one hit would disable every major propulsion compartment. A strike opening one of these large spaces would still admit a dangerous volume of water. Longitudinal and transverse subdivision was therefore intended to preserve buoyancy and leave the ship with some mobility after damage. HMS Eskimo's loss of her bow provided an extreme example of a destroyer surviving serious forward damage.
Notable Point · 20:35-21:39
Alternating machinery spaces for damage resistance
Alternating boiler and engine rooms with separating spaces were intended to make a single hit less likely to silence all of the ship's propulsion.