The design is pushed to discover how much theoretical weight would be needed to correct the ship's pitch. The experiment reaches roughly nineteen inches of deck armor and thirty-five inches of belt armor, figures so extreme that the vessel's ability to float becomes doubtful. The absurd protection scheme would intimidate an opponent on paper while creating a ship whose weight and buoyancy make little practical sense. A favorable balance statistic cannot make the result coherent when the solution consumes displacement without regard to realistic construction and buoyancy.
Notable Point · 37:12-38:30
Extreme armor exposes the limits of balance-by-weight
Pushing deck and belt armor to absurd thicknesses improves the balance figure but produces a ship whose practicality and buoyancy are doubtful.