Q&A · 2:30:41-2:31:02

What the British armored flight deck covered

A carrier-layout answer defines the protected box more precisely than the shorthand phrase armored flight deck.

Question

Was the whole flight deck armored on British armored carriers?

Short answer

The central deck was armored across the ship and broadly from the forward lift to the aft lift, including protected spaces alongside the lifts, while the extreme ends were not.

Notes

The armour did not cover every foot of the ship from bow to stern. A central protected zone extended from port to starboard and roughly between the forward and after lifts. Spaces beside the lifts also belonged to the armoured arrangement, while areas farther forward and aft did not. British carrier protection was therefore concentrated around the working aviation spaces.