Thicker belt, deck, and barbette protection improve resilience while consuming displacement. Changes to the guns and armour leave little margin. Lengthening the main guns to 50 calibres puts the ship overweight, and even a three-ton excess forces another adjustment. A cruiser cannot carry battleship-scale protection without giving up weight elsewhere.
Notable Point · 10:31-16:57
Protection choices on a fast heavy cruiser
Armour thickness, bulkheads, barbette protection, speed, and weight limits all compete within the same cruiser displacement.