The design problem resembles that of a battlecruiser, which is not meant to trade equivalent-calibre hits at normal battle range. A destroyer likewise cannot be protected against destroyer-gun fire without giving up the lightness that supplies its speed and role. Non-vital hits may be survivable, but a shell reaching machinery or another critical space can be decisive. Armour, subdivision, and the supports for larger mounts all drive weight sharply upward, so survival depends heavily on avoiding vital hits.
Notable Point · 40:22-41:43
Destroyers survive by avoiding vital hits
Like a battlecruiser facing equivalent firepower, a destroyer cannot absorb the hits its own guns can deliver without becoming much heavier.