How a weaker nuclear taboo would reshape warship protection

How would modern combat vessels change if nuclear weapons were routinely used in Cold War proxy conflicts?

They would emphasize longer-range defence and survivability measures that protect crews and vital systems from blast, radiation, and flash effects.

The answer expects outer defensive layers to receive greater emphasis so that nuclear weapons are intercepted well before they reach a ship. Experience suggests a hull may survive effects that incapacitate the unprotected people inside it. Designers would therefore add shielded crew spaces, radiation-conscious internal arrangements, and more extensive flash protection. The result is not a return to complete battleship armour, but a layered design that combines distant interception with protected vital and inhabited compartments.