Why destroyer guns threatened the two-inch belt

The extra half-knot claimed for the Spanish design did not compensate for a belt only two inches thick. At likely engagement ranges, such protection was unlikely to stop four-inch, 4.7-inch, five-inch, or six-inch fire. In the hypothetical comparison, a Tribal-class destroyer could probably inflict serious damage on a Canarias-class cruiser while maneuvering in ways the cruiser's eight-inch guns would struggle to follow. Gearing-class destroyers and other American ships with five-inch guns provide further examples of the threat. Armour quality and layout could only partly compensate for limited thickness, and the Spanish belt lacked elaborate protective arrangements. The comparison with the four-and-a-half-inch protection cited for British Counties places the small speed gain beside a large defensive sacrifice.