Warspite shows the limits of armour at close range

Warspite's operational report establishes the conditions behind a frequently cited armour example. With steering trouble carrying her toward the High Seas Fleet, the ship made nearly two circles under concentrated fire and kept shooting through local turret control. The reported closest range was about 12,000 yards and may have been shorter because centralised rangefinding had failed. At that distance, contemporary capital-ship guns were striking at almost point-blank battleship range. Penetration therefore does not by itself prove inferior armour; the fair question is whether any plausible 1916 ship could remain immune under the same fire.