Editing Kearsarge-class battleship (section)

=== Armor ===
[[File:USS Kearsarge Brassey's.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Top and profile drawing as depicted in [[Brassey's Naval Annual]], showing the arrangement of the guns and armor]]

The ships were protected with face-hardened [[Harvey armor]], an improvement over earlier [[compound armour|compound plates]]. The main [[strake]] of the [[belt armor]] extended from the forward [[fire room|boiler room]]
to the aft main battery [[barbette]], and covered a section of the hull from {{cvt|3|ft|6|in}} above the [[waterline]] and {{cvt|4|ft}} below the line. It was {{cvt|16.5|in|0}} thick at the top, gradually tapering to {{cvt|13.25|in|0}} at the waterline, and reducing further to {{cvt|9.5|in|0}} at the bottom edge of the belt. Forward of the boiler rooms, the belt was reduced to a maximum thickness of {{cvt|10.5|in|0}}, and from the forward barbette, slimmed further to {{cvt|4|in|0}}. Transverse [[Bulkhead (partition)|bulkheads]] that were {{cvt|10|in|0}} forward and {{cvt|12|in|0}} aft connected the belt on both sides of the ships. Above the main strake was a second one that was 5&nbsp;in thick, extending from the forward to aft barbette.{{sfn|Campbell|p=141}}

The belt structure was reinforced by a curved armor deck that was curved at the sides and connected to the bottom edge of the belt. The flat portion of the deck was level with the upper edge of the belt, and it was {{cvt|2.75|in|0}} thick. Forward, where the belt was significantly reduced in thickness, the deck was increased slightly to {{cvt|3|in|0}}; aft, where there was no side protection, the deck was more significantly strengthened, being 5&nbsp;in thick. The [[conning tower]] had 10&nbsp;in thick sides and a {{convert|2|in|mm|adj=mid|-thick}} roof.{{sfn|Campbell|p=141}}{{sfn|Friedman 1985|p=427}}

Armor protection for the 13-inch turrets amounted to {{cvt|15|to|17|in|0}} on the sides and {{cvt|25|in}} on the rear to balance the turrets, while the 8-inch turrets received {{cvt|6|to|11|in|0}} on the sides and {{cvt|9|in}} on the rears. Their roofs were {{cvt|3.5|in|0}} and 2&nbsp;inches thick for the 13-inch and 8-inch turrets, respectively. The turrets rested in armored barbettes that were {{cvt|12.5|to|15|in|0}} thick. The 5-inch gun battery, which was placed directly above the upper belt, received 6&nbsp;in of armor plating.{{sfn|Campbell|p=141}} The casemate battery lacked splinter screens between each gun, a significant shortcoming since a single hit could disable numerous guns.{{sfn|Friedman 1985|pp=37, 427}}