172 
ARMOUR AND ITS ATTACK BY ORDNANCE. 
armoured deck. As will be seen, this necessitates weak places 
throughout the ship (see Amiral Duperre , Fig. 35, and Magenta , Fig. 
Tig-. So.—(Amiral Duperre ). 
of weight of armour that can be carried involves some sacrifice of 
protection; the question is, what shape shall it take ? 1 
The English view has been that near the ends the space between the 
sides narrows so much that there clearly comes a point when the heavy 
belt is protecting too little to compensate for what might be done with 
the same weight of armour elsewhere. The French have taken the 
opposite view, and their opinion has been supported by some high 
1 See paper read to Naval College, by Mr. Smith, of the Construction Department of the 
Admiralty. These two French ships have specially vulnerable places beneath their barbette bat¬ 
teries where a single common shell bursting might disable the gun. 
