Читать книгу Deeper into the Darkness онлайн

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The thickest part of the main belt ran from forward of the forward turrets to aft of the aftmost turrets, whilst thinner armour protected the hull forward and aft of the citadel. At short range, a horizontally fired shell would not be able to strike the deck of the enemy ship – and so, to save unnecessary weight, decks were more lightly armoured than the vertical side armour belt.

As battleship design developed, however, successive generations of new and improved big guns were able to hurl their shells further and further. Soon, shells were being fired with a range of 21,000 yards – some 12 miles. More powerful guns, firing from greater distances, increased the height of the shell’s trajectory and produced a new phenomenon, ‘plunging fire’ or ‘falling shot’. This was more likely to strike the lightly armoured deck of a battleship rather than the thick vertical side armour belt.

As the great naval arms race developed, Audacious was laid down at Cammell Laird’s shipyard at Birkenhead, Merseyside on 23 March 1911. She was launched on 14 September 1912, and after fitting out afloat and the addition of her vertical armour belt plates, she was completed in August 1913. She was commissioned on 15 October 1913 and joined her sister ships in the 2nd Battle Squadron.