A torpedo bulkhead is a type of

naval armour Naval armour refers to the various protections schemes employed by warships, and is distinguished from other kinds of armour. Naval sailing ships have had protection from weaponry since at least ancient times, when Greek and Roman warships used s ...

common on the more heavily armored

warships A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster an ...

, especially

battleship A battleship is a large armour, armored warship with a main artillery battery, battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1 ...

s and

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

s of the early 20th century. It is designed to keep the ship afloat even if the hull is struck underneath the

belt armor Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from penetrating to ...

by a shell or by a

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, ...

History

After the lessons learned during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, many

capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic im ...

s were refitted with double, triple, or even quadruple torpedo bulkheads, as well as

anti-torpedo bulge The anti-torpedo bulge (also known as an anti-torpedo blister) is a form of defence against naval torpedoes occasionally employed in warship construction in the period between the First and Second World Wars. It involved fitting (or retrofittin ...

s to the exterior of the hull.Gillmer and Johnson, p.185 For example, the last US battleship designs during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

had up to four torpedo bulkheads and a triple-bottom. The innermost bulkhead is commonly referred to as the ''holding bulkhead'', and often this bulkhead would be manufactured from high tensile steel that could deform and absorb the pressure pulse from a torpedo hit without breaking. If the final bulkhead was at least 37 mm thick, it may also be referred to as an ''armored bulkhead'', as it would be capable of stopping splinters and shells with low striking velocities.

Footnotes

References

*{{cite book, last=Gillmer, first=Charles, author2=Johnson, Bruce, title=Introduction to Naval Architecture, year=1982, location=

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, publisher=Naval Institute Press, isbn=0-87021-318-0, url-access=registration, url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontona0000gill Naval armour