The "Colossus" class had a waterline belt of Krupp cemented armour that was thick between the fore and rear barbettes that reduced to outside the central armoured citadel, but did not reach the bow or stern. This made them the first British battleships since 1893 not to have a complete belt of armour at the waterline. The belt covered the side of the hull from above the waterline to below where it thinned to at its bottom edge. Above this was a strake of 8-inch armour. The forward oblique bulkheads connected the waterline and upper armour belts to the 'A' barbette. Similarly the aft bulkhead connected the armour belts to 'Y' barbette, although it was 8 inches thick. The exposed faces of the three centreline barbettes were protected by armour thick above the main deck and thinned to 4 or below it. The wing barbettes were similar except that they had 11 inches of armour on their outer faces. The gun turrets had 11-inch faces and sides with 3-inch roofs.