The "Bristol"s were considered protected cruisers, with an armoured deck providing protection for the ships' vitals. The armoured deck was thick over the magazines and machinery, over the steering gear and elsewhere. The conning tower was protected by of armour, with the gun shields having armour, as did the ammunition hoists. As the protective deck was at waterline, the ships were given a large metacentric height so that they would remain stable in the event of flooding above the armoured deck. This, however, resulted in the ships rolling badly making them poor gun platforms. One problem with the armour of the "Bristols" which was shared with the other Town-class ships was the sizeable gap between the bottom of the gun shields and the deck, which allowed shell splinters to pass through the gap, giving large numbers of leg injuries in the ships' gun crews.