SsgtC
Banned
And the NCs are only thin skinned because their design originally called for 14" guns, not the 16" she was built with. The armor wasn't increased when they up gunned her because don't so would have required practically an entirely new design.So, tl;dr yes, while the North Carolinas were rather thin-skinned compared to their contemporaries, the Iowa and South Dakota classes are very well protected battleships.