six-inch guns were removed, as the same guns on her sister ship had gotten soaked in high seas after that ship's reconstruction. The ship's light-AA armament was augmented by eight 25 mm Type 96 light AA guns in twin-gun mounts. Four of these mounts were fitted on the forward superstructure, one on each side of the funnel and two on the rear superstructure. This was the standard Japanese light-AA gun during World War II, but it suffered from severe design shortcomings that rendered it a largely ineffective weapon. According to historian Mark Stille, the twin and triple mounts "lacked sufficient speed in train or elevation; the gun sights were unable to handle fast targets; the gun exhibited excessive vibration; the magazine was too small, and, finally, the gun produced excessive muzzle blast". The configuration of the AA guns varied significantly over time; in 1943, 17 single and two twin-mounts were added for a total of 37. In July 1944, the ship was fitted with another 17 single, 15 twin and eight triple-mounts, for a total of 92 anti-aircraft guns in her final configuration. The gun had an effective range of , and an effective ceiling of at an elevation of 85 degrees. The maximum effective rate of fire was only between 110 and 120 rounds per minute because of the frequent need to change the fifteen-round magazines. Also in July 1944, the ship was provided with three twin-gun and 10 single mounts for the license-built 13.2 mm Hotchkiss machine gun. The maximum range of these guns was , but the effective range against aircraft was only . The cyclic rate was adjustable between 425 and 475 rounds per minute, but the need to change 30-round magazines reduced the effective rate to 250 rounds per minute. Armor The ship's waterline armor belt was thick; below it was a strake of armor. The deck armor ranged in thickness from . The turrets were protected with an armor thickness of on the face, on the sides, and on the roof. The barbettes of the turrets were protected by armor 305 mm thick, while the casemates of the 152 mm guns were protected by 152 mm armor plates. The sides of the conning tower were thick. Additionally, the vessel contained 737 watertight compartments (574 underneath the armor deck, 163 above) to preserve buoyancy in the event of battle damage. During her first reconstruction Yamashiros