76 mm AA guns were replaced by eight 40-calibre dual-purpose guns in 1932, fitted on both sides of the fore and aft superstructures in four twin-gun mounts. When firing at surface targets, the guns had a range of ; they had a maximum ceiling of at their maximum elevation of +90 degrees. Their maximum rate of fire was 14 rounds a minute, but their sustained rate of fire was around eight rounds per minute. Two twin-gun mounts for licence-built Vickers 2-pounder () "pom-pom" light AA guns were also added to the ship in 1932. These guns had a maximum elevation of +80 degrees, which gave them a ceiling of . They had a maximum rate of fire of 200 rounds per minute. The two-pounders were replaced by 1941 by 20 licence-built Hotchkiss 25 mm (1 in) Type 96 light AA guns in five twin-gun mounts. 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". These guns had an effective range of , and a 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 15-round magazines. Armour The ship's waterline armour belt was thick and tapered to a thickness of at its bottom edge; above it was a strake of armour. The main deck armour was while the lower deck was thick. The turrets were protected with an armour thickness of 305 mm on the face, on the sides, and on the roof. The barbettes of the turrets were protected by armour 305 mm thick, and the casemates of the 140 mm guns were protected by 25 mm armour plates. The sides of the conning tower were thick. The new 41 cm turrets installed during Mutsus reconstruction were more heavily armoured than the original ones. Face armour was increased to , the sides to , and the roof to . The armour over the machinery and magazines was increased by 38 mm on the upper deck and 25