off the ends of the belt. Above the belt was a strake of nickel-steel armour closed off by transverse bulkheads. The barbettes were protected by compound armour, ranging in thickness from and the casemates for the 6-inch guns had a thickness equal to their diameter. The thicknesses of the armour deck ranged from . The walls of the forward conning tower were thick and the aft conning tower was protected by 3-inch plates. Construction and career Repulse was the tenth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. She was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Programme of 1889 and laid down on 1 January 1890 on Pembroke Dockyard's No. 1 Slipway. The ship was launched on 27 February 1892 by Lady Philipps, wife of Sir Charles Philipps, Bt, Lord Lieutenant of Haverfordwest. The ship was transferred to Portsmouth Dockyard on 5 December, where she was completed on 21 April 1894, at a cost of £915,302. Repulse commissioned there, commanded by Captain Burges Watson, four days later to relieve the ironclad battleship Rodney in the Channel Fleet. She participated in annual manoeuvres in the Irish Sea and Atlantic Ocean in August as a unit of the "Blue Fleet." From 19 to 24 June 1895, the ship was part of the squadron that visited Germany for the opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. In July–August 1895, Repulse again took part in the annual manoeuvres and Watson was relieved by Captain Ernest Rolfe on 10 October. The ship participated in the manoeuvres again in July 1896, when they were held in the Southwest Approaches and the ship was a unit of "Fleet A." Repulse accidentally collided with her sister ship on 18 July, but sustained no significant damage. On 23 December, there was an explosion in one of her coal bunkers that injured nine men. On 26 June 1897, the ship was present at the Fleet Review at Spithead for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The following month, Repulse took part in the annual manoeuvres, this time held off the coast of Ireland. On 21 December, Captain Robert Groome assumed command of the ship; he was relieved by Captain Randolph Foote on 28 June 1899. In July and August, when the annual manoeuvres were held in the Atlantic, she participated as a unit of "Fleet A". Repulse suffered a mishap on 4 February 1900 when a strong tide forced