 The ship was armed with a main battery of nine 12 inch L / 50 Mark 8 guns in three triple gun turrets , two in a superfiring pair forward and one aft of the superstructure . The secondary battery consisted of twelve 5 @-@ inch L / 38 dual @-@ purpose guns in six twin turrets . Two were placed on the centerline superfiring over the main battery turrets , fore and aft , and the remaining four turrets were placed on the corners of the superstructure . The light anti @-@ aircraft battery consisted of 56 quad @-@ mounted 40 mm ( 1 @.@ 6 in ) Bofors guns and 34 single @-@ mounted 20 mm ( 0 @.@ 79 in ) Oerlikon guns . A pair of Mk 34 gun directors aided gun laying for the main battery , while two Mk 37 directors controlled the 5 @-@ inch guns and a Mk 57 director aided the 40 mm guns . The main armored belt was 9 in ( 229 mm ) thick , while the gun turrets had 12 @.@ 8 in ( 325 mm ) thick faces . The main armored deck was 4 in ( 102 mm ) thick . 
