 The secondary armament consisted of fourteen Elswick Ordnance Company " Pattern Z " quick @-@ firing ( QF ) , 40 @-@ caliber , six @-@ inch ( 152 mm ) guns . All but four of these guns were mounted in armored casemates on the main and upper decks , and their mounts on the upper deck were protected by gun shields . Their 100 @-@ pound ( 45 @.@ 4 kg ) AP shells were fired at a muzzle velocity of 2 @,@ 300 feet per second ( 700 m / s ) . The ships were also equipped with a dozen 40 @-@ caliber QF 12 @-@ pounder 12 @-@ cwt guns and eight QF 2 @.@ 5 @-@ pounder Yamauchi guns as close @-@ range defense against torpedo boats . The former gun fired three @-@ inch ( 76 mm ) , 12 @.@ 5 @-@ pound ( 5 @.@ 7 kg ) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2 @,@ 359 feet per second ( 719 m / s ) . 
