WordNet
shell plating
n. the plates covering the frame of a steel ship and corresponding to the planking of a wooden ship
Wikipedia
Usage examples of "shell plating".
He was carrying a twenty-millimeter projectile pistol, a nasty weapon designed for use inside a ship, its slug heavy and relatively slow moving, incapable of penetrating the shell plating or bulkheads of a ship.
Williams, who was responsible for maintenance, must have been making a mental tally of every rivet, every welded seam in the shell plating.
They stood there on the curved shell plating, held in place by the magnetic soles of their boots.