How could Scharnhorst achieve a higher per-gun rate of fire than Deutschland when their guns fired similar shells?
Short answerImproved breech and shell-hoist design mattered more than shell similarity; Scharnhorst benefited from later iterations of the same gun lineage.
NotesThe passage points away from projectile weight alone and toward the complete loading cycle. Better breeches and shell hoists let the later Scharnhorst installation exploit accumulated design experience, illustrating how mount engineering can matter as much as nominal caliber.