Was Des Moines automatic all the way through the magazine?

Did the Des Moines class use automatic ammunition handling throughout the magazine?

Probably not. The gun loaded automatically, while magazine-side handling appears to have remained assisted.

A viewer asks whether the Des Moines system automatically handled ammunition throughout the magazine. The live answer is tentative: the gun loaded automatically, while lower handling appears to have remained assisted. A weapon can therefore be correctly described as autoloading even when people still handle stages between deep stowage and the breech.