Sources disagree over whether the ships actually carried single, twin, or proposed quadruple Hotchkiss mounts at particular dates. Although the gun's cyclic rate approached 450 rounds per minute, practical output was nearer 200 to 250, and the manually trained mounts imposed further tracking limits. The weapon also formed the basis of Japanese 13 mm and 25 mm anti-aircraft systems, linking the French design to a wider wartime performance problem. Its nominal firing rate and all-round mounting concealed the crew effort and tracking difficulty that governed real defence against fast aircraft.
Notable Point · 44:35-47:24
The Hotchkiss 13.2 mm battery's paper and practical limits
Conflicting mount records, manual training, and the gap between cyclic and practical fire expose the limitations of the class's light anti-aircraft armament.