A charged four-barrel Nordenfelt was handed from seamen to Royal Marines during target practice without removing its cartridges. As the new crew trained the weapon aft, someone touched the lever and fired four rounds along the deck. The bullets penetrated two iron beams and two bulkheads, yet none of the four wounded men was struck directly. Their injuries came from iron splinters, making the accident an instructive example of secondary fragmentation and unsafe ammunition handling aboard a lightly protected ship.
Notable Point · 28:19-29:47
Phaeton's Nordenfelt accident revealed splinter danger
An accidentally fired loaded Nordenfelt swept Phaeton's deck and wounded men with bulkhead splinters rather than direct bullet hits.