As naval guns became larger and fewer, each weapon had to place damaging fire at longer range. Propellant smoke could obscure the firing ship's own view more severely than it concealed that ship from an opponent, who could still fire into the smoke cloud. That made visibility part of practical firepower rather than a cosmetic side effect of the charge. A useful propellant therefore had to support the gun's range and rate of fire without blinding the people responsible for observing and correcting the salvo.
Chapter · 29:18-31:49
Gun smoke could blind the firing ship
As guns became fewer and more powerful, their propellant had to deliver range without creating smoke that hid the enemy from the firing ship.