Ripple fire depends on timing and fire control, not barrel count alone

What rate of fire would make a many-gun ripple broadside more useful than firing discrete salvos?

About one shot per second is the ideal estimate, while intervals under roughly two seconds might still work if the period fire-control system can coordinate them.

The hypothetical asks how quickly a many-gun battery must fire before sequential shots become a true ripple rather than separate salvo bursts. A rough target is one discharge per second, although an interval under about two seconds could produce much of the effect. A later follow-up says the proposed battlecruiser could reach roughly 1.2 shells per second at peak, putting it above that estimated threshold. The essential caveat is fire control: a period system still has to coordinate the sequence, so adding barrels does not by itself create an effective firing pattern.