The counterfactual assumes a sustained three rounds per gun per minute. One hour of fire at that rate would require 180 rounds per gun, making magazine capacity a visible design constraint. Applied to nine fifteen-inch guns, the system could deliver 27 heavy shells each minute. A British F2- or F3-derived treaty ship with that output might have outshot nominally larger-gunned rivals while remaining inside treaty limits. Rate of fire could therefore matter more than a comparison based on shell caliber alone.
Notable Point · 1:00:20-1:04:02
Three rounds per minute could transform a treaty battleship
A firing-rate calculation shows why a successful British autoloader could outweigh a rival's nominal caliber advantage.