Humid-climate failures should not be treated as an inherent defect of the Pom-Pom alone. Prewar ships had operated the weapon overseas successfully when ammunition remained inside suitable magazines and lockers. The County class had been designed around 1,000 rounds per gun, an allowance captains could find inadequate in 1942 or 1943. Wartime demand for far more ammunition forced rounds into improvised ready-use lockers and other spaces without the same environmental protection. Ammunition endurance therefore depended on whether the ship could preserve and handle the additional rounds.
Notable Point · 2:12:23-2:16:16
Tropical ammunition failures begin with wartime stowage
Wartime ammunition loads could exceed protected stowage capacity, exposing rounds to tropical conditions in unsuitable spaces.