Inside a World War I battleship ammunition chain

The World War I ammunition chain was already a heavily mechanized system rather than a line of sailors carrying shells. A trolley collected the projectile from the magazine, hoists and transfer carriages moved it upward, and a powered rammer placed it in the gun because the shell was far too heavy for manual handling. Lighter propellant bags still passed through human hands at several stages. Flash-tight doors and transfer arrangements were supposed to isolate the magazine from a fire in the turret. Crews who bypassed those barriers to increase their rate of fire traded a small speed gain for a catastrophic safety risk.