Comments by "Frank DeMaris" (@kemarisite) on "RN Littorio - Guide 045 - Part 1 of 2 (Human Voice)" video.

  1. According to Nathan Okun (posted at navweaps.com) the decapping plate should be effective much of the time against British 15 and 16" shells. The space between the decapping plate is adequate for WW1-era soft caps, but insufficient to ensure cap separation for the harder caps used by WW2. To be effe give against the later the space would need to be about 2 feet.
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  2. https://youtu.be/kd5meoQo3as
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  3.  @ThatZenoGuy  the decapping plate is thick enough to remove the cap, but not thick enough to shatter the cap. I'd be curious to see if the Italians actually tested that system, because I would expect any filler material to help hold the cap in place if the cap is not shattered. According to a Okun, the decapping plate itself can come along with a shell and act as a substitute cap. If the 280 mm of "Cellulite" was indeed equivalent to 600 mm of void space, then that should be adequate to decap a 15" shell but less so for 16". (Edit) I see Nathan Okun's data includes one Italian test of 320 mm projectiles against a mockup of the Littorio armor layout.
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  4.  @ThatZenoGuy  as a practical matter, you are correct that a removed cap is the same as a shattered cap as long as the cap comes completely free in the intervening space. If the gap is too small, or (possibly) if there is filler material that keeps the cap aligned with the shell, the British have found that the shell can reseat itself in the cap and that cap will then perform its function with minimal degradation. A shattered cap is in scattered pieces bouncing off the main belt.
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