Comments by "Helium Road" (@RCAvhstape) on "Naval Guns (1650 to 1820) - Stop blowing holes in my ship!" video.

31:00 also whether you'd get a poorly made short fuze and a detonation inside your barrel before you fired it off was also a risk, I'd imagine.
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@carbon1255 On an explosive shell, a "short fuze" refers to a fuse that burns down faster than it was expected to. The fuse is set off when the gun is fired or shortly before, but if it burns down before the shell leaves the barrel or shortly thereafter instead of near the target, bad things can happen. This is still a problem even with modern artillery; I was present when a 155mm howitzer shell exploded nearby shortly after leaving the muzzle, showering the trees with shrapnel, fortunately nobody was hurt. The investigation blamed a defective fuse.
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