Comments by "Steve Valley" (@stevevalley7835) on "MN Henri IV - Guide 252" video.
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@edwarddunne2758 they are a bit before the dreadnought era, but I would nominate the USN 8"/40 and 12"/40. The USN had switched to smokeless powder, without really understanding the implications of the slower burning powder. The guns started blowing off their muzzles and chases with disturbing frequency, which puzzled BuOrd, because chamber pressures were as expected. Further testing revealed that, because the powder burned slower than black or brown powder, pressure in the gun was still building as the shell ran down the tube, so pressure in the chase was far higher than expected. The solution was to install a strong liner, and hoop the tube to the muzzle, to reinforce it. The early British 12"/35 and 12"/40 has a problem with "steel choke". A ridge would form in the liner after some use. When the ridge grew large enough, the shell would hit it with enough force to start the fuse, so the shell would detonate at the muzzle or shortly after leaving the muzzle. By WWI, the USN was also discovering "copper choke", where material from the driving bands on the shells built up in the bore, creating the same issues with detonating shells, stuck shells, and exploded guns. Copper choke was more of a maintenance problem, while the USN 40 cal guns and the British steel choke were more design problems. Drac has made some disparaging comments about some of the French battleship main guns, which had a shorter range than the ship's secondary armament, but that could have been a function of the French turrets only elevating to 12 degrees.
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