In 1879, HMS Thunderer was taking gunnery practice in the Sea of Marmara when one of her 12" MLR exploded. Originally thought to be a gun defect, it was eventually determined that the gun had been double loaded, and no one had noticed because the gun was a muzzle-loader and was hydraulically run-in after every shot.
The accident was the death-knell for the muzzle-loading naval gun in Britain, where, oddly enough, its use had been retained for many years more than the rest of the world's modern navies. Britain's gun manufacturing would remain in chaos for a decade after the accident, with poorly-manufactured, hurriedly-designed breech loading guns taking years to complete, and battleships anchored for up to three years, fully complete but useless on account of lacking guns.
What if this accident was delayed a few years (probably a maximum of five years)? The "dark days of the Royal Navy" will last longer, and Britain will begin to fall dangerously behind by continuing to place "cheap" and "reliable" muzzle-loading guns on her largest ironclads.
We have a goodly number of naval buffs here, but for those less-technically versed, does this mean that one of Britain's European naval rivals (France or Russia) sees an opportunity at some point in the late 1880's or early 1890's and an event that was a diplomatic crisis in OTL becomes a war in this TL?
The accident was the death-knell for the muzzle-loading naval gun in Britain, where, oddly enough, its use had been retained for many years more than the rest of the world's modern navies. Britain's gun manufacturing would remain in chaos for a decade after the accident, with poorly-manufactured, hurriedly-designed breech loading guns taking years to complete, and battleships anchored for up to three years, fully complete but useless on account of lacking guns.
What if this accident was delayed a few years (probably a maximum of five years)? The "dark days of the Royal Navy" will last longer, and Britain will begin to fall dangerously behind by continuing to place "cheap" and "reliable" muzzle-loading guns on her largest ironclads.
We have a goodly number of naval buffs here, but for those less-technically versed, does this mean that one of Britain's European naval rivals (France or Russia) sees an opportunity at some point in the late 1880's or early 1890's and an event that was a diplomatic crisis in OTL becomes a war in this TL?